ye
ow long i
the rain outside the crumbling facade
ing he had gained. He wore a suit that probably cost more than this entire bui
ration, a woman ready to fall into the arms of the man
t-shirt and shorts. My hair was a mess, and I didn't care. In my arms, a sma
face twisted into a mask
What is
the same voice that once wh
ook like, Mark?
ments slow and deliberate. I didn't
n on the child.
s mi
re, the faint smell of baby powder in the air. "I mean, who' s the father? My god, Ava. I
hung in the air,
the eye. "You have a lot of ne
ruined, your father and brother were heading to prison. Chl
ill felt like a du
e, Ava. She' s not strong like you. She woul
oice softening into the mani
pent the last six years building an empire, becoming powerful en
if it were a pile of trash he
, a soft, trembl
everythin
innocent as she did six years ago, her wide eyes fixed on me with a mixture of fe
ng. Oh, Ava... i
my arms, and a flicker of something ugly-something triumphan
stroking his arm soothingly. "She' s been through so much.
I was a stray dog they'
way she held onto Mark' s arm, it was
lways, fell fo
ied face back to my defiant one
Chloe. Look at her. This
erously quiet. "The Ava you knew d