chards

er a cashmere sweater for Leo, savoring the softnes

avy silence-but my instincts, sharpened by five y

n't a

store security guard. instead

xt

bro

ance that used to define him had been

big for him, posturing like a soldier but looki

" he

d happy. He so

e low and steady. I didn't move f

see you," he

I didn't recognize. Hired muscle. Cheap muscle

, his eyes darting around. "He knows y

the shelf with deliberate slowness. I wante

ers from Donnell

ked nervously to t

he's fragile right now. If she finds out you're b

ns

s Ain

The cuckoo bird who had pushed me out o

" I said, shaking my head in

ing the lies our father had fed him fo

t vanish

toward him, an

three times while I was bleeding out

aining from his face,

ut and grabb

going

he palm of my hand into his nose, shattered the cartilage, and di

wasn't

the lion's den so I could show them I was no

g off his grip with a

jacket, comp

Dex

g him see the cold, preda

t regret inviting t

xit, toward the black Mer

s kidnapping a r

ze he was trans