Chapter 22 · The Lakefront Verdict

I shouldn't have come alone.

The pavilion sits at the edge of the lakefront, all glass and steel catching moonlight like it's trying to show off. Vivienne's already there, standing with her back to the water, hands in the pockets of a coat that probably costs more than my entire year's rent. She doesn't turn when I walk up. Just keeps staring at the city lights across the lake.

"You're early," she says.

I stop a few feet back. Close enough to hear her, far enough to run if I need to. "You said you'd tell me the truth."

"I said I'd tell you what Darius won't." She turns now, and her eyes catch the light wrong. Too bright. Too gold. "There's a difference."

My hand goes to my phone in my pocket. Darius doesn't know I'm here. I didn't tell him because I knew he'd try to stop me, and I'm done being protected from things that are about me.

Vivienne steps closer. I hold my ground.

"Sixteen years ago," she says, "your mother brought you to Chicago in the middle of winter.