ter was stark aga
t, his hands on her shoulders. "Is it your
he strength she had left, whic
e weighed nothing-his arms strong, his chest solid, everything a
you to the
re dark to die with dignity. But the pain was a white-hot monster with its teeth
with one hand on the wheel and the other reaching over
ed. He glanced
ched to a hal
hat's wrong
seat, dry-heaving. The name alone m
't move. Just-stay where
hun
oked a
self. Boiling w
asp. "It's two in the morni
ide." He was already reaching across her to pop the passeng
d I
is eyes were alread
out,
got
leaving her swaying on an empty sidewalk in the freezin
m the house without it. She didn't have her wallet. S
. Sick. Bleed
her on the street to go put a Band-
d its way out of her
r life, abandoned her ambitions, poured every ounce of love she poss
een suc
She blinked them back-or t
pt around the corne
a f
city street-swerved at the last possible second. Tires screamed against aspha
ed. She hadn't
er's doo
steppe
suit he wore was bespoke, clearly European, the kind of craftsmanship that whispered wealth rather than shouting it. His face
e she was a problem
you h
d her mout
ways, and she pitched
r hit th
olid heat. Her cheek pressed against expensive wool. She could smell something clean a
ng against her ear. "I've got you. I'm t
or *I'm fine*, or *please don'
swallowed
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