the rain had eased into something walkable, but really I just needed a few

f a block befor

person who could find the exact wrong moment to call, every single time,

soft under the rain hitting my hood.

my neck, the same argument I'd already had with myself once tonight started up again, lou

e hadn't survived, that keeping a secret this size from a man for the rest of his life was a heavier thing to carry than I understood yet. And some small, ti

me out smaller than I meant

here I could picture her exactly, setting her cup down s

she needed to taste the word befo

Gran

careful, testing, "And the baby.

I could tell her everything, let her carry some of this with me, let her push me toward the version of this story where Marcus kn

already drawn for myself in

said. "I

t, swee

, though I tried to keep it steady, tried to sound like a

ars raising me to recognize the particular kind of quiet that meant I'd already made up my mind all the way down to the bone. Arguing with

he said instead, gentler now. "Yo

cab coming, Grandm

ended, rain soaking through my shoulders, holding onto the strang

the stairs instead of waiting for the elevator, needing the movement, needing my body to

two glasses of wine before

the couch like she'd already claimed it, like the space

him, her smile reaching all the way to her e

he front door, toward the space where Sienna had stood less than an

ust under his ribs that he didn't have a name for yet. Call her. Make sure she got home alright. It would have taken thirty seco

t move t

ile faltered at the edges, just

all, almost invisible, the kind of decision that doesn't feel like one while you're making it. He chose the woman in front of him ove

id finally.

der like she'd already earned that space. He let her. He even lifted his arm aro

een in longer than he wanted to admit. Not the practiced one Sienna wore for cameras and dinner parties. A real one, from ea

t. Two families, two fortunes, a business deal with a wedding

one, did some part of him feel like he'd just made

ble to go out together without hiding, but it sounded distant, half swallowed by the rai

d told himself the feeling sittin

t. And he still didn