t exactly noon.

heart beating like it w

ped and ready, even though I had u

t really, how do you pack for six mont

breath and o

lack button-down, and the kind of unbothered cal

ghtly when he saw me, maybe

e said. "Y

y stomach twisted. "As

nd let me lock the door behind me. My fing

t 2B. The girl with overdue bills and a broken knee.

ming Iris Slad

e he didn't care where he was going, like

verything outside looked smaller and dimmer, like the city was stri

rned into glass-and-steel monument

" Nicholas as

taken aback. "Is

Slade's life without a little fear. Even

d hollow. "Thanks

l. "He's not the easiest man to be around, Iris. But

oddly co

nger in silence. The

s, gleaming silver accents slow

ect hedges like we were entering a kingdom, not a ho

ut a fortress masquerading as a high-end magazine photo shoot

nd stepped out, coming

e are,"

d I hated that. I didn't want to show

ched them. A suit-clad employee nodd

oo beautiful. Too expensive. The kind o

l, the vaulted ceilings, the chandelier that was worth more than my

re disappearing down the hall, li

olding two worn-out suitcases and a

I saw

taircase like some carved statue come to life, imp

sessing one. Like he was cataloguing every crack in my a

asured, like a man walking into a nego

home,"

etween us like smoke,

," I whispered, my voic

tanding a few feet from m

again. "How many

ok, and the butler."

It feels li

ted. "People like me don't g

a weird way, more honest th

fter a moment. "Let

urned and started walking. I followed

walls covered in paintings I couldn't

plucked out of magazines, flawless, ster

stopped be

r room," he said,

alls, tall windows, warm golden lig

me in it. But still, it seemed borrowed. Like a

have your own bathroom, closet, and s

e a move on a board. "We don't have

ld be happy. He lingered in the doorway for a second too lon

regret

ked. "

ing your name rig

itcase. My fingers cur

now yet,"

d expected that. "Good.

prising both of us. "Do

garding me. "No. You're just the r

if it was a compl

Dinner is at seven. You don't have to come down if you do

ne once more. Only this time in a

h people without so much

months to remain sane. Six mo

hallway, the walls appeared to breathe

n, like the gravity in the room had left with him. Like I w

t the silence. H

droom, just the one assigned to me in this be

of pristine that looked like it had been touched

A vase of white orchids that

sign that a real person ha

above the vanity. The face staring back at me looked. unfamiliar. Paler than usual. Eyes too wide,

e and sat on the edge of the be

aid to myself. You're not

a secret waiting to be told. Quiet. Contro

am to hurt you. He could unravel a

ot unraveled

d turned to mirrors, and the house had shifted with the sky, dim lighting, so

xpensive to the dining room. It was a magazine sp

lar loose, cradling a glass of something amber-colored as if it were conferring secret

emarked, his voice low an

ode for contract wives," I replied, s

ng in this house," he said t

his must be Anna, Malcolm mentioned e

of green puree on the side that lo

beats, not awkward, just t

voice cut throu

ri

fork midway

But a cage nonetheless. And the worst thing? Sometimes you won't

is gaze without flinching.

Just don't say I

rest lightly between my fingers. "I've been in cages

uite a smile. But somethi

, we start performing. And in this

toward me. A subtl

wly, the crystal c

at?" I

cool and calm, but someth

id. "In whatever for

nked g

't feel empty. It felt like a wire stretched tight betwe