Chapter 20
Damian could hardly believe the hollow-eyed, sallow, stringy-haired woman was his sister. Maria had been vain and gorgeous her whole life. As he stared at her slumped on his parents’ couch, he was struck by the difference a month could make in a person’s health. But why should he be surprised? One month, or a little longer, had made a hell of a difference between Alex and himself.
Avoiding that thought and its complicated associations, he set down his backpack and walked to his sister.
She shivered in her pale blue tank top despite the oppressive heat. A glass of ice water, evidently untouched, sweated on the coffee table near her. That was another departure from the norm: ordinarily she’d have an array of appetizing snacks laid out for herself and everyone else to munch on.
