The words had changed the air between them.
Elena felt it the next afternoon when Victoria left for a short errand and the house fell quiet. Marcus found her in the hallway outside her bedroom. He did not speak. He only looked at her for a long moment, then reached past her and opened the door. Elena stepped inside. He followed and locked it.
They stood facing each other in the soft light coming through the half-drawn curtains. The map of bruises under Elena’s sweater felt present in a different way now—less like secret evidence of appetite and more like a record of something that had been named. Marcus lifted the hem of her sweater slowly, giving her time to stop him. She raised her arms instead. He pulled it off and let it fall.
His hands moved over the marks with deliberate care, pal
