The next day came in a rush.
I barely remembered waking up, or what Taylor had said as he walked me home again. His voice had been steady, like it always was, but I hadn’t really heard him. All I could manage was a half-hearted smile and a wave as he turned off toward the gym, leaving me standing there with books clutched tight against my chest.
And then I was here.
The wrought-iron gates of the Moretti estate loomed ahead, and before I could second-guess myself, my feet carried me through. The compound stretched wide, neatly kept hedges framing the path that led to the front door. Each step I took landed heavier than the last. My heart hammered so loud it drowned out the world, as if it were begging me to turn back.
But it was too late.
I shifted my glasses higher on my nose and squa
