left it off and smoothed the skirt down, praying nothing showed. My legs were unsteady when I stepped back into the hallway

d in a dark dress, smiling the way she always did when important people were around. Beside her was her daughter-my cousin-scrolling on he

ed so hard I alm

tched me come on his tongue twenty minutes earlier. The man who had been sending money every month since I was eight. Th

recognition, then a deeper, quieter shock-but he didn't move. He ju

g halfway. "Come and greet him properly

forward. My voi

evenin

once. "Goo

have like this. Must be the traffic. This is my husband, Corren. You've

just done, made my skin prickle. I sat where Aunt Sybil indicated, directly beside him. The moment my hip brushed his under the table, h

d up my fork and moved food around without tasting any of it. Every time his knee touched mine under the white tablecloth, another pulse of wetness

down and looked at me wit

your boyfriend, Vance? You were so n

e me. I kept my eyes on my p

t," I said. "

to eat like nothing in the world was wrong. The quiet clink of

l filled every silence. I answered when spoken to and kept my hands in my lap so no one w

ere, my

. She kissed both my cheeks, then my foreh

"You're going to be fine with him.

art of me was still the little girl who had nowhere else to go. Whe

ing," she whispered. "At least

water. I didn't answer. I j

unning, drivers standing at attention. Men in dark suits moved with quiet efficiency. One of them took the small suitcase I h

Corren had money. The monthly transfers, the school fees, the quiet way bills disapp

UV. I climbed in. The leather was cool and soft. He followed, settling beside me.

tried to keep every inch of space between us, tried not to feel the heat of his thigh so close to mine, tried not to

window and pretended