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But they’re dead.

It’s what the reporter’s talking about as the news shows footage of an abandoned school building in Moskra, its decrepit parking lot now ironically buzzing with life because of the shootout that took place the night before. There are police cars and news vans everywhere, and blurred images of corpses being carried out.

Women who went missing over the years.

Women who were abducted but never found.

Auction house.

Sex slaves.

Human trafficking.

I can feel my brain automatically filing those words.

For later.

Because right now, my mind⁠—

Diminished capacity.

The words from long ago pop out of nowhere. Ruel himself used them. Eighteen months ago. When he told me there’s still a chance for either my stepfather or Konrad himself to nullify our marriage.

And right now…

That’s how my brain is working.

With diminished capacity.

Because I’ve just realized that my reasons for staying married to Ruel…

It’s gone.

And so the chance to say those three words to him?

It’s gone, too.

Chapter 5

Not Her, Too

Ruel waited for himself to feel something as he watched the water slowly turn pink. He stood under the shower, perfectly still, perfectly silent. The water did its work like it always did. The blood being gradually washed away from his body until the last of the pink water disappeared into the drain.

He stepped out of the shower and changed.

The mirror had fogged over completely, and while seeing his reflection wasn’t of interest to him, Ruel had just come back from a job, and there were protocols he had to follow.

It took less than a minute to clear up the fog. Then another minute to examine his face. He had protocols for this, too. Check for any wound or any fresh nick. Check for the tiniest drop of blood that the shower, however improbable, might have missed.

And once done…

He sat down behind his desk.

This, too, was part of protocol.

He needed time to decompress, time to feel less tainted even though that taint…

It would always be with him.