And I realize all at once that I’ve had enough.

“And what are you going to do, Alexander?” I release Lorenzo’s tie, stepping closer to the other man. “Are you going to threaten me? My mother? Are you going to push her so hard she wants to die again?”

Alexander looks unruffled, and that only makes me angrier. But not nearly as much as what he says next.

“It would have probably been easier on everyone if she had,” he says coldly, his face devoid of emotion. “At least then I wouldn’t still be putting up with the pair of you.”

I hear a roaring in my head, my body moving before I even recognize what’s happening. One second I’m standing a foot away from the man who has made my life a living hell, made my mother’s life a living hell, and the next, he’s crumpling to the floor, blood streaming from his nose. That same blood covering my knuckles.

“You worthless piece of shit,” Alexander snarls, clutching his bloody nose. “I’ll fucking end you. I’ll lock your mother up in a hole and make sure she never sees—”

I crouch, grabbing him by the lapel of his jacket and forcing his head up. “Try it,” I warn. “I think you’ll find that when you push someone to the point where they have nothing to lose, you won’t like what they’re capable of. Do you want to see what I’m capable of, Alexander?”

For the first time in my entire life, there is a flash of fear in the old man’s eyes. For the first time ever—I don’t feel fear when I look into them. He’s just a man, I realize. Just an evil old man with more power than he deserves.

“I’m going to make sure you never touch her again,” I tell him resolutely. “I don’t care what it takes. And if you do, if you put one hand on her, if you so much as mess up her fucking hair—I will kill you. Do you understand me?”

“You can’t threaten me—”

“I just did,” I seethe. “Nothing to lose, remember? But go ahead, call the police. I’ll have plenty to say about you if they want to talk. Plenty to say.”

Again there is that flicker of alarm in the depths of his blue eyes, his pupils dilating and his throat bobbing with a swallow. I swipe my bloody knuckles on his suit jacket, standing to my full height and turning to point a finger at Lorenzo.

“If I ever hear you insult my mother again, I’ll extend you the same warning.”

Lorenzo grits his teeth. “You cannot—”

“Again,” I tell him calmly. “I just did.”

I straighten my suit, taking a deep breath and blowing it out, feeling lighter than I have in years. I step over Alexander’s crumpled figure, moving toward the door. I pause just before I open it, turning back to him one last time.

“Oh, and one more thing,” I call, my mouth splitting into a grin. “I quit.”

Alexander starts yelling again as I shut the door, but I’m over it. Closing the door on his bloody, irate form feels like closing the door on a part of my life that I’ve long yearned to escape from.

I feel…free. For maybe the first time.

I’m still smiling as I start moving back through the halls, only slowing when I catch sight of Lorenzo’s mistress in the foyer talking to his assistant. I frown as I watch them embrace, thinking that it’s weird that they would be so close.

But that’s not my problem anymore, I suppose.

I ride back down the elevators in a completely different mood than I rode up in. But I have another stop to make.

•   •   •

If I never have to come back to this house again, it will be too soon. I stare up at the massive structure where I spent my childhood, the elegant details and expensive features a point of envy to anyone who wouldn’t know any better. No one could know just looking at it what sort of hell lurks inside.

I push open the heavy French doors without knocking, stepping into the foyer and calling my mother’s name. Rita appears from the kitchen to give me a puzzled look, but I ignore her, calling for my mother again. I hear her voice faintly from the direction of her library, and I stomp toward it in a rush, only letting out the breath I’m holding when I find her sitting in her favorite chair, looking at me quizzically.

“Ezra?”

I cross the space in just a few short steps, falling to my knees and wrapping my arms around her waist to hug her tight.

“Ezra?” Her hand falls to my hair, stroking her fingers through it. “What’s wrong?”

“I want you to leave with me, Mom,” I whisper.

“Darling, what are you talking about? You know I can’t—”

“I hit him.”

“Him? Who?”

“Alexander,” I tell her. “I hit him. I think I might have broken his nose.” I pull back, tilting my head up to meet her eyes. “I told him if he ever touched you again, I would kill him. I don’t regret it either.”

My mother’s mouth parts in surprise, a myriad of emotions flickering across her face one after the other. “Ezra…you shouldn’t have done that.”

I shut my eyes tight, feeling stung by her soft admonition. “Mom, he’s horrible. I can’t just sit here and let him use you anymore. Because that’s what he’s doing, don’t you see that? He’s using you. Using us both. That’s all we are to him. Pawns. That’s all anyone is to him.”

My mother is quiet for several seconds, her eyes becoming glassy and her lips quivering. “I know you must think I’m weak,” she admits. “For being so placid for so long.”

“No, Mom, I don’t—”

She holds up a hand to stop me. “You’d be right, Ezra.” And when I try to protest again, “No, you would be. Because I am. I know that.”

Despite her words, she smiles at me.

“I think…for a long time now, I’ve felt like I deserve this. Every choice I’ve ever made has only hurt you or your brother.”

“That’s bullshit, you’ve—”

“Let me get this out,” she says with more force than I’ve ever heard her use. “Every choice I’ve made has caused you pain. Has pushed your brother away from me. Those are my burdens to bear. But I can’t let you take on any more for yourself. Not because of me.”

“It’s too late,” I tell her. “I quit. I quit, and I’m not going back. You and I both know that it’s you he’s going to take it out on. That you will be the one who suffers, just so that he can make me suffer.”

“Ezra…”

“Come with me,” I beg. “Just leave. I’ll keep you safe. We can fight this together. I won’t ever let him hurt either of us again if you’ll just let me.”

She considers this, her eyes thoughtful and sad. “He won’t allow it. You know that. He’ll come after us both. He knows too many people, Ezra. There’s nothing we can do to him.”

“We won’t know unless we try,” I urge. “I’m just asking you to give me the chance to try.”

“And what happens when he starts making your life worse? It won’t be just you he’ll come after, Ezra. It will be your friends. Anyone you care about.”

I wince at the thought of Dani, grateful at least that it seems like there will be no chance now that Alexander will ever know what she means to me.

I huff out a humorless laugh. “I don’t think that will be an issue. Not anymore. There’s no one in my life close enough to me for him to use.”

“What about the woman you were seeing?”

I shake my head. “That was nothing, Mom. It’s done.”

“That was her, wasn’t it? The woman I met the night of the party?”

I consider lying to her, but I’m so fucking raw that I just don’t have it in me to do so. “It was,” I admit hoarsely.

“She seemed nice,” my mother offers.

“She is,” I agree. “But it doesn’t matter. It didn’t work out. It’s better that way, honestly. It means that there’s nothing Alexander can do to me. There’s no reason for you not to say yes.”

Her thumb traces lightly back and forth across my jaw, her eyes as lucid as I’ve ever seen them. I can see the moment she comes to a decision; her spine goes a little straighter, and her shoulders square, and for one brief moment, she reminds me of the woman she used to be. The one who I believed could do anything.