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On the other side of town, Dante stayed at the hospital until Isobel was stable, then left.

On the way, he typed out a message to me.

You got the venue all set? I'm almost there.

No response.

He scrolled back through our texts. Every message from the past month was from me.

What time will you be home? Let's grab dinner.

Got a second to look at the menu?

I picked red roses for the chapel, is that okay?

His responses, every single one:

Whatever.

You decide.

Sure.

A small, cold thing unfurled under his ribs.

The last time he'd brought up the IVF, Nina had looked at him with an expression he'd never seen. Cold. Empty. Done.

From that day on, she'd stopped reaching out. Stopped waiting for him to come home.

His hand tightened around the phone. "Step on it."