Chapter 37

• Killian
• I take her shopping first. She doesn’t ask for much, just the essentials, clothes for work, comfortable shoes, basic toiletries, and a coat that hides her frame a little too well. She keeps her head down most of the time, but I watch her anyway. She walks like someone who’s waiting for the ground to be ripped out from under her, careful and quiet. Still bleeding beneath the surface.
• When we get back to the hotel, she disappears into the bathroom with her bags. I don’t follow. I sit in the armchair, scrolling through messages I’ve already read, pretending not to listen to the soft rustle of fabric and running water behind the door.