Ch. 4: Midnight Terms

The city never really slept, and tonight neither did he.

For a heartbeat the careful distance between them thinned to nothing at all. There was a history between them that neither would name, written in the things they did not do. Money could buy a great many things, she had learned, but never the one thing that was wanted most.

Money could buy a great many things, she had learned, but never the one thing that was wanted most. "You shouldn't have come," she said, and the words landed softer than they were meant to. For a heartbeat the careful distance between them thinned to nothing at all.

"You shouldn't have come," she said, and the words landed softer than they were meant to. "You shouldn't have come," she said, and the words landed softer than they were meant to. Money could buy a great many things, she had learned, but never the one thing that was wanted most.

He had built his whole life on being certain. She had a way of making certainty feel like a cage.

Money could buy a great many things, she had learned, but never the one thing that was wanted most. "I'm not asking you to forgive me," Nina said. "I'm asking you to listen."

Nina crossed the room slowly, aware of every step, of the way she was watching without seeming to. There was a history between them that neither would name, written in the things they did not do.