alm. She picked up an open bottle of sticky red liqueur. The other guests watched, their

e playing on her lips. Without a word,

n his shirt. It was cold and sticky, gluing his eyelids shut for a

ded with laugh

h, Ch

t hi

through the red haze of the liqueur dripping over his face. This moment, his complete degrad

re on a second honeymoon in Europe, blissfully unaware that the girl they

had enough," he said, his voice a stage whisper loud enough for everyone to hear. He

together. He looked past her, his eyes locking

id, his voice low and intimate. "Just s

roat caught Ethan' s eye. It was a simple c

ath caught i

mother' s

by a cold, sharp shock that was somehow worse

a raw whisper. The guys holding him la

princess?" one

ace around Brody' s neck. "That necklace," he said

is tenth birthday, the year she was diagnosed. She told him it was a reminder to always let his own song fly free. After she p

on his face. "This old thing? Chloe gave it to me. Said it was

r a fraction of a second, a tiny admission of guilt,

defensive. "It' s a cheap piece of wood. Stop making

taken the most precious thing he owned, the last tangible piece of his mother, a

e a physical wound. He felt his composure, h

he wrenched one arm free from the man holdin

o you have a conscience?" he choked out, the words tearing from his throat. "Do you

trayal. "My parents took you in! They gave you a home when you had nothing! They l

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