The apartment felt hollow after everyone left. Like the air had been sucked out and the walls were listening.
Nicky didn't speak.
He moved like a ghost, picking up his coat from the floor where it had been dropped earlier, folding it neatly over the arm of a chair. Like if he could put the apartment back together, something in him might follow.
Eliana sat still on the couch, legs pulled up, arms wrapped around herself. She hadn't cried again not since Luca and Renee held her but her throat still ached with it.
She wanted to say something.
But what? Thank you for not throwing me out? Sorry I made everything worse? Please look at me?
He walked past her without a word, heading into the bedroom.
She stood slowly. Followed.
He was unbuttoning his shirt, movements mechanical. Bruises were already blooming near his jaw from Renee's punch. She hated that it had happened. Hated more that part of her wasn't even surprised.
"Nicky," she said, voice soft.
