enthouse smel

case, mixed with the particular ozone scent of the air purifiers he insisted on running constantly. The sm

hen island, the velvet for the master bedroom curtains, the exact shade of

ted al

d used for weekend trips to the Hamptons, back when she still believed those trips mea

modest necklines, the pumps in exactly three acceptable heights. She went to the back of

pre-Thornton life. Boots with h

The sound of fabric hitting fabric was satisfyin

oom door

had removed the tie, and the top three buttons were undone, revealing the hollow of

ever seen him anything

pilling over the edges. At her, kneeling on

His voice was flat

he zipped the boots int

-silk, navy, Hermès-and began looping it around his neck with automatic precision. H

But this-" he gestured at the suitcase with his chin "-this is chil

ed, a small sound that se

of her coat-still wearing it, still smelling like hospital antis

out. He di

nes. The ones she had given him. The gesture was deliberate, she realiz

t is

ed. "I've waived all claims to marital as

en he laughed, the same laugh from the hospital

he felt the brush of his fingers, c

al violation of something she had spent hours crafting. He tore it again, quarte

ard the mirror, checking his reflection. "We'll di

m ca

in the mirror. "You've been hysterica

elief, a release. This was something harder, something that had been build

No career. No social standing. You think you can survive in this city? You t

e saw him watching her reaction in the mirror, w

ra s

nfamiliar directions. She hadn't smiled in months

your shield for one more day. Your convenient wife.

r mind, the blood bag swinging past her face, the

urned from the mirror.

er women and call i

en aloud. It shocked him, she saw. His perfect composure cracked,

is hand closing around her jaw. His fingers pressed into the soft spo

intimate, the tone he used in bed. "You

ic, and it made her want to scream. This was how he did it-how he kept her, how

y opening, who had looked at her like she was art he wanted to understand. He was buried so deep she couldn't find him. Maybe

o," sh

wh

mpaign-will call the police. And the police will file a report. And tomorrow's Post wi

the pressure in her teeth, her t

n his shirt expanding with each breath. He looked at his hand

room. Tomorrow, Julian will bring you the revised terms. M

to the door. Paused wit

on't ever thre

eard his footsteps in the hallway

bones to support. The tears came then, finally, great heaving sobs that tore at her throat, that made her

he penthouse was silent around her, the silence of money, of thick walls

orbell

ed her nose on her sleeve-his sleeve, the coat he had bought her, th

n, insistent, acco

ucking door or I'm calli

d

he heard the elevator engage, the hum of it rising through

vintage Levi's, a band t-shirt from some concert Honora had never heard of, boots that had seen better decades. Her ha

the scene. The open suitcase. The torn papers in the wastebaske

ame out. The tears started again, silent thi

he room in three strides. Her arms closed around Honora, tight, fierce, the embrace of someone who had known h

ospital. The blood thing. Aletha fucking Chase." She pulled back, holding

other-the elevator, the dismissal, the blood bag swinging past her face, the preg

resser, opened one of the tequila bottles, and drank directly from the neck. S

ri

don

pouring it do

ree years ago, another small sacrifice to the image of the proper Thornton wife. The alcohol hit her e

ga

was half-empty and her head was spinning and

d with an armful of silk ties-Efford's ties, dozens of t

rs," sh

cutting fabric when she still made her own clothes, before he had to

mès, navy with a subtle pattern, his favorite-and cut it in ha

r tu

-Gucci, red, one she had always hated-and sliced th

of craftsmanship reduced to colorful ribbons. When they finished, Edie poured more tequila into two c

es. "While I was scheduling his doctor's appointments. While I was picking up his d

of shit, Nora. He's always been a piece of shit.

Aletha Chase's connection to the Thorntons is more complicated than

ut. "I care that he looked at me like I was nothing. Like I was less tha

her, alive, indifferent. She had stood in this exact spot a hundred times, waitin

said, not turning aroun

for a moment. T

e a physical thing, heavy with

ly, into a stratosphere she had never imagined. The half-mask, the name no one k

ee. She had been fearle

ike she was art he wanted to collect. He had quoted Rilke-incorrectly, she realized now, but she h

oenix had died, and she had told herself it was worth it. Love was wor

pered. "It's been too long.

lose enough to touch. "The International Newcomer Competition i

turned.

ed apartments, through bad auditions and worse boyfriends. "I never deleted the portfolio. The mask is in

can

e is what? Staying here? Letting him destroy you piece by piece until there's nothing left? Unt

ection in the dark window

f who she had been, the girl in the mas

me," s

the elevator down, through the lobby, out into the cold November night. Edie's c

pt the pieces of their old lives. Unit 7B. Edie fumbled with

or rol

xes. A dress form

th a single word in Edie's

tooled, covering the left side of the face, leaving the right eye expo

s cool against her palm, familiar

it

ps tightening behind her head. She turned to look in

iven her, the eye that had looked out from magazine covers and runway p

Edie said.

he Thornton-approved style, the color he had sugge

rs," sh

ty shears from her emergency toolkit.

she kept going, handful by handful, watching the floor of the storage unit disappear unde

arp, uneven lines. She looked wild. She looked dangerou

die believed in consistency-and they drank to Phoenix. To reb

River. Honora walked into the penthouse with her mask in her hand and her suitcase s

om the Thornton family, the one who had worked f

l purebred hound gala. Hamp

he looked at her reflection in the bathroom mirror, the

e. She found the conta

reen down, and walked to the window to watch the sun