She shook her head. “No. He’s not himself. He doesn’t want
anyone seeing him like that. I tried to ask him to let me bring
you, but he didn’t want me to. He wants to be remembered the
way he was.”
At the next light, Giana took Coralyn’s in chin her grasp,
forcing her to turn and look at her. Her eyes were tear-filled
and when she blinked, silvery tracks trickled down her cheeks.
“Tell him that I’ll look after you,” Giana promised. “Tell him
that you’re loved and that you’re going to be okay. You’re
going to be my wife. I’m going to make this right. No more
hiding.”
Fresh tears trickled down ashen cheeks. Her coral lips
wobbled. “Okay,” she whispered. She tore her gaze forward,
and Giana let her hand fall because they were moving again.
“Okay.”
The pain in Giana’s chest lingered. Something bit at her
mind, at the black blanketing everything. Something painful. It
hurt so much. She didn’t know anything right now, but she
knew she’d gotten good at tucking things away where she
didn’t have to think about them or feel them. Where they
couldn’t destroy her. She did that now, focusing on the
buildings and the cars and the world around her, even if it was
too bright and stung her eyes and made her head throb.
Chapter 4
Coralyn
It had all gotten out of hand so quickly.
She’d seen an opportunity and she’d taken it. It was an idea,
barely formed, a lie that was so fast to her lips. She was
desperate and she was angry, and then it was pouring out of
her, the lies, and she couldn’t stop them now. She couldn’t stop