Lorraine sat with her hands clutched over her lap, head bowed, as the carriage jolted down from her house. Her heart thundered against her ribs, her skull ached with the pounding of it. She knew she had to do something, but her mind was a blank page, torn clean of thought.
A touch brushed her ear.
She flinched violently, shrinking back as though burned. Her father was smiling at her.
Her skin crawled. Every muscle in her body recoiled as his fingers cupped her cheek, his thumb brushing over her skin like he had every right.
"I've never noticed it before…" Hadrian murmured, his smile too gentle, too wrong. "You've grown into something… beautiful. You look like your mother."
His teeth glinted, and hers clenched until her jaw ached. The words turned her stomach. That smile had always come before pain.
