chapter 44

Elizabeth

Pen texts me to say she’s on her way up. While the espresso fills one of the cups, I go over to the front door and open it to see her walking up the corridor. I smile. “Hey, you!”

Nymph runs past me and dashes up to her, and she stops briefly to fuss her before following her up to the apartment. We exchange a kiss, and she comes in.

She’s six years older and a couple of inches taller than me, but other than that we’re relatively alike, with the same light-brown hair, although hers is longer and wavier, and she often wears it up in a bun, like today.

“The coffee’s nearly ready,” I tell her, going over to steam the milk. “How are you doing?”

She dumps her purse on the breakfast bar and sits on one of the barstools. “Honestly?”

I glance over at her. “Oh, what’s up?”

She gives me a sad smile, and her bottom lip trembles. Only then do I see how pale she is, and the dark patches under her eyes, before she puts her face in her hands and bursts into tears.

“Oh, no…” I run around the