idly against the marble floor, h

forth with ever

ched th

houlders blocking the corridor light. Rain dripped incessantly from his hair, pooling in small puddles around h

fway on her lips, t

ths of longing and absence condensed into that single ge

only empty air. He stepped around her and entered the apartment, leaving a trail

said softly to hi

rain, and tossed it carelessly onto an antique armchair. The dull thud of the wet garment landing

eaving crescent marks on her skin. She watched him walk toward the living room, each

had always done gently when he came home from tense board meetings. "The s

ed wine, the open wine bottle, and the wine stain on h

or a second, as if in remembrance. But it vanished at once, replaced by the icy mask h

re day." It was not a question, but

d instantly. "I wanted to

othing to

lled the glass, and he downed it in one gulp, his hand perfectly steady. Everything about him seemed calm an

re was another fragrance. It alerted her at once-the woman who could once

of a niche Parisian perfume, sold only by appoint

is

nch. Hartwell turned, his grey-green eyes cold as the winter Atlantic, sweep

you talk

she hated herself for it. "Three months with no word,

than silence. "You're imagining

expl

if her words meant nothing, as if the explanat

n her dress felt like a glaring brand, obvious and humiliating. Hartwel

ad of fixating on me, y

Through blurred vision, she looked at him, desperately searching for the man who had o

d see the tense outline beneath the fab

." he said in

ed behind him, the