Zoe Rhodes opened the ointment, gently squeezed out a small amount, and applied it to Zane Hawthorne's wound, slowly rubbing it in.
"Does it hurt?"
She was afraid to press too hard, her fingertips tracing over his skin as gently as a feather.
Zane Hawthorne's initial impulse was to say it didn't hurt.
But before he could speak, a scene suddenly flashed through his mind.
'Donovan Donovan was slouched lazily in a chair, delivering the fatal blow with an air of nonchalance. "You can be dismissive, of course. But there are plenty of people who would jump at the chance to do the things you won't. You don't think Ethan Rhodes knows how to play the victim?"'
'"Compared to him, what odds do you give yourself?"'
"..."
'"I know you're clinging to the faint hope that she'll never find out. That even if she catches wind of something, she'll back down and won't have it out with you for lack of proof."'
