ping, chest heaving. Staring at her like h

one sharp motion. The remote, a glass, a small

h. "You think I'm letting you go so you

back against the wall. Pain shot th

You think because he's richer, better looking - what, he's going to want you? You?" He lean

good measure, then turned away like she

herself agai

t those words - damaged goods - landed differently. Not because she believ

And she had spent every day of this marriage quietly paying for it. She'd been patient. She'd been respectful. She

d I do that was

t him - and felt something settle i

cla

everywhere they look." She picked up her keys from t

t before he c

e complex was mostly empty - just the occasional car sw

nce, not really thinking, not really feeling anything yet. J

lize she was crying

as she stayed still not even

oted wife had a habit of sitting

ame from ju

look

s pockets, looking down at her with a

guard - and then right b

standing near the complex entrance, scanning the

g in her

cannot deal w

e reached out and gr

came out smaller than she meant it

t her face - taking in the tears she hadn't wiped away

dle of the night," he said, low and unhurr

ld his gaze. "I'

rk - and found Julian standing exactly where

of si

her, and something shifted in hi

said quietly