as quiet, the dining table set for two, but Mark's

all?" I asked Mari

ler. He said he was caught up in a

tasting like ash in my mouth. I couldn't sleep. I sat in the dark of ou

me just af

ng perfume, a gardenia scent I didn't own. It

rough the door, and I heard a woma

m the darkness outside. It was a voice I

d you?" she added, her voice a playful tease that c

f her voice and the scent of her perfume. He hadn't seen me sitting

lding, fractured. It wasn't just the perfume or the late hour. It was the fin

w alien and menacing. A few minutes later, his phone

e. "Yes, of course I'll have the guest room ready fo

flame, to stay in our house. Under my roof. He

s deception fell into place. The late nights, the vague

, of my entire life for the pa