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Vincent reaches into his jacket and pulls out a phone He swipes his fingers across the screen to wake it up and then presses an app on the home screen "This reroutes the call so it looks like it’s co from another nu

"Harper…"

I take a deep breath to stopso Vincent isn’t tempted to end the call if James thinks I’m upset

"Harper? You there?"

I s hard and nod "They said you were dead!"

He laughs "Fuck I’m fine They’re amateurs It’s you I’m worried about"

"Why did you drop "

He hesitates "You have to trust me, baby Do you trust me?"

A tear slips down my cheek but Vincent reaches out to swipe it away "Yeah" I breathe through my pent-up sobs "I do I can’t talk I just wanted you to know I love--"

I get the three beeps that tell me the call has been dropped and I look down at the screen as the app flashes a no-signal icon at ot cut off"

"I’m sorry," Vincent says "I’ive his phone back and turn away When he reaches for ers slip into his because I’ his voice shakes me up He does that to me He shakes my foundation and rocks ht me up in the saht now He’s the only person on this planet who reen eyes of the et lost in them My world spins My reality is shattered The et weak and theninto the arms of the man ants me to be his

Why does he have to look just like hiht until I stop shaking

"It’s the drugs Just relax and let it wear off"

I push off hiet to aze "I just need to settle in"

"You’re not fine, Miss Tate But I agree The sooner you can settle in, the better off you’ll be" Vincent gets up and leads h aroo itthrough the back of the house, so we’re facing the back of the stairs Up above is a long balcony that spans the entire length of the room There are two hallways on either side of the stairs, both on the upper and lower floors Like this house has wings to it