in his tracks in th

and looked at the screen. Instantly, the rigid,

a raw, unfiltered tensi

ght the phone to his ear. He didn't e

e," Atti

g, and laced with a desperate kind of gentleness t

ying leaked from

he. I'm on my way," Atticus

t. He spun around, his boots heavy on the hardwood floor,

ter of the living room. "Where ar

walking toward the door. "There's an em

to the face. He never used his private, e

tic

ting off her words. The loud bang echo

ty. A minute later, she watched the black Porsche shoot out of the undergr

g weight collapse

feet hit the freezing hardwood floor,

way and pushed open the door

ted by a spotlight, was her c

looked like a cruel joke. It looked like a co

ng fingers brushing against

hen she scraped her knee. The young man who promised to protect her from the world. H

on the dress and w

mahogany desk and pulled out th

metal nib over the signature line. Her hand shook so viol

se of humiliation

. It clattered loud

n the middle. The sound of tearing paper was sharp and violent. She tore them again, and

phone and dial

er best friend answered. "Cha

r, warm voice broke the l

oat. She sank to the floor,

s finally streaming down her face, hot and fast

ey. I've got you. I'm right here. We are meeting

on the floor of the empty apartment, but beneath the agon

and turned the shower on as hot as it would go,

did not

ayer of concealer to hide the dark, bruised-looking bags under her e

ed out of the penthouse, an