grandfather Alphons's voice was sharp with

?" I i

ny of them would be honored.

mind. The most successful of the five, an

randpa.

e is yours, swe

idn't realize I'd been

oing to erase him. And I was going to use th

ing room. He came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my wa

thing," he murm

thin and cheap, the kind you get from a

ng for gentle but failing. "I'll overlook the lies y

a word. There was no point. H

tomorrow," he said, changing the subject. "But her mother

grip on me. "So

n't a

my partner

heart condition, Holden. You know that. T

o. I'd ended up in the emergency room with heart palpita

punishing me for questioning him, for not being gr

t," I said, m

ardened, the brief moment of fake gentleness

ld get violent.

ft the room. I thought

s wr

was weak from grief and lack of sleep. He threw me into his car

asoline and cheap beer. A crowd of pe

e car and toward a mon

t his girl!" s

slurred, his eyes raking over me. "How mu

by the starting line, looking delicate and worried. He'd done t

off his leather jacket, and

ft and full of a tenderness he never

in his hands and

orn from my chest. All the love, all the care, all the protection

a placehold