ra
ve oil, alien to this sterile apartmen
ning deep in my viscera. Zane never cooked. In the three years we
lways claimed he was too busy to even order food. He would leave me to starve in
of the bedroom and pa
olled up, revealing the dark ink of his Syndicate tattoos coiling up his
I asked, my voice
ead, he carefully arranged a delicate spr
edge of the plate with a clean towel. "She has a highly refined a
red on the counter, and my throat
k truffles shaved gen
ing against my ribs. "I am severely allergic to truffl
ss spreading down my windpipe. I took a step back toward th
up, his brow furrowe
turning back to the stove. "Order yourself some ta
knew. But after three years of sharing a bed with me, he had forgo
tchen, the air suddenly f
thin plastic wrapper of a stale, emergency protein bar from the bottom drawer of my nightstand-a pathetic stash I kept because he so often forgot to feed me. Then, I sat on the edge of the
vy front door opened w
massive Syndicate bodyguards. She wore a flawless desig
o." Siena's voice was smooth and melodic
nd I had not heard in years. "Only the be
of the bunker door as Zane had locked it while my father lay on an operating table, his life in the balance. I wal
ered a polite, perfectly manicured sm
ppetizer plate and held it out to me like one might feed a stray dog. "You must
ctly what she was doing-she was establish
ice entirely flat. "I do not
ut. The loud crack made
sland, his eyes completely devoid of affection. "Siena is
g with sickening clarity that he was
own the hallway. I closed the bed
the floor. The protein bar sat untouched on the nig
ear Siena laughing, a light, cryst
le whisper; he was pouring her wine, asking if th
rence due a visiting monarch, while I
queezed my eyes shut, but I could not
a nuisance hiding in my own bedroom while he fed truffles to a stranger. I pulled my knees to my chest and let the silent tears fall. But bene
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