Kill Switch by Penelope Douglas

I swallowed. “The way…the way I was with you…” I
started, “I—”
“You raised me,” she said, raising her eyes. “And who
knows what would’ve happened to me if I’d stayed with my
mother.”
I waited for her to continue, not sure if she was just trying
to make me feel better or if she really thought her life with me
was worth it all.
“I like who I am,” she told me. “I don’t hate you for
anything.”
And despite my slow, steady breaths and unwavering gaze
on her, a little relief started to seep through my bones.
I watched her leave the auditorium, looking a little less
unsure than when I walked in.
She didn’t trust me, and she might not choose me.
But she was still with me. Even just a bit.
That was something.
I arrived back at the Ashby house—technically now my house
—just after six and fucking starving. I had barely eaten all day,
and even though I’d rather wait until late to come in, so I’d
have to deal with Arion as little as possible, I wanted to see
her. I wanted Winter at my dinner table tonight.
“Hello, sir,” Crane said, opening the door for me.
I walked into the house, hearing the driver pull off behind
me, and charged immediately up the stairs as the wind outside
whistled through the old wood and any cracks in window
panes it had found.
But there was no music or footsteps, and the upstairs was
dark.
I stopped, slipping my hand into my suit pocket.