Ashes of Us

ian

her voice again, I didn

her but thank g

d breathlessly like the words th

f coffee in hand and sleep-deprived enough to start imagi

e

iv

hoes hitting the sterile tile, the echo of footsteps, the sound of

e sh

y ruin. My

llows, pale and bruised,

nything more terrifyi

" I wh

Slowly. Eyes hazy but

ame Lena I knew. The softness was gone, buried

asked, her voi

hroat thick. "You've been

o cry. Or flinch

di

through me. Like

aybe

he rise and fall of her chest like it was the only p

ask about

the fight. The

ed to believe maybe

e if s

ever fo

osed to pr

did was for her protection. That silence was better than p

that stretcher... broken,

I'd f

wer and peace, between loyalty and

cost her

d the e

the pho

the me

uld reignite the spark of w

red... she hadn

w it in

kn

wasn't

ified me more

r she woke, she

e said. Not

r house,"

her close. To pretend like the walls of our sh

t look at her without feelin

li

omis

betr

ien

Viv

let it g

markets, too many contracts that my board wouldn't dare lose. Al

he photos. The

anipu

lyn. My

saw an opportunity. She always does. When she realized

ant controlling

t someth

out to

the brakes

as spinning into

n her at the

s. Grocerie

's length. Her message

ille

I missed her voice. The silence th

eed time,

heal betrayal. It

e the un

an B

ist, confirmed by one of the surveilla

rage flared in my c

would she rea

thless. Unpredictable. Obsessed with taking me down. And

uldn't a

ed Viv

ad tabs on Adri

d

sited

. "Inte

her. I want ever

he said lightly. "Su

fter finding out I lie

g up without

better th

still

had no busine

ially

she remember

er, I receiv

Just a sleek black envelop

single p

e

a hospi

cef

ner

po

on the back in slanted

ld've let

ion tu

n inside her room. Had se

the

the si

wasn'

ill wanted

e summer hous

ll her I

't c

ll there, I'd dra

moonlight, the ocean roaring i

midnight, heart poun

d once

in a silk robe, her

" she sa

ng past her. "Of you. In the ho

just decided to come here

ng to pro

e?" Her voice was s

e mist

etty word fo

re to fight. I came to warn you. Someone still wants you

him out

nked. "You're

he hasn't

u

stupid, Damian. I know you're hiding thi

t const

remem

owly. "I remem

t to explain. T

up the same enve

o. Same h

dropped to

his... was in t

llowe

you're hiding anything else from me,

I could confess, defend, o

n

ic

ntire hous

oth

mewhere in

shat