y sat in the back with the window cracked, letting the co

ey were going bef

ere before. In

ed out and looked up at the clea

CANCER C

and very cold. Then she smiled. It wa

window with his legs crossed, turning an unlit cigarette betwee

him. She walked str

eside her. The woman who had raised Ivy on a farm in Hart Hollow, Montana. Who had taught her to paint with leftover house p

wouldn't hurt as mu

was

e glass. "Grandma, I'm here

't hear her. She cou

If she'd never taken me in, she'd be home right now,

osed on the ba

skin. He turned her head toward him, slowly,

softly. "Her life for that ba

e body beg

, gently, almost tenderly. The gentleness was the worst part. "But I told them to sto

One careless order. And an old woman w

can't hide it. Look at you. You hate me so much it's coming out of your skin. So don't tell me abou

m with everyt

step. She hit the

st me, so you went after a dying old woman? Tha

your

n't care who heard. "What did she ever do to you? What did I do? Even if my m

her jaw so hard

cliff and vanished. Your grandmother is paying for you, because you won't

er, Miles was sta

went on. "You're here as payment. Payments

her chee

you," he said, "t

osed h

have put it in his heart right

idn't hav

nding right in front of her. One day, Dominic Pierce would be her weapon. She wo

il she tasted copper. The pain

er eyes and

n," she whispered. "I

er her lip and r

ace c

she saw before she let h

to in t

ght and the bars on the window. Someone had changed her into a clean nightgown. Her tongue throbbed wi

the door. It hadn't b

rom her tongue. She bit it, Dom. Hard enough to

she didn'

nant with y

ld I need." A lighter clic

ectly still

poke again, his voice was lower. "You'

didn't

Now Ivy's is the only one left. If you keep pushing her like

e

, Ivy's hand crep

The only

versation. She had always believed Dominic kept Noel for one reason onl

ounded like a man who needed something. Who ne

" Dominic said at last. "Not u

through Ivy lik

rom her son. As if Noel were

n Evan asked a question in the careful to

u take your

way, hard and fast. A door s

d his softer footste

dark with her

e

e had seen him drunk, furious, bleeding, cold as a

was

was he planning to