Chapter 7 · The Co-Signature

"Let go."

My voice cracked on the second word. Torin's thumb sat right over my pulse, right where his mouth had been two nights ago in the pump room, and my heart slammed against that exact spot like it remembered him better than I wanted it to.

"Everyone's watching, June." He said it low, almost gentle, which was worse than if he'd been cruel. "Pulling away now just confirms it."

"Confirms what? That you grabbed me?"

"That you're mine to grab."

Someone's champagne glass clinked too hard against a table. A phone came up two feet to my left, screen glowing, camera already recording. I felt the flash before I saw it — a hot little punch of light across my face, and I knew, right then, that whatever this looked like, it would exist forever now, cut and captioned and passed around by six a.m.

Halloran hadn't moved. He watched Torin's hand on my wrist like a man watching a stock tick up.

"So that's a yes," Halloran said. "On the record. Mrs. Black resides."

"I'm not —