Tori was still in Monaco, pres

esence was everywhere – in the opulent furnitur

to act

r

the quiet hours, aft

areless. Explicit messages wi

I'd installed a discreet recording app on the landline w

orts car. All meticulously documented by her own accounting departme

st apartment, a ghost

e was a nail in the c

e symbol

destroy them. I packed them carefully into nondescript boxes

they felt like monuments to my naivety. I took them down, one by one. Some I packed. Ot

er on a rare, happy trip to Italy. A se

utter from my

lash across

e severing

d notice event

box Tori had given me early on. I

rlooking the city that had o

ox. Let the tune pla

led it over

of the streets below. No

was part of David's dossier later, something Tori was confronted with. It felt like

me short trip, not the Mona

e penthouse, Tori b

ke silk hiding steel. "Julian has something t

ure of humility. "It's nothing, Tori, really. I'm sure Ethan

t pushed him at. I'd mere

, there, darling. Ethan can be a brute so

so rigid, were non-existent for Julian. He lounge

found me alone

the lapels of a new designer jacket, undoubtedly

d, my voice flat. It was the truest thin

ed. Then, a fli

around. We

he stumbled backward, grabbin

rm against the edge of

in, alerted

she shrieked, immediatel

him, Tori. He

"Don't lie! I trust Julian

Her unwavering trust in him,

ce was cold. "You'll spend the weekend in th

one-walled, and freezing. No

shut, the lock clicki

ess.

nes, but it was nothing com

of my parents' simple ho

there was only cold. And a lo

llar solidified my res