Chapter 17
Charlotte
“My God, Elijah.”
I had no words after what he had just told me. The entire time I sat there listening to him, watching his expression go from angered to sad and heartbroken, was painful to witness. There was no way I could have imagined what it had to be like for him as a boy. Apart from never knowing my father, my childhood was good. Great, even. My mom and I didn’t have a lot of money, but we had each other. We had love. There wasn’t a day in my life when I felt neglected or unloved. I never went to bed with an empty stomach or a broken heart.
Elijah swallowed his last mouthful of whiskey, the ice clinking against the glass. His gaze drifted everywhere but at me, actively avoiding eye contact. It was the first glimpse of vulnerability I had seen in him. The firs
