Chapter 11

Elena's POVWhen I came to, the curtains were only half drawn. Cold light slid through the gap and bleached the ceiling.The air smelled of antiseptic. Faint, but heavy on the chest.It took me a few seconds to figure out where I was.My body felt heavy. Wrung out.I shifted a little. A dull pain went through my stomach.It wasn't only the pain of a wound. There was an emptiness with it.I went still.My hand drifted down to my belly. It was flat and quiet. Nothing kicked back.I didn't cry. I didn't make a sound. I just looked at the ceiling for a long time, let my breathing fall apart, and pulled it back together.Somewhere along the way, I'd picked up this habit of holding things in.The door opened.The footsteps were quick.I didn't have to look to know.James stopped beside the bed and didn't speak.I didn't look at him.The silence stretched out.Then there was a quiet, heavy sound.He'd gone to his knees."Elena."His voice was raw, like he'd been awake too long."I'm sorry."H

Chapter 12

Elena's POVAfter I left James, I'd assumed my life was going to look a certain way.Lonely. Quiet. With a tear in it that wouldn't quite close.That isn't what happened.I started over. I rebuilt a routine. I healed in pieces.James never gave up. He apologized to me more times than I can count. I never accepted any of it.It was slow at first, and hard. But bit by bit things steadied. The clients came back. My hand for design came back.The past loosened its grip on me. When I thought of those years now, when I thought of him, it was like watching someone else's life — something to sigh over, nothing to feel.The seasons turned. Time did its work on me. It was almost as if I'd come back to where I'd been six years ago — to the night before I met James.I had assumed I'd just learned how to live alone.And then there was the man.Nothing engineered about it. No omen. We met on a perfectly ordinary work project, and he walked into my life.He didn't ask after my past. He didn't try to

All Chapters of The Stand-In Vampire Wife Who Walked Away: Chapter 11 - Chapter 12

Chapter 11

Chapter 12