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One I’d started on my own from scratch.
One I loved.
And yet, the shoe box stacked in the corner haunted me. Weeks ago, Romeo and Oliver had gathered my things from Zach’s, noting he’d kept them in my room. Which meant he hadn’t meant what I’d thought he’d meant when he said he’d left my stuff in the garage.
And still… I feared what secrets the key held.
Because I’d given Zach a key, too.
The one to my heart.
T-MINUS 5 DAYS.
The countdown loomed over me like a guillotine.
Each day I couldn’t find Eileen brought me further from the calm, collected, and ruthless man I once prided myself in being.
I’d exhausted all my options. The four private investigators I’d hired had come up short. All of Eileen’s relatives refused to give up her location (despite numerous threats).
And Mom? Guantanamo wouldn’t stand a chance at prying info from her lips.
On the twenty-fifth day without Farrow, I decided I’d had enough of being miserable in the comfort of my thermostat-controlled home and dragged my pathetic self into the cryochamber, where I could be comfortable with half-frozen balls.
Did Farrow even cure you?I started to reason with myself.Surely, she is not St. Anthony, capable of miracles. Nor Bian Que. Or even Fu Xing.
No. A sit-down in the ice room would deliver cognitive clarity.Andprove that I hadn’t changed. That I still felt absolutely nothing. Not even the cold.
I hadn’t entered the chamber in almost four weeks, but I still notched the temperature to advanced.
I stepped inside in my robe, immediately hit with the sharp bite of frost eating at my skin.
Well, shit.
“What on earth…” I hissed out, closing the door behind me as white smoke curled around my limbs, climbing up my body like ivy.
My vision fogged. I turned around to the overhead digital clock to see how much time had passed.
One second.
One fucking second.
Was this a joke?
I shivered, realizing to my dismay that I was feeling cold. That I wasfeeling, period.
My nose became numb, too frozen to properly inhale. I had to cup it with my palms, quivering violently as I shuffled from leg to leg.
I felt cold.
In pain.
Alive.
The seconds ticked by at an excruciating pace. I started jumping up and down, doing a few squats to fight the freeze.
I finally understoodwhy Romeo and Oliver became restless as soon as they entered.
Finally, when the buzzer sounded after the three minutes passed, I staggered to the door and pushed.
