y renovated and reopened after the fire. She pointed out the

e like this, Blake," she said wist

igh ceilings, exposed brick, and a crystal chandelier r

. "You remember that? I said

d," he replied, and the sincerity in h

his eyes scanning it with practiced ease. "We'll have the

es. You should ask Caroline what she likes." She said it with an air of swe

nu towards her. "Sorry. I... I do not know your preference," he admi

, packed his lunches. He had eaten the food she prepared every single

ing it hard to breathe. She saw the smug satisfaction in Ariana

tight. She stood up and pushed her w

escape the suffocating weight of their shared hist

powder room," Ariana said, her v

ana dropped the pretense.

nvarnished metal beneath. "You see how he is with me. He remembers every little thing about me. He doesn't even know

th Caroline already knew, but hearing

uilt his career for me. He ran into a burning building for me.

dizziness. The walls s

riana?" Caroline ask

simply. "He's mine. He has always

th women looked up. The large, ornate chandelier-the replace

through the restauran

he two women and the falling chandelier. Ther

ed for

her with his body as the massive fixture of crystal and me

owed all sound was the sight of Blake's back turned toward her, h

the metronomic, dispassionate beep of a cardiac monitor, a tireless metal insect keeping time by her ear. Every part of her body ached. Her head was ba

face grim. She chec

ave a concussion, a broken arm, and mu

at the empty cha

wrapped in a silk cloth, was the black journal. She found a

delier fall on me and didn't

d. Fifteen points erased. A mere five

ked in. He looked tired and disheveled. H

asked, his gaze falling on the