Chapter 2

The cold hits my face on the ride back.

By the time I get home, the prosthetic socket has rubbed through.

I unbuckle the harness and the stump is a mess.Raw, bleeding, ugly.

I sit on the edge of the bathtub and press a rag against it.

Five years ago, Sienna came to visit me inside.

She sat across the glass and smiled the whole time.

"You know how good Dominic is in bed, Elena? Every. Single. Night." She tilted her head, lips curling.

"Don't worry. I'll keep him very well taken care of. The house, the firm,all of it."

I lost it. I slammed my hands against the glass and screamed until my throat gave out.

That same night, three women dragged me into a blind spot.No cameras, no guards.

They had an iron rod.

They took their time.

"Someone paid a lot for this," one of them said.

I was on my back for six months. The infection got bad enough that amputation was the only call left.

I hated them for it. But five years inside turns hate into something quieter. Something closer to nothing.

The next morning, a hard knock pulls me out of sleep.

I figure it's my landlord again. It's not.

It's Dominic.

Standing in my doorway holding a container of soup.

"Bone broth," he says, like that explains anything. He walks in without being asked. "Don't take what Sienna said to heart. That's just how she is."

He sets the soup on my counter and turns around.

"I came to talk about your future."

I lean against the doorframe and look at him.

"I drive illegal taxi. I don't have a future."

"Go on back to wherever you came from, Dominic. Don't get your designer suit dirty."

He sighs. Turns to face me fully.

"Elena. Stop.All you have to do is make a public statement admitting your private life was a mess, and sign over whatever shares you have left.I'll bring you back into the firm."

He pauses like he's offering me a gift.

"Not as an attorney, obviously. But there's a cleaning position. Five grand a month. That's enough to live on."

He lifts his chin. Waiting.

I actually laugh.

"You want me to apologize to the man who lied about me?"

Dominic's face hardens instantly.

"You still don't get it, do you?" His voice rises. "If I hadn't pushed for leniency,if I hadn't used every favor I had,you'd have gotten twice the sentence. You should be thanking me."

He steps forward like he's going to grab my arm and drag me out himself.

I push his hand away.

"Dominic. Did you ever actually read the case file?"

"The hallway camera,why did it go out that exact night?"

"And what was in my drink?"

He stops. Just for a second, something flickers across his face.

Then it's gone.

"Enough." He cuts me off.

"You think Sienna and Marco set you up? You think that's what happened?" He shakes his head. "I'm here trying to help you. Don't be stupid about it."

I point at the door.

"Get out."

He stares at me like I just spoke another language.

"You think you're still the hotshot attorney you used to be? You're a convict, Elena. You're a woman with one leg and a gypsy cab app. That's what you are now."

He slams the door on his way out.

That afternoon I open the app to pick up a few ride requests.

A notification hits before I can accept anything.

My account has been permanently suspended. Reason cited: a passenger complaint. Inappropriate conduct by the driver.

I stare at the screen.

Dominic. Of course.

He couldn't even wait a day.