But I can’t make myself leave.
Enya’s upstairs—her silhouette moves across the curtains every now and then. She’s probably making tea, or reading, or doing something ordinary and gentle.
Everything she does is gentle.
Everything I touch gets sharp edges.
My jaw tightens as I replay her words from earlier.
Morally reprehensible.
She said it like she meant it, like she finally saw me for what I am.
I shouldn’t care.
But I do—more than I want to admit.
I press back in the seat, scrubbing a hand over my face. I’m not happy about any of this. Not the op, not the aftermath, and definitely not the fact that she looked right through the glass and forgave me while cutting me loose in the same breath.
She had every right to…but it still hit like a punch.
When did this stop being a job? When did I let it become something else?
Between her first shy smile and the nights I stayed over just to watch her breathe, I crossed a line.
My phone vibrates.
DAISY flashes across the screen.
I answer immediately. “Hey.”
“Dom!” My sister’s bright, chaotic voice streams through my earbuds. “I’ve been meaning to call, but something kept coming up.”
“All okay with Kai?” I ask after my nephew.
He’s four and the most beautiful child in the world.
Innocent. Perfect. I love him as much as I do my sister. Family means everything to me. So does Enya. Fuck me! She’s become my family.
“My little cutie is sleeping. Forest bribed him with a promise of a beach day.” Her husband, Forest, is a state Supreme Court judge who shows up to court in beach shorts. He wears a suit now and again, usually under duress.
“I’d love to have a beach day with Kai,” I say absently. I am so tired and, honestly, I need something good in my life. I need a hug from my nephew.
“How are you?” Daisy asks, and I can see the frown on her face over the bits and bytes.
“Fine,” I lie.
“Do I scent the powerful and obnoxious odor of mendacity?” She imitates Big Daddy fromCat On A Hot Tin Roof.
I laugh.
“Work stuff?” she muses.
“Yeah.”
She clicks her tongue. “Want to talk about it?”
“No.”
