A Personal Hell

With a swift, jerky nod, Santino excused himself to track down Paola, leaving me stranded in the center of the heavy silence. The door clicked shut. I stood near the edge of the mattress, watching her slender shoulders heave under the weight of her breakdown. Then, slowly, she lifted her head. Her bloodshot eyes locked onto mine, radiating a pure, unfiltered hostility that caught me completely off