LOGINAurora POVI sit in the lecture hall with my notebook open and my pen resting uselessly between my fingers.The professor’s voice washes over me without meaning. Words drift past but my gaze keeps sliding to the window toward the outside world where everything that matters is happening without me.D
My chest tightens.“There you are,” he says as his gaze instantly finds me.“Here I am,” I smile as I cross the room to him, feeling drab in my school clothes next to him. “Where else would I be?”His hand comes to my waist like it belongs there—because it does. When he looks at me, the weight of ev
Aurora POV The hotel room smells faintly of oud and sandalwood, the most trendy and expensive perfume of the moment. This is the kind of place that knows it’s expensive and doesn’t let you forget it.I sit cross-legged on the edge of the bed in jeans and a sweatshirt, my dress hung carefully so it
Aurora POVThe coffeehouse smells like burnt espresso and pastries, like safety in the form of routine.I sit in my usual corner between classes, my back to the brick wall, the small round table pressed close enough that no one, not even my usual friends, can slide in uninvited. I am too distracted
Then she looks past Dominic and the body to the other older man standing waiting, his face full of resigned dignity so unlike what had been Francesco’s final moments.“Can Gianna’s father live?” she asks hoarsely, her soft voice barely reaching him across the empty space of the warehouse.The words
Aurora POVGianna is finally still.The pill I offered her dissolved beneath her tongue, and within minutes the sharp edges of her panic soften. Her lashes flutter as she slumps against the pillow, breath evening out, the fight draining from her limbs.I brush her hair back from her face with shakin
Aurora POVOnce lunch is over, Mariah hooks her arm through mine like we’ve been best friends since kindergarten, and hauls me up from the table.“Come on,” she insists, tugging me along with surprising strength, slipping my tray from my hands to toss it into a nearby trash can we pass by. “You’re n
Aurora POVFor a second, my brain refuses to process what I’m seeing.She’s just standing there in the doorway of the fitting room like she owns the place, one hand braced against the frame, a smirk tugging at her painted mouth. The satin skirt I’m wearing sways slightly from my sudden turn toward h
Dominic POVDominic had been watching her for days.Even after they’d returned from Mexico, Aurora seemed to still be carrying a weight in her eyes she didn’t bother to hide.She was quiet in the mornings when they woke up with their limbs tangled together, absent in the afternoons when he’d wander
The thought should scare me. In a way, I guess it does though not for the reasons it used to. A few weeks ago, Gianna and I were dreaming of freedom. We were two girls plotting our escape from men like Dominic and Alek.And now I’m here, engaged to one.I’m happy. I tell myself that every day, yet I







