Chapter 2

The air in the alley still hummed with the electric thrum of the day’s events, but the main floor was beginning to thin out, leaving behind a pool of amber light and the rhythmic, hollow clatter of pins being struck. I stood near the railing of the viewing gallery, my fingers tracing the cool glass as I watched the neon signs buzz above the lanes. *Strike. Spare. Bowl.* The letters flickered in a hypnotic dance, casting streaks of electric blue and hot pink across the polished wood below. I had changed out of the stiff, formal suit I’d worn for the speeches. Now, I wore a slip dress of charcoal silk that clung to every curve, the fabric cool against my skin, the straps thin enough to disappear beneath my shoulders. I had kicked off the heels, opting for the low, comfortable loafers my father had insisted I wear, but I’d left the socks behind, so my bare feet slipped against the smooth soles. He was watching me. I knew it before I even turned my head. It was a physical weight, a pressure against the back of my neck, the same gaze that had pinned me in place during