na Viti

ound of grinding metal echoi

, harsh and sudd

er, my lips blue and my b

od in the

, immaculate i

me with undis

p," he

dn't work; they were numb

ed, imp

uled me up by my arm

in protest as the blood

repented?"

ked a

were hard

ed. My voice was

gala. You will be there. You will smile

me out of

offer me

to the esta

I went straig

, trying to scrub the sm

and red, but I stil

off, I walked

shoebox from

d ever

from the safe

e I had saved from whe

n of him sleeping,

ked a

as

all jus

o the trash chut

by just as I appro

that?"

ge," I

ed the

ped t

umbled down in

ompactor three floors

aid, adjusting his cuffs indifferently. "Yo

my voice hollow

to my room

a blac

bruises from where the

hide the mark fro

d like

stairs to t

the elite of the

tered overhead. Champagn

s in white.

ed like

tapped h

ell over

union of the Vitiello and Mo

d applaus

o the stage. He t

ith a possessiveness th

," he said, his voice smooth. "Sh

er and pulled

iamond spar

me, Isa

she s

issed

rowd

ck, hidden near t

mise his life to the woman wh

trange sen

pe was

h of hope, the pa

ust a g

't cry at thei