All Chapters of Everything Except You: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

Zoya didn’t answer. She ran one finger slowly around the rim of her glass, watching the movement as if it belonged to someone else’s hand, and Joseph leaned forward again, something almost desperate in the way he said it. “Why aren’t you furious? You’re telling me your daughter is alive the way you’d give me another fact about the case.” She still had no answer for him. The kitchen felt very far away suddenly, with Riyana’s voice a soft murmur at the edge of the room, still explaining something to Brownie that didn’t require either of them to understand it. Joseph lowered his voice, as if he were trying to talk his way toward whatever was actually happening inside her instead of demanding it out of her. “She is your daughter. She’s been alive this whole time and you never…” Zoya cut in before he could finish, her eyes still on the glass. “I don’t know, Grandpa.” She took a breath, but the pressure in her chest didn’t ease. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to feel,” she said. “I thoug

In LA, Friday was a jury-dark morning of motions, and for the first time since the trial began every public seat in Judge Whitmore’s courtroom was taken. Three days of coverage had done what the lawsuit alone never had, and by eight o’clock the line outside the courthouse ran past the security desk and down the steps. Some of them had come for the case. A good many had come because of a photograph of the defendant that had been circulating since Tuesday. Zoya had slept four hours, if it counted. She had dressed the way she dressed when she needed to feel finished, an ivory blazer with a shawl collar over a soft ivory blouse, a pencil skirt that stopped below the knee, nude heels, her hair pinned in a low bun at the nape of her neck. She had done her makeup light and quick, a little concealer and a soft pink on her lips, and she sat at counsel table with Alan on her left and the certification folder squared in front of her, telling herself it was a perfectly ordinary Friday. Then R

His hands moved to her waist, bare skin where her shirt had shifted, and gripped. One hand at her hip. Firm. Possessive. Pulling her lower body back until she was pressed flush against his thighs in the open afternoon sun. She went completely breathless. A sharp shiver ripped straight down her spine. Her heart was hammering violently against her ribs, her pulse jumping so hard it was visible at the hollow of her throat. He did not stop. His hands slid up from her waist, his palms tracing the line of her ribcage, slow and deliberate, tracking upward with the unhurried certainty of a man who had memorized every inch of her and had decided that two and a half years of distance changed nothing about that. Zoya's instinct fired. Her hand flew down, her fingers locking around his wrist with a white-knuckled grip. She clamped down with everything she had, physically stopping him, her breath hitching, her throat tight, her arm pressed back against her own ribs holding him there. He did n

Next Day, The pool at the back of the manor was already warm from the late afternoon sun. Liyana was already in the water, kicking her legs like she was trying to outrun the whole world at once. Eleanor had insisted on the pony float — the one with the high sides so she couldn’t go under — but it didn’t slow the kid down one bit. “Granny, look!” Liyana slapped the water with both hands, then laughed at herself for doing it. “Look, look, look.” Amirah stood waist-deep in the shallow end, hair knotted up in a rush, one hand anchored to the float. She smiled every time Liyana splashed, but her eyes kept drifting past her. Eleanor sat under the shade umbrella, sunglasses on, a book open in her lap she hadn’t turned a page of in twenty minutes. “Not too deep,” she said, without looking up. “She’s fine,” Amirah said, too fast. “I’ve got her.” Liyana turned at the sound of her voice and threw both arms up, splashing. “Amirah, up.” “Up?” Amirah laughed. “You’re already up, lit

Zoya's car was already moving when his came around the corner. Not fast. Just pulling out of the alley exit onto the side street. Amirah was in the passenger seat. Adrian was still on the pavement behind them, his back half turned as he talked to the station over the phone. Michael saw it first. "Sir—" "Stop the car. Go check inside." The high beams caught the Porsche directly. Zoya braked. Raiyan was out of the vehicle before Michael had even fully stopped. Michael started after him, then stopped when Raiyan lifted a hand without looking back. Raiyan crossed the distance between the cars in eight long steps. Zoya's window slid down. She looked up at him, taking in whatever was raw and exposed in his face right now. She didn't look surprised. Not even a little. Amirah opened her door before he even reached the handle. She stepped out onto the damp pavement, still shivering, her wool coat pulled tight against her chest. Her lower lip was doing that small, frantic thing i