And

was warm, famil

way he clung to my neck as if I were the only thing keeping him from being

artbeat. A voice sliced through

And how do you

lifted

lt too expensive to exist on the same planet as me. His blond hair was perfe

n Kni

zines at the diner, but seeing him in person was something

ss door in this place, but the man himself wa

were vermin-a pest tha

didn't say a word. He just trembled, his face buried in my shoulder, his breaths comin

rd, and the hallway seem

ed, his voice dangerou

voice wavering between pro

for the night cleaning interview. We were jus

to my eyes, analyzing the way his s

the silence. "Oh my God... he never lets anyone get that c

the whispered words echoing in my ears. I couldn't process the weight of this e

h an authority that demanded an impossible explanation. "Never. So I'll ask you

rs, met mine. He didn't speak-he never spoke, according to th

nd and touched my cheek, his fingertips seeming

second, his icy composure cracked, r

mmanded. "Let

small fingers dug into the cheap fabric of my blouse. A

d thunder. He stopped beside me and tore the boy f

ing contemptuously toward Ellie. "And get ou

t my ribs. Beside me, my sister's small hand squeezed min

ing out. "Emma desperately needs this job. Her sister is sick, sh

my legs, her eyes wide with terror. Then his icy blue

. "If you think you can use his vulnerability to pull something in this company, you

he words burst out of me. "I

dy leaning dangerously forward as silent tears streamed down his fa

face with his palm and turned it away from me-a gesture

time. "Don't make me call

as on my arm, p

she urged. "Please

ming to tilt beneath my feet. Panic rose in my throat like a

whispered, but the vast marble

ly turned his back with an icy elegance

small fingers grasping at the empty air, his face wet with s

losed in, a wall

ged with something like pity, "Plea

ike a small ember about to burn out. My legs felt like lead as I walked to the ele

doors began to slide sh

gap, my eyes met Dam

ze was pure ice-no anger, just a flat, absolut

s to him. An inse

e. He squirmed in his father's

a silent, devas

hut. The elevator

. The sky was a flat gray, the traffic a dull

hot and sharp, leaving me feeli

e a heavy weight in my arms

patch of green surrounded by spindly trees. I carefully sat Ellie on the wall an

rged as I held out a bottle,

d her forehead, her skin was burning. Her small bod

I cupped

Her eyes rolled b

ll

e she hit the pavement. She weighed almost nothing, but in

e, Ellie..." I b

or help, but my voice was a hoarse, broke

lued to their phones, oblivious.

asn't m