pte

na's

death sentence. "We're getting a p

l. Vanessa's smile is the sh

it's the only thing holding me up. My knees tremble. My

y voice cracking. Dante

id ge

our eyes lock...his full of anger and betrayal, mine b

e's wounded, and somehow, that

told me..." "I don't owe you anything," I snap. "You dis

ot to." "And you listened,"

Pity party later," she sneers. "Le

baby that," I growl. She raises a pe

door behind me. "Fine. Y

to the

. Pregnant girl. Expensive suit. Socialite leeching pois

silent the

y cheek. Then Dante's. Then a small sea

evolved. A few drops from me, him, an

she's won a war. Dante lingers behind. "I wasn't trying

Then, barely audible,

I don't know the answer

That

bulb above. My hands rest on my stomach, and I let myself cry...

him again... seeing the storm in his eyes... being dragged through

cret. My world. "I'm sorry," I said. "I tried to

e stops in his tracks when he sees me. His express

s, sitting beside me. "You shoul

" Scared Of him?" no, "I

meone's arms. For the first time in weeks, I feel a sliver of sa

Next

a ghost. The whispers start

with Santiago's ba

er glares at my belly, then sighs. "You've go

Why?" "Can't have gossip in

scoff. "You serve microwaved

kind." I walk out. No te

that

o plan. My boots soak through, my sweater clin

on't care. But then I hear

e. Dant

to accuse me some more? Drag

he walks toward me... slowly... like I'm

those things at your door," he says. "Or let her say them. V

I not

ou disappeared, then suddenly I find out you're pregnant...w

r wanted." He's silent. And then, he takes off h

now." That st

's mine... I want her." Tears rus

is..." He looks me dead in the

first time in a long time...

n. In silence. But it's the kind of

Days

e at it on my kitchen table

aking, jaw tense. "You open it," I

lls out the paper. Then he goes

. Tw

n at my stomach. Then back

't br

and then he does the unthinkable. He kneels in f

y." I sob into my hands, and this ti

s. It's an unknown number. I answer, everything went

ory has a happy en

et." The line goes dead, and the