Chapter 36 The last step is a brutal one, as were the twelve before it. With Valentino’s heavy body draped across my shoulders, the act of reaching the top of the staircase feels for a moment like I’ve conquered Everest. He weighs more than he looks. I hope that I mashed in his chair enough to make it look like he twisted through the tape and broke free of his own accord. Catching a fresh perspective of the raw scene just outside the kitchen, I’m confident that the calamity appears authentic as if a m******e took place. I carefully slip my feet into my shoes, relieved they’re monk straps so I don’t have to deal with laces with Valentino’s dead weight bearing down on me.
The temperature outside is surely much cooler than it was before the sun set and the storm came through. Coupled with th
