The silence in the apartment went on long enough that Ethan could hear the refrigerator, and his own heartbeat, and underneath both of them the sound of a woman breathing like someone standing at the edge of something she had been circling for years.
"Maya," he said again. Softer. "Please."
She looked down at the phone still glowing on the table between them — at the message that had just taken the last of her control over how this would happen — and when she looked back up, something in her face had changed. Not crumbled. Settled, the way a building settles once a decision has been made and there's no reason left to brace.
"Before I answer that," she said, "I need you to do something for me."
"Anything."
"Look around this room."
Ethan didn't move his eyes from her face. "I already d
