QUOTE : You forget that she’s your mom . . . she’s Declan’s mom. You forget what we’re going through.” Jentry suddenly ate up the distance between us in long strides, and captured my face in his hands, holding me as if I were breakable. My breath escaped me, and my hands automatically clung to his forearms to keep myself standing. “I haven’t forgotten, but it doesn’t fucking excuse what she’s said,” he said. Hard and soft. Always. His piercing black eyes roamed my face and fell across my lips over and over again. Even though I knew I should pull away, even though Declan was lying just a few feet away from us, I was silently pleading with him to press his mouth to mine. “You are beautiful, Aurora,” Jentry said. Just like it did every time he said it, something stirred in me listening to his deep voice say my name. The way it rolled off his tongue like a caress, and each time a breath softer than the rest of his words, made me crave to hear it again. “There is no part of you that isn’t beautiful. Don’t ever let anyone make you think otherwise—especially Linda Veil. Do you understand?” I hesitated, then nodded slowly, still trapped in the haze that his eyes always put me in. “Beautiful Aurora,” he whispered, as if to himself, then slowly stepped away from me. Then, as if he was unable to stop himself, he reached back out and cupped his hand around the base of my neck. In a move too quick to stop—not that I would have tried—he pressed his mouth to my jaw, then turned and left.