His beautiful liability
She didn't offer a smile, but there was a flicker of quiet, knowing pity in her eyes that made my chest tighten.
Karl dragged me past her, his heavy leather boots thudding rhythmically against the slate floor as he led me up a sweeping floating staircase. The tiny silver derringer pressed painfully against my front pocket with every step, a secret weight that felt heavier by the second. I wanted to scream, to fight back, to tear my arm out of his vice-like grip, but exhaustion had completely hollowed me out. My muscles ached from the violent shootout at the loading dock, and my brain was entirely fried from the realization that Karl’s own father had tried to sell my life away.