ness crashing through her brain. The freezing air rushed into her lungs, triggering a violent, tearing co
ward. He did not offer her a handkerchief. Instead, his upper lip curled in disgust, and he took a deli
g fit to stop. She lowered her han
her bloodshot, fever-bright e
aves crushing underfoot, but she enunciated every single syllable with surgical precis
f his massive ego slammed down. He could not accept that his son, the heir to his political dynasty, was a mal
nance exploded into
visibly against his skin. "You are so consumed by your pathetic jealousy of Anabell
of her mouth twitched upward into a smile that was so co
with venom. "Your perfect son is a monster. And
of Carl's pride. It attacked his parenting,
mind completely
t to the wine racks. Resting on the table was a massive, leather-bound, hardcover edition of the
o silence her, to punish her for speaking the ugly truth, he whi
o narrow. There w
er head to the left, raising h
n't fas
s entirely absorbed by her delicate skin and bone, causing the directory to drop straig
ght eye. She stumbled backward, her shoulder blades slamming hard against the wine rack. Several expensive
iated from her cheekbone, shooting stra
d flying up to cover th
her freezing skin. She slowly pulled her hand away a
vered in thick,
e book had sliced the skin o
ed by a sudden, icy shock. He stared at the blood dripping through Justine's fingers.
nsibility. His political survival d
panic as he pointed a shaking finger at her. "You pushed me!
rgue. She did not
loody hand. She let her
jawline, dripping onto the pristine white collar of her cashmere t
Carl through her left eye; her ri
usting experiment. There was no fear. There was no shock. There was only the terrif
p. Her silence was infinitely worse than screaming.
an yourself up," he ordered, his voice trembling slightly despite his effort
id not sa
ed down her cheek and stopp
extended her tongue and licked
he knew intimately from her years in the trauma ward. It was the taste of survas dead. The a
he dragged her freezing, trembling legs for
his hand, wanting to grab her arm, wanting to say som
hand as if he were covered in a lethal, flesh-eating virus. The
ng her slowly climb the stone stairs. Her back was straight
c seized Carl's throat. He felt th
directory that lay on the floor. The book skid
her hand against her bleeding face and walked
ping their rags, their eyes wide with horror as they stared at the
taircase. With every step she took toward her bedroom, she mentally buried the weak, p
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