for a moment julia could not anything wxcept his own heartbeat

More sad. The guards still watched the gates, but their presence no longer felt like wealth showing off. It felt like a woman who had learned too late that danger could wear a cousin’s smile.

Amalia met him in the garden, not the sitting room. Smart. The garden had air. Space. A way out.

“I made coffee,” she said.

“I don’t drink the kind that comes in continue reading …