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“I’m supposed to watch you, so I can tell Spencer how you’re settling in”

“You ured”

“I had to do it” She pushed her chair away fros I didn’t have a choice”

“You’d get another black mark”

Cadence’s head was lowered, and she spoke to her lap “I should tell theht I don’t want to do it” She looked up “I won’t tell if you don’t say anything about the panic attack, aboutyou the truth now” There was an edge of fear in her voice again “You could do it and it would maybe clear your mark but—”

Rory cut her off “We won’t do that We’ll be our own little family and take care of each other”

“I’ve never really had a faave me money to leave them alone I don’t knohy you’d want to be my family?”

“Because our dad didn’t care about us either,” Zeke said Nothing further froested that

“You still make me nervous,” she said eventually, her voice steadier, almost back to her prickly cactus self

He grinned at her tear-streaked, flushed face “I’ll try not to make any sudden moves”

/>At least none that she needed to worry about

Chapter Eight

The sweet srowl as they arrived at the playing field for the social, but the press of people, the capering of kids shouting and chasing each other around, made Cadence hunch in on herself

Zeke had promised they wouldn’t leave her alone at the party She couldn’t fault hiularly take a long-term deep-cover role Everyone else for the most part played themselves with necessary modifications for safety

In the last few years he’d been a beard-wearing art-dealer, graying at the teant and aloof, and a rare-wine broker,a British accent No doubt once they’d finished here he’d go back to playing a character part with disguises and tics that marked him out as different to the real Zeke