“You’d been under my skin for years, Ives, since the beginning. Although you were so young then, but you still got to me—an obsession in ways. I thought day and night about how to make this all easier on you, how to keep you safe. I watched you thrive in college, saw how strong you were, how you were the light in every goddamn room you walked into, and I dreamed about how maybe, one day, you’d be mine. But, Jesus, you’re more than I ever imagined, baby.”
