The house was quiet when James got home, and the quiet was worse than anything the ballroom had thrown at him.
His mother took Nyra to bed without a word, and James heard the low murmur of her voice through the wall while she settled the girl, the same way she used to settle James when he was small and could not sleep. He sat in the living room with his jacket still on and his hands resting on his knees, and for the first time since the punch landed, the anger was gone and there was nothing left underneath it but the weight of what he had agreed to.
He went back over it while staring at the dark window.
