Karen held his gaze.
“You don’t have to stay quiet. You just have to stop pretending that my life belongs to you.”
The bell above the door rang as he walked out.
Karen stood perfectly still until his car disappeared down the street.
Then she reached for her phone and called Alex.
He answered immediately.
“Hey. Everything okay?”
“Michael was here.”
There was a brief silence.
“What did he want?”
“To tell me that we’re making a mistake.”
Alex sighed.
“I’m guessing he didn’t come to buy a book.”
Despite everything, Karen laughed.
“No. He seems to have very little interest in literature.”
“His loss.”
Her laughter faded.
“Alex, I need to tell you something. I’m worried about what he’ll do next.”
“Then we deal with it together.”
She closed her eyes.
For years, she had heard promises from a man who eventually made her feel alone even when he was standing beside her.
