hina'

izon when the heavy click of the p

ent the night sitting on the edge of the ruined bed, turning the mint wrapper over and over in my fingers like a

h cornetti drifted through the foyer-the same pastries he had brought me every S

w thin and cold as his

e going?" he asked, the commanding cad

ndertone of threat. "How long h

ing out across the polished wood. He crossed the space between us in

has been filling your head with her poison, ju

lining of his briefcase-found at four in the morning, when I had sat on the bathroom flo

nto the glass t

A cheap plastic keychain. A packet

, my voice dangerously even. "These do not belong

ion of damning objects. His face darken

recasting the girl's trespasses as some youthful ignorance of

ed to dominate. "Was it Valentina who taught yo

ce was a confession hammered in brass. Somewhere in the back of my throat, a sob pres

nic lock be

nward, and Valentina h

des to enter our private room

cket, the sleeve stained with a dark sme

which had been pitched forward with purpose, drew back in a pantomime of shock. She clapped

rdinate, stuttering, "I-I was just retur

-step away from me

manufactured concern. He turned his head and threw his words at me like stone

ettled in my marrow,

demand that he choose. Instead, I felt something vital detach inside me, clean as

ndles of my suitcases and wal

stop me. He did not ask where I w

ding on the desolate side

ar Carmela had promised to send. The water soaked through my

l, the iron gates to the

orm, personally escorting Val

freezing rain,

nsive trench coat. The one I

her eyes met mine across the rain-swept pavem

on the wet flagstones, a delibera

ntly. He scooped the

t his chest, murmuring rea

tely ignoring his betrothed stand

waiting for this man to choose me. He had just shown me, with perfect clarity, that he never would. The grief that settled ov