Chapter 17: Pulled Back
NAOMI POV
The diner's lights felt almost violent after the darkness of the last twenty minutes.
Too bright. Clean and ordinary
People were eating like it was any other night. Forks scraping against plates. Coffee cups hitting saucers. Someone at the counter laughed loudly enough to turn two heads.
I couldn't understand how the world could still look this normal.
We slid into a booth near the back.
Renata took the seat facing the door.
Julian sat beside me.
His hand found mine before he'd even settled properly, his fingers closing around mine beneath the table.
Renata picked up a menu.
She didn't look at it.
“He'll come in like he belongs here,” she said.
I looked at her.
“Who?”
She kept her eyes on the door.
“Men like that.”
She turned a page.
“Th
