inal preparations. Closing accounts, sig

gry, sometimes pleading, sometimes

Sarah? That new

talk about th

ng to punish m

I did, my responses we

afternoon to find her lounging on my sofa, watchi

then smirked. "Oh, hi.

walked to my roo

hushed conversations,

noise. Me

ay arrived.

t on me. A day of bir

y. The city

my hands surp

x from Napa. My mother'

Ethan and me, from our wedding da

fireplace. I lit a match, held

, curled,

smiling, tu

tual. A fi

rang, insis

who i

his face contorted with rage. Chloe co

o her?" Ethan snar

you talki

d, threatened her! Threatened the

lie," I s

as shaking. "You' re jealous! You can' t sta

e large balcony windows. The cityscape s

my voice quiet but clear. "To Chloe.

ong, a pressure in the air. The countd

om mine, his eyes wild. "Y

oulders, his fin

hday to me,"

steppe

he ope

was the last thing I