es

room doors, letting them s

n laundry and floor wax. The solitude didn't bring relief; it only t

om. Then, without thinking, I wound up and hammered

l caved inward with an agonizing c

by the warm seep of split skin. But I couldn't feel the real damage. The pain

ld metal until I hit the rubber flooring. I pulled my knees up, dropping my he

ed back in, heav

through the wreckage of my mind, pulsing

ded a

nother, until everyth

ker room tiles. Time had bled out somewhere between the thi

uble doors swung o

oncaved locker to my raw, bleeding knuckles, and

ked straight to the wall-mounted first-aid kit, grabbed a chemical

fine," I gritted out. My voi

argument, he seized my wrist, cracked the ice pack

e of sarcasm clipping his words. "You just nearly punched a th

biting cold against my skin actually helped, sn

ut. I didn't want him to see my face. I didn't want anyone

he steady drip-drip of condensation rolling off the ice pack

urself to death?" he finally aske

our busine

ity. "Miles Vance, it is absolutely my business. You're my brother." He paused, letting the weight of the word settle betw

ly financing every tabloid in the city, and Piper Bennett Sterling, our PR d

his weight on the tiles. "I know it

ost in the room. Dre

ible hands had just clamped around my lungs, sq

ncontrollable now. "...it didn't just ruin my life." I forced the

aid it out loud. The first time I