Ava tried to force herself to sleep, but she couldn't. She stayed up all night tossing and turning and crying. Lots of crying, but she did so silently as she didn't want to disturb the girls or talk about it. It was finally 6 o'clock in the morning and Rachelle and Cara Mia were still asleep. She had showered and changed into jeans and her grey Hillman hoodie. She toyed with the idea of texting Luca, but she stopped herself.

She placed her phone in the hidden pocket inside the hoodie and began her chores of feeding pets and cleaning cages. She hadn't given herself the time necessary to figure...