He dipped his head to murmur something to her, and I saw an expression I'd never seen on his face before—tender, indulgent, almost worshipful.
"Don't be scared. Just a stray dog."
Stray dog.
I stood frozen in the doorway. My fingertips went numb.
Ten minutes ago—just ten minutes—this man, the one Capital City's elite reverently called their "saint," had sent me a photo of snow falling in Zurich.
"Wifey, the snow here is so heavy. I miss you."
So the snow in Zurich was actually falling in Capital City's playground of flesh and sin.
So when he said he missed me, he meant from another woman's arms.
Behind me, my brother looked like his soul had left his body. He'd only skipped school. He never expected to cross paths with this particular devil.
"Sis... sis, we need to go—"
Glen Baxter's voice shook so badly the words barely came out. He grabbed a fistful of my jacket, trying to drag me out of this hell.
"Mr. Stephens told us to get out—let's go!"
He dropped to his knees with a thud, forehead slamming against the floor in Aiden's direction. "Please, Mr. Stephens! My sister didn't mean it! We're leaving right now!"
The room erupted in laughter.