d with a sharp
the car smelled faintly of cedarwood and a clean, sharp Cologne I couldn't place, but my
backseat, Aeron d
look my way. The electronic child locks were on, the dar
rose and fell in shallow, exhausted as he slept, one tiny, dirt-smud
ngers stroked the boy's black curls, over and over, so soft, so
, his voice raspy, barely reaching above the hum of the
aisle. "You're a sick, terrifying man. You think having money means you can just pull a woman
the tinted window. They weren't angry. That was the worst part. They were heavy, bloo
ollars from my personal account three mon
e in the suburbs and out of the city news. And Julian? Julian is sitting in that empty church right now calculating whether
t up my wrist, but I barely felt it. "You're lying! You bought my family?! You
n his lap. He didn't argue nor did he raise his
te ramp into a subterranean garage. Wrought-iron
cut, the silenc
urmured, openin
around to scream at him, his arm reached across the backseat. His fingers wra
is shoulder with his left arm, then d
ed out, my heel catching on the hem of my dre
mly into my wrist as he dragged me toward an express elevator with a glowing blue eye sc
!" I spat, trying to dig
scanner. A sharp beep rang out, and
my mascara smeared down my cheeks in gray tracks, and my face was blotchy and pale. Beside me,
d. My ears popped. M
i
lowed the sound of my ragged breathing. Sunlight poured through three-story
home, Yo
raight into Aeron's side as a
lack uniforms, housekeepers, kitchen staff, and an old man wi
all bo
ked up, his eyes were wet, his face lined with genuine, painful joy. "T
hand out of Aeron's grip, stumbling back un
hest heaving. "Why are you looking at
"Madam... it's Thomas. I've... I've taken care of this h
bed behind my eyes. "Stop playing along with him! How much is he paying
oked at me with this sickening, heavy pity. The same look th
n said softly, handing the sleeping
he child gently as the staff bowed again and
crashing back, hea
eyes darted around the cold, modern room, searching for a door, a win
dropped to
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