rid

artment near the hospital - for my protection, they said. Kowalski had connections, and they were not taking chances. I kept

mediate danger seemed to fade, I moved back home. An

setting a cup of coffee in front of me like a peace offering with a knife

last date ended with me l

hance to repair the

edges of resistance. I had survived a hostage situation, a fall down a flight of stairs, and wee

when I pushed open the doo

lighting, dark wood tables, white marble counters, and jazz drifting lazily through the air like exp

t more than my monthly rent. He looked up when I approached. His eyes swept over m

s quick, but no

aw

s chair because manners required it and e

aren

almost immediately with menus. I could fe

t here," he said. "You look lik

e way he said it m

server. "Black coffee. No suga

r nodded

tightened. "That

an excessiv

for me when you walked out of that restaurant? My mother asked whether I had offended yo

e ripple in slow circles. Outside the window, headlights slid t

l one trauma a

ations, Astrid. Social obligations. A woman cannot simply ab

s pass through one ear and out the other. Passive resist

my silence

re. You will reduce your hours first, then resign once the engagement is announced. My parents expect Sunday dinners. You will attend.

w cab cut through

listeni

ts o

what I mean. You are undisciplined.

me all at once: hospital lights, my mother's voice, stairwell concrete, Alonso's blood soaking thr

His mother. My jo

the executive decision my

es cl

ll a

lm against the ta

sloshed in the cup. Preston stood over

lieva

him, disorie

ell as

y forehead

lat and unconvincing.

s? I made time for you. I gave you a second chance after your littl

jazz kept playing, soft an

lower yo

ou are an ungrateful, low-class little nurse with no sense of what is being off

, but beneath it, so

li

almost inappr

e you should s

, he threw several bills onto the table, grabbed his coat, and stormed

the café turn

very

I exh

felt lighter than I had in days. Preston had left. The date was dead. My mother coul

he server. "Could I h

but instead of a bill folder, she carried

lready been taken

ed. "By

essionally discreet. "Th

owed h

r booth, a man sat h

ught before

on

ck custom suit, sharp and immaculate, the fabric molded over his broad shoulders and powerful frame. No sling tonight, though I knew bette

were already l

how to

ed him. Conversations thinned. A man near the bar stopped mid-senten

ide the table and

h curved

ste is t

nt hot. "E

me

out of nowhere and ins

appear out

im. "Were you

not a

ke Alonso treated silence a

at had been waiting for him all evening. Instantly, the air changed. Pr

y purse. "I

t d

wo

le.

ted, not forced, but absolute. I was Wolfless. I should not have responded to that kind of authority the way a Wolf w

ng too fast at my throat, then lower, where my breath rose and

ced it on the table. "For the coffee

t even glance

ned fo

neath the café's roasted coffee and expensive colo

nd, I thought he wa

ingers closed

ned m

fee, looked at it with open

ot drink someth

. "I'm no

lance. "You are a woman who has been survivi

peared almost

onso said. "Hon

t ask fo

otic

irritated. I was

ntly into the air. It looked absurdly soft next to the black cof

chest loosened w

lit up on

Did Preston bore you i

he screen before I

ettled be

faint amusement was gone. His eyes

said, voice low enough that only

é noise

my hand frozen ar

ha

ussing the weather, not detonating my

ard me,