Rose’s POV

I did not expect the tears. I did not want them. But as Victor's words hung in mid-air, charged with all that went unwritten between us, the full impact overwhelmed me. The walls I had built—thick walls, impenetrable walls—were swept away in a gust. And the tears began flowing, unwelcome as they seemed, though not to be held in check.

I tried to hold them back, but they just kept on coming, each in turn, a tide I could not keep at bay. The pain I had bottled up about James, ...