Chapter 15 · Stolen Name

"Time's up, Ms. Vale."

The orderly's hand landed on my shoulder before I'd even let go of Danny's fingers. I'd been kneeling by his bed for eleven minutes. Tuesdays only got me thirty.

"One more minute," I said.

"Rules are rules." He didn't even look sorry about it.

Danny squeezed my hand, his knuckles thin under mine, still shaking a little from week two. "Go," he whispered. "You look like you're about to get fired from something."

"I don't get fired. I get summoned."

My phone was already buzzing in my coat pocket, three texts deep, all from the same number with no name saved because I'd deleted it out of spite once and never bothered to put it back.

LUCA: My office. Now. LUCA: Bring your laptop. LUCA: Do not make me send a car.

He sent the car anyway. It was idling outside the rehab center before I hit the parking lot, black and patient, like it already knew I'd lose the argument with myself.

By the time I walked into his office on the fortieth floor, my coat still smelled like hospital hand sanitizer and my brother's fear sweat, and Luca was standing behind his desk with