I found them sleeping on a marble bench inside my bank—one exhausted mother and a six-year-old girl hugging a torn rabbit.

her eyes.

I took a sip of wine.

“Rumors can be dangerous.”

Victor chuckled.

“Only when they aren’t true.”

Across the table, Elian whispered something into Mara’s ear.

I could not hear the words, but I saw her fingers tighten around her napkin until her knuckles turned white.

I excused myself before dessert.

In the hotel bathroom, I locked myself inside a stall continue reading …