rose from Ethan's

oft, almost too p

an," I said, my voice coo

h bowl, her eyes darting between Ethan and me. She looked lik

out, my voice carryin

ped, st

r, Ethan trailing h

ng her the rose. "For you

t me, suspicion warring with a d

Isabella," she stamme

de a cho

"You asked if my feeli

t me, his e

hild, Ethan. A broken toy you p

ace p

ll clutch I carried. My fingers closed

o me on my sixt

full of false sentiment. "From a little shop

cal one in a Canal Street

this belongs with your oth

ily's hand, the one

From one 'admirer' of Mr.

locket, then at Ethan's stricken face. Understan

ed as if I'd

... pl

corrected him, my voice like ice. "And I

them in a tableau of

o be swept into a dance by a handsome you

houlder, I

looking

, his face a mask

o

a fraction of

sed in a blur of polite con

cstatic. He paraded me around, sh

s back!" he boomed to

y all l

, now combined with a beautiful,

catch of t

to depart, I found myself standing near

ou look radi

ble recove

have lu

ed, and made v

iliar figur

Et

h an air of quiet capability that

"Mike" S

ail. And, for as long as I could

en body from the wreckage of t

at had kille

hat had sto

il