Chapter 3 - The Echo of Leather on Marble
Julian took a step.
The leather sole of his shoe clicked against the marble.
The sound was deafening in the dead silence of the estate.
Elara flinched.
Her entire body jerked backward, her bare shoulder scraping against the dark wood of the vanity cabinet behind her.
She squeezed her eyes shut.
Tears, thick and fast, squeezed through her dark lashes and cut wet, shining paths down her cheeks.
She pulled her knees tight against her chest, making herself as small as humanly possible.
She was trying to disappear into the grey veins of the stone.
Julian’s second step was slower.
Deliberate.
He moved his hands out of his suit pockets.
He let them hang open, empty, visible at his sides.
May you like
A predator actively trying to prove he had no teeth.
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