LILY’S PHONE buzzed again on the floor between them.
She did not pick it up.
Jeremiah noticed it, the vibration rattling softly against the concrete, then looked back at her without comment. He did not ask who it was. He did not tell her to answer. He stayed still, like he understood that whatever she needed to say next had nothing to do with the call.
Lily sat with her knees pulled to her chest, fingers locked tight around her arms. Her ribs still ached when she breathed too deep. Robert had left his mark without meaning to leave evidence. Pressure bruises. Pain that lived under the skin.
She swallowed hard.
“Why…” she asked suddenly, the word sharp and unfiltered, “does everybody want to keep me/”
Jeremiah’s gaze lifted slowly. “Keep you how?”
“Like I’m something that needs to be
