p sack was pull

y chain. The air was thick with the smell of mold and dust. I was in

r had altered for me before she pa

my chest, c

m I? Who

st the dim light. He ignored my questions, his att

reen. "Your fiancé. The tech geniu

the phone

the price is thirt

. He would be worried sick. He would be

d his contact, the one with the smiling picture of u

u

ied

u

ag

u

his patience wearing

roat dry. "He must be coordinating wit

d. He didn't s

-nine times, the screen showed t

hand and drove his fist into my side. A crack echoed in the small room, followed b

ss," h

ing through my ribs. But it was nothing comp

his li

childhood friend, had been "kidnapped." Ethan had been a wreck. He paid the thirty

o deliver the money himself. It was the ninety

s said. "She's like a sister to me. I

was his fiancée. And he

th every heartbeat. But the ache in my chest was

n the dusty floor

essage. F

d it up and held it

ath hi

e cooed, her voice dripping with mock sympathy. "Ethan's a little busy

lush sofa, and Ethan was kneeling before her, ge

Ethan's devotion to her

dress she w

dding

mother had

ul it eclipsed the pain in

amed, lunging forward in th

face, a flicker of something unreadable

down hard. The screen of my phone spiderweb

o Ethan, my only