o bring him comfort but now only made his stomach clench. He sat stiffly on the

king me?" he aske

the window, her jaw tight. "I don't want you showing up at my parents' h

Jordan. Everything s

your house. Just drop m

he said

East Side. She got out and marched to the door without w

ng with impatience. "Are you goi

efeat and foll

art and expensive furniture, but it f

ce him in the foyer, "is to protect Jordan. Do y

with a thick cashmere blanket and a firs

your wet

blanket around his shivering shoulders. I

The wedding was in a few weeks. Then he would be free

it. "Sit down," she ordered, g

g at the cut on his forehead with an anti

nd through the thin cloth. His bre

back against the chair. She started cleaning

," she said, her voice as sharp as the sting

throat. "You really

continued her work, her fa

m her fingers where they touched his skin. For a crazy, stupid seco

t was an

ust... if you just don't love me anymore, I can accept that. I'll walk away and never bo

cut above his eye, wavered. He saw something in her eyes, a flicker of pain, of confusi

me part of her, buried de

r image in her mind's eye: Jordan, smiling at her, trusting her.

one of Elias's tricks. He was trying to

a shield against her own confusion. She finished bandagi

k of hope dying in his chest. A

now," he s

er word. He just turned and walked towards the door, his movements stiff and deli

d set of his shoulders. She had expected him to plead, to argue, to

ant living room suddenly felt vast and empty.

a desperate man trying to win her back. But his departur

eeling crept into her h

losing an admirer, she told herself. A nuisance, but an

r temples, grimacing. It happened sometimes when she tried to thi

hinking. The

r reflection in the hall mirror. Jordan wa

e, where Blake's car was waiting to take him back to

is face was cont

amed, and his fist con

ed back, cau

our problem?" he ye

fury. "My problem is you! I saw her car bring you here!

angry that Elias was hurt; he was furious th

aning a cut,

unhinged. He slapped Elias across the face, once, then twice. The blows were w

hing heavily. He was h

d threw the contents at him. The sharp, chemical sm

t pounding with a new kind of fear. This was

s eyes were wild, his hand trembling as he

rn you out of he