Beyond the Boundary: Claimed by the Genius

The first Christmas dinner after our falling out, the boy next door came over. His mom told him to set me up on a blind date. Silas scoffed, leaning back in his chair. "Sure.

Just give me your checklist.

But let's be real," he added, a familiar smirk playing on his lips. "After me, is anyone else even going to catch your eye?" An awkward silence settled over the dining room.

Everyone knew I had been completely obsessed with him for five years. Everyone also knew he never gave a damn. I met his arrogant stare. A faint smile touched my lips. "No need.

I already have a boyfriend." After all, no one waits around in the exact same spot forever. Chapter 1 "Who is he?" His voice dropped, thick and unreadable. I held his stare.

Laughter from our parents echoed from the living room down the hall.

Just as I was about to speak, Silas let out a short laugh. "Margot, don't tell me you actually thought I'd ask that?" He leaned his shoulder against the drywall.

Total nonchalance. "Stop playing these pathetic little mind games.

I couldn't care less if you have a boyfriend." "I told you." His jaw ticked. "If you choose Harvard, I am never getting together with you." Silas was always so arrogant.

He was certain he could drop an Ivy League acceptance for Sadie, and I'd blindly follow suit. Now he was confident I was just pulling a stunt to get his attention.

I stared at his retreating back. I was suddenly tired of letting him always have the upper hand. "Silas," I called out. He stopped in his tracks. "Am I playing mind games?

Or are you just terrified?" I took a step forward. "Terrified that you actually don't matter that much anymore. You're right.

We're just neighbors," I said, my voice eerily steady. "My love life is none of your business. So do us both a favor—keep your distance.

Don't talk to me unless you have to." I turned around and went back to my room. I never saw the velvet bracelet box crumpled inside his jacket pocket.

His knuckles white around the crushed cardboard. Ten years of trailing after him like a lost puppy.

He was the guy who stepped in front of me with murder in his eyes when the older kids picked on me.

The guy who stayed up until 3 AM making colorcoded flashcards when I flunked AP Calc. Everyone knew I was gone for him.

I wore my obsession on my sleeve, graduating from a childhood crush to something painfully real. And he never gave me a single scrap in return.

Until that summer night before sophomore year. Stars scattered across a pitchblack sky. I was riding shotgun in his beatup Jeep, the windows rolled down.

His voice cut through the wind. "Margot. You know I don't date idiots. I'm going to Harvard.

Get an acceptance letter, and maybe I'll consider taking you out." Just like that, my life suddenly had a purpose. I boxed up my romance novels and put away my comic books.

I chained myself to my desk. Harvard wasn't a college dream anymore. It was an admission ticket to becoming Silas's girlfriend.

I thought bleeding over textbooks would eventually make me worthy of standing beside him. I forgot that real love doesn't come with a checklist.

Sadie showed up on the first day of senior year. The scholarship transfer student. And Silas's new lab partner.

Silas, who couldn't be bothered to remember half our classmates' names, started showing up with extra bagels and iced coffees for her. He blew me off. Over and over.

Just to help her cram for AP Physics. One Saturday, the three of us were supposed to hit Barnes & Noble for SAT prep books. My phone buzzed that morning. Silas.

He claimed something came up with Sadie and they couldn't make it. Two hours later, I walked into the bookstore. There they were.

Huddled together in the corner aisle, shoulders brushing over a study guide. "Silas, thank you for paying for these." Sadie looked up at him through her lashes. "You know I'm broke.

You're the only person I'd ever let see me like this." He swiped his card at the register.

A soft, genuine smile pulling at his lips. "Don't worry about it," Silas murmured. "Honestly, I didn't want Margot dragging along anyway.

She takes forever." It felt like all the air had been sucked out of the room. My eyes started to turn red. Silas turned around. His eyes locked dead onto mine.

I instinctively turned and ran outside. I didn't know what I was afraid of, only that deep down, I couldn't stomach seeing them together.

Chapter 2 I barely made it to the sidewalk before a heavy hand clamped down on my wrist. Silas was breathing hard.

A flicker of panic crossed his face, instantly swallowed by his usual hard edge. "Sadie and I aren't doing whatever you're picturing in your head.

We're actually focused on our futures right now. We don't have time for anything else.

Unlike some people, who are obsessed with dirty thoughts and romantic drama." Silas's words felt like a bucket of ice water being poured over my head. Some people. Me. He meant me.

So, my five years of feelings for him were just that pathetic in his eyes. I doubled down. I needed to prove I wasn't some desperate joke.

I was going to get into Harvard, with or without him. Acceptance letter day. I practically sprinted across our shared lawn, an Ivy League email loaded on my phone.

I pushed open his unlocked front door, only to be hit by the sight of red Solo cups and floating balloons.

Half our senior class was crammed into his living room, screaming "Happy Birthday" to Sadie. Every single person from our friend group was there. Except me.

Silas spotted me, grabbed my elbow, and dragged me into the hallway. "Sadie said she's never had a real birthday party.

I figured today was a good day to celebrate everything, so I threw this together. I didn't invite you because I knew you'd get the wrong idea. You know how sensitive you get.

I was just trying to spare your feelings." Classic victimblaming. Excluding me was somehow my fault. And my hands were tied.

If I snapped, if I defended myself, I'd just be the crazy, jealous girl he already thought I was.

Sadie squeezed into the hallway, balancing a slice of funfetti cake on a paper plate. "Margot! Since you're already here, grab some food.

Make yourself at home!" She practically beamed, playing the perfect hostess in a house that wasn't hers. Sadie slipped back into the noise.

Silas leaned against the wall. "By the way, when you accept your offer, pick Penn State." "Penn State?" My head snapped up.

His dad had literally just bragged that Silas scored high enough for Harvard. Silas cleared his throat, his eyes dropping to the floorboards. "Sadie… she didn't score as high.

She only got into Penn State. I can't just let her move out of state all by herself." A sharp, jagged pain ripped through my chest. It even became difficult to breathe.

Harvard was never a requirement. It was just a hurdle he built exclusively for me.

A sudden, exhausting sense of pointlessness washed over me. "And if I don't?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

The arrogant smirk returned, lifting the corner of his mouth. "Then my promise is off the table. I will never date you. The only girl standing next to me will be Sadie.

You're not blind. You know exactly how she feels about me." Silas pushed off the wall and walked back into the party. He didn't even look back.

Completely certain I'd bend to his will like I always did. I stood there for a long time, letting out a sudden, bitter laugh as tears fell. He knew.

He knew she wanted him the whole time. Yet he spent months standing on a moral pedestal, lecturing me for having a dirty mind. Playing dumb while treating me like an absolute idiot.

But Silas got one thing wrong. After bleeding over my textbooks for a year, Harvard wasn't about him anymore. It was my dream.

I could tell the difference between a toxic guy and a future. So when I logged onto the portal, I smashed the "Accept" button for Harvard without a second thought.

Instead of crying over him, I enrolled in an intensive summer collegeprep workshop. Silas was apparently swamped too.

Sharon mentioned over the fence that he was leaving at dawn and crashing late every night, looking completely wrecked.

But he still managed to blow up my phone, demanding screenshots of my portal and asking if I committed to Penn State yet. I left every single text on read.

Chapter 3 The day before I was supposed to leave for Harvard, Silas shoved his way into my room, dropping a massive cardboard box on the floor. I glanced inside. Bug spray.

Mini fans. A bunch of humidweather survival gear. "Sadie and I picked this up. Got you a set too," he said, dusting off his hands. "Dorms at Penn State get a ton of bugs.

You'll need this." "Take it back. I don't want it." I stared at him, my face completely blank. Two months ago, the sight of him would have made my heart ache.

But the withdrawals were finally fading. "Still pissed?" A familiar smirk crept onto his face. He reached out, his fingers aiming for my cheek like he always used to.

I tilted my head, stepping just out of reach. His hand froze in midair.

A heavy exhale pushed past his lips before he let his arm drop. "I booked our flights for Thursday afternoon," he murmured, pulling out his phone. "Confirmation is in your texts.

Don't be late. I've got a surprise for you when we land." He shoved his phone in his pocket and walked out. I'd never find out what his big surprise was.

Because the very next morning, I boarded a oneway flight to Boston. Walking through Harvard Yard with my new roommate, my screen lit up. Silas. My phone buzzed relentlessly.

I hit decline, but it rang again, over and over, dozens of times until my patience completely snapped. I finally blocked all his contact info.

A text chimed from a mutual friend's phone. Silas. "Margot, you're ruthless." That night, Sadie's Instagram story popped up on my feed. "Spoiled by my man.

Best gift ever." A silver charm bracelet glinted on her wrist. The exact one I'd obsessed over for a year.

Silas had sworn he'd work double shifts all summer just to buy it for me before college. Now it was locked around another girl's wrist. A ghost of a smile touched my lips.

I tapped her profile and blocked Sadie, too. I cut out anything that drained my energy. That blind, naive obsession was officially dead and buried.

I suddenly missed Alistair very much. I pulled up his contact. "What are you up to?" Three pulsing dots appeared immediately.

Alistair replied, "Thinking about what you're up to." A second later, another ping. "Margot, I miss you." Just like that, the tension bled out of my shoulders.

I'd sent him a TikTok months ago—the one saying "What are you doing?" is just code for "I miss you." He actually remembered. Alistair's love was always so direct and passionate.

I didn't have to guess or ask when I was with him. He just looked at me and told me exactly how much he wanted me.

He made me believe that when the world burned down, he'd be standing right beside me in the ashes.

The emotionally unavailable, toxic bad boy trope was perhaps only popular in romance novels.

In the real world, being fiercely and unconditionally chosen was the only thing I craved.

We stayed on FaceTime for hours that night, the screen glowing in the dark until I finally drifted off. I hadn't planned on going to the party.

I just didn't want to breathe the same air as Silas and Sadie. But Zoe dragged me out of my dorm by the wrists.

Her crush was going to be there, and she needed wingman courage to shoot her shot. The bass thumped through the floorboards the second we walked in.

The entire freshman class seemed crammed into the house. Silas and Sadie held court on the center sofa. Sadie shifted to stand up.

Silas reached out, his arm wrapping easily around her waist. He pulled her back down against his side, leaning in to whisper something in her ear.

The perfect, sickening image of a couple completely obsessed with each other.

Chapter 4 I barely glanced at them before ripping my eyes away, dropping into an empty chair across the room.

When the server came around, Silas ordered half the seafood menu, claiming Sadie was craving shellfish. Zoe couldn't hold back. "Margot is deathly allergic to seafood.

What the hell is she supposed to eat?" Silas raised an eyebrow, his tone dripping with mock innocence. "What? Just because she can't eat it, the rest of us have to starve?

Or are you going to throw another tantrum and storm out just because Her Majesty Margot didn't get her way?" His dark eyes locked onto mine on that last sentence.

A direct challenge. I flashed a tight, polite smile at the rest of the table. "It's fine. Order whatever you guys want. Don't worry about me." I wasn't here for the food anyway.

Seeing my complete indifference, Silas's jaw tightened, a flash of something dark and dangerous crossing his face. The tension in the room spiked.

The guy sitting next to him scrambled to change the subject. "Anyway man, I heard you already snagged first place in that Ivy League hackathon. Flexing on everyone week one.

Classic Silas." Silas leaned back, soaking up the praise and breaking down his coding strategy. His eyes flicked to my side of the table. A calculated glance.

The table erupted back into loud, easy chatter. I tuned them out. My thumb swiped over my iMessage thread with Alistair.

He had asked for the restaurant's address two hours ago and then had completely ghosted me. Probably caught up at a frat party or something.

I snapped a picture of the crustaceanheavy menu and hit send. "Looks like I'm starving tonight. Seafood allergy activated.

SOS!" Zoe glared at Silas, refusing to let him run the show. She turned to me, pitching her voice loud enough to cut through the noise. "Wait, Margot, you're at Harvard now, right?

Do you know Alistair?" I choked on my ice water, coughing into my napkin. "Yeah… I know him." A sudden hush fell over the table at the mention of Alistair's name.

The guy was practically a walking legend. Only a sophomore, but Ivy League professors were already fighting over him for their labs.

He swept every engineering and physics competition he entered. Even if you hadn't met him, you knew his name.

Zoe seized the opening, hyping him up like crazy. "Damn, Margot, you're running in some serious circles. That guy is untouchable.

A few upperclassmen and I went to watch the National Collegiate Physics Symposium. He was soloing against grad students and PhD candidates. Literally carried the entire event.

He had the judges totally speechless. Half the girls in my dorm are completely obsessed with him.

But every time someone shoots their shot and asks for his Snap or number, he just shuts it down. Says he has a girlfriend.

Whoever she is, she's the luckiest girl on the planet." A genuine, private smile tugged at the corners of my mouth.

Before I could say a word, Sadie's sicklysweet voice sliced through the moment. "It sounds like Margot is having a great time at Harvard." She bit her lip, looking at me with wide, innocent eyes. "You blocked Silas and me on everything.

I honestly thought you were going to hate us forever. Margot, whether the past was our fault or not, I just want to be the bigger person and apologize.

Just please don't blame Silas. It's my fault for being so helpless and making him worry about me all the time." As she spoke, Sadie's eyes suddenly reddened, and she started to cry.

Silas instantly wrapped an arm around her, his glare shifting back to me. "Margot, Sadie literally just apologized to you.

What more do you want?" The rest of the table shot me sideways glances, thick with judgment. I hadn't said a single damn word.

Yet somehow, they managed to twist the narrative and make me the villain again. Chapter 5 Just then, my phone rang. An iMessage from Alistair lit up the lock screen.

A photo of the icy street right outside the restaurant. "Your delivery driver is out front.

Please come down and sign for your package." I tuned out whatever pathetic spin Sadie was putting on her tears. I stood up and said, "Excuse me. My boyfriend is here.

I'm heading out." I didn't wait for a reaction. I grabbed my coat and bolted for the stairs. Freezing air hit my lungs the second I pushed through the front doors.

Snow was coming down hard, swirling under the amber glow of the streetlights. And there he was. Alistair. Leaning against the hood of his matte black SUV.

Our gazes met through the flurries. A bright, unmistakable grin broke across his face. I sprinted across the icy pavement and launched myself at him.

His strong arms caught me instantly, wrapping tight around my waist, lifting my feet off the ground.

He buried his face in my hair, his chest rumbling. "What are you doing here?" I breathed into his neck. "I thought you were locked in the lab until Monday." "I felt my girl pulling away from me through the phone," Alistair murmured, his breath hot against my freezing skin. "Figured the boyfriend in his trial phase needed to step up his game." A laugh bubbled up my throat.

I stood on my tiptoes and pressed a hard, fast kiss to his jawline. "Your reward for good behavior." Alistair's eyes darkened.

His hand slid to the nape of my neck, his thumb tracing my jaw as he ducked his head to claim a real kiss. But he froze.

His gaze snapped over my shoulder, his entire body going rigid. I twisted around in his arms. Silas was standing ten feet away on the sidewalk.

His fists were balled so tight his knuckles were bonewhite. His face was extremely dark. The heavy restaurant doors swung open again. Half the party spilled out onto the concrete.

Zoe let out a highpitched gasp. "Holy shit. Is that… Alistair?" A murmur rippled through the group. "No freaking way." "It is him.

I literally just watched his MIT robotics interview on YouTube last week." Zoe shoved past Silas and threw her arms around my shoulders, practically vibrating with excitement. "You absolute psycho!

Since when are you dating the Alistair? You didn't tell me!" I just offered her a sheepish smile, tucking myself tighter into Alistair's side.

A few guys from the back of the pack yelled out, begging Alistair to come up for a drink. Alistair looked down at me, his eyebrow raised in a silent question.

I shook my head immediately. "No. We actually have somewhere to be." Alistair caught the cue instantly.

He pulled me flush against his chest, flashing the crowd a polite, devastating smile. "Rain check.

Margot texted me that she was dying for those specific street tacos from across town.

Had to make a special delivery." A collective, breathless sigh rippled through the girls on the sidewalk. Pure, unfiltered envy. Alistair opened the passenger door for me.

Before I could slide in, a cold hand clamped down on my wrist. Silas.

He paused, as if he hadn't figured out what to say, before finally speaking. "The… the food," Silas choked out, his voice cracking. "We haven't eaten yet." I ripped my arm out of his grip. "I told you.

I'm allergic to the menu." I stared dead into his panicked eyes. "I finally found something that won't make me sick." I didn't wait for his reaction.

I climbed into the leather seat and pulled the door shut, locking out the freezing wind and the pathetic look on his face.

The heater blasted through the SUV vents, thawing my frozen hands. I knew Alistair had picked up on the tension.

When he had pulled me close on the sidewalk, his eyes had been locked in a dead stare right at Silas. I hadn't told Alistair about the decade I had wasted on the boy next door.

It just hadn't mattered. Silas was a ghost. A toxic, exhausting ghost that had zero bearing on my present and no place in my future.

But driving through the dark, snowy streets, I spilled everything. I didn't want any red flags or secrets hanging between us.

The silence in the car stretched on for miles after I finished. My stomach tied itself into a vicious knot. "Alistair," I whispered, picking nervously at my thumbnail. "Are you mad?

That I didn't tell you? That I went to a party knowing he'd be there?" He pulled up to a red light. He shifted the car into park, turning fully in his seat to face me.

A soft, breathless laugh escaped him.

He reached over, capturing my trembling hand in his warm grip. "Margot, look at me." I forced my eyes up. "If I was threatened by a guy who couldn't even realize what he had when it was right in front of him, I'd be insulting myself," Alistair said, his voice dropping low, dead serious. "You're my girl.

But you're also your own person. You can go wherever you want, see whoever you want.

I am never going to put you in a cage." His thumb brushed lightly over my knuckles. "I'm just pissed that you had to hurt that much before I found you." A violent pressure built behind my eyes.

The back of my throat burned. Chapter 6 Alistair always knew exactly what to do. He had this quiet, unshakable gravity that completely disarmed every insecurity I threw at him.

Making me fall a little harder every single time. My mind drifted back to movein day.

He stood leaning against the wroughtiron campus gates, his large, lean hands effortlessly taking my heavy suitcase. "Margot, right? I'm Alistair.

Eleanor sent me to grab you." I hadn't expected my mom's best friend's son to look like that.

His family had lived in Europe for years, and he only moved back stateside for college, so our paths had never crossed. He must have sensed my massive social anxiety.

He kept the conversation flowing the entire walk across Harvard Yard, pointing out the best dining halls and quietest study spots. Zero awkward silences.

He dropped my bags at my dorm and immediately backed off, tossing me his number in case I needed anything. His perfect boundaries gave my lungs room to breathe.

I swore to myself I wouldn't actually bother him. But Harvard was brutal. The coursework was suffocating.

I vented to Eleanor on FaceTime one night, and she shut me down instantly. "What's the big deal? Alistair is brilliant.

Just ask him to tutor you." Eleanor and Alistair were both terrifyingly proactive. My phone pinged that exact night.

Alistair, locking me in for a Sunday study session at Widener Library. I spent the next three nights pulling absolute allnighters.

I obsessively prestudied the material, terrified of asking a stupid question and seeing that familiar eyeroll.

Silas used to make me feel completely worthless over a missed equation. Sunday afternoon, I sat rigidly at the mahogany library table, scribbling notes.

A heavy, dramatic sigh broke the silence. "This is tragic," Alistair murmured. My stomach plummeted. I instinctively braced for the criticism.

He slumped back in his chair, rubbing the back of his neck in mock defeat. "I came here ready to flex my genius sophomore brain, but you're already crushing the syllabus.

I'm completely useless here." My head snapped up. I collided with his dark eyes, bright with a teasing, effortless warmth. No irritation. No condescension.

The tight knot in my chest slowly unspooled. His gaze dropped to my face, his brows pulling together. "You've been pulling allnighters, haven't you?

Look at these dark circles." He reached across the table, tapping his pen lightly against my notebook. "Don't be ridiculous.

If you already knew the answers, why would I even be here? Let me do the heavy lifting." It felt like the distance between us suddenly shortened.

I later realized that Alistair was truly amazing. He ripped apart the most convoluted organic chemistry problems and translated them into plain English.

My roommates swore up and down he was into me. I thought they were delusional.

Until the tenth time he showed up outside my dorm with takeout, claiming his mom, Penelope, "accidentally" ordered too much food.

I finally cracked. "Alistair, are you…" The words lodged in my throat. I couldn't say it. I opened my mouth to backpedal, but his voice cut through the cold air. "Yes.

I'm trying to make you mine." My brain shortcircuited.

He stepped off the curb, ducking his head until his eyes were perfectly level with mine. "Clearly, I'm doing a terrible job if you're still questioning it." A slow, heartstopping smile spread across his face. "So, Miss Margot.

Are you going to put me out of my misery and let me take you out on a real date?" Facing that handsome face so close to mine, I gave in and said yes.

After Alistair dropped me off at my apartment building that night, I waved as his taillights disappeared down the block. I turned around.

A dark figure peeled out of the shadows near the dumpsters. Silas.

His eyes were pure, glacial ice. "When did that start?" he demanded, his voice slicing through the quiet street. "How far have you gone with him?" The sheer, unearned entitlement in his tone made my skin crawl.

I didn't even dignify it with a response. I kept my head down and kept walking. But the second I brushed past his shoulder, a violent force hit me.

Silas gripped my coat collar and slammed my spine hard against the brick wall.

Chapter 7 "Answer me!" Silas hissed, his grip tightening. "You think Alistair actually gives a damn about you? He's just playing you.

The second he gets what he wants, he's going to toss you like garbage—" My palm cracked across his jaw with a resounding slap, the sharp sting radiating all the way up my shoulder.

Silas went dead still. His head snapped to the side. "Did that knock some sense into you?" I breathed, my chest heaving. "You don't get to dictate my relationship with Alistair.

You lost the right to interrogate me a long time ago." I shoved him back. Afraid he might do something else out of line, I turned and ran away.

He lunged after me. "Don't take another step!" I screamed, spinning back around. "Remember your own rules, Silas. We're just neighbors. Right now? You just look pathetic.

You look jealous." Silas froze. He stood paralyzed under the flickering streetlamp. He didn't say a single word as he watched me disappear into the dark.

We kept our hometown visit completely off the radar. No parents. Just us. Alistair wanted the full Margot origin story. I dragged him down my childhood block.

Pointed out my old elementary school. We even braved the freezing wind for the famous warm apple cider and donuts from the food truck near the campus gates.

But it didn't take long to figure out Alistair's little strategy.

Every time we bumped into a nosy neighbor or an old teacher, I had to introduce him. "This is my boyfriend." He completely thrived on it. The final night.

Alistair walked me to the front steps of my apartment building. Dense winter fog swallowed the streetlights, casting a dim, amber glow over the concrete.

His boots stopped inches from mine. The space between us hummed. Hot, heavy tension. His gaze dropped to my mouth. A ragged exhale escaped his lips.

The sheer gravity of him pulled me in. I couldn't tell who closed the final inch. His mouth crashed down on mine. It started slow.

A devastating tease tasting of warm apple cider and winter air. Then it broke open. His fingers tangled in my hair, gripping tight. A low, gritty groan vibrated deep in his throat.

I swallowed his breath. The kiss turned punishing. Desperate. He finally tore his mouth away. My knees instantly buckled. He caught my waist, dragging me flush against his chest.

I gasped for air, my lungs burning. I smacked his chest, my fingers curling tightly into his heavy winter coat. Alistair let out a rough, breathless laugh. He captured my fist.

He dragged my hand up, pressing my palm flat against his chest. His heart hammered wildly against my fingertips. My lungs suddenly seized.

A familiar shadow stepped out from the nearby alleyway. Silas. The glowing cherry of his cigarette snapped to the pavement. He charged.

Before I could even react, he threw a hard punch right at Alistair's face. I shoved myself between them. "Silas, are you out of your goddamn mind?" "Yeah.

I'm losing my fucking mind." Silas stared at me. His eyes were frighteningly red. "I don't get it. You were obsessed with me for years.

How the hell do you just replace me this fast? You were right the other night. I care. I'm out of my mind jealous. It's not fair. I met you first.

Why am I the one losing?" A scoff sounded behind me. Alistair gripped my shoulders. He physically moved me behind his back, shielding me entirely. Then he swung.

Alistair returned the punch fiercely. This time, it was harder and heavier than before.

Silas crumbled, hitting the snowcovered pavement hard. "Why?" Alistair spat, his voice pure venom. "Why don't you look in the mirror and ask yourself what you actually did for her?

Now you want to play the victim? Act like the abandoned boyfriend?

You think everyone is as stupid as you are?" Alistair grabbed Silas by the collar of his jacket, hauling him up before landing another heavy punch. "That one is for the Margot you broke." Silas hit the ground again.

Blood leaked from the corner of his split lip. The fight completely drained out of him. The pathetic reality finally crushed his ego.

He just lay there in the slush, staring blankly at the dark sky. Alistair grabbed my hand. He pulled me toward his parked SUV. His fingers found the door handle. He paused.

He slowly turned his head, casting a cold, dead stare at the boy bleeding in the snow. "And what makes you so damn sure you met her first?" Chapter 8