quietly.
“Only the ones that ruined someone’s life.”
Silas slammed his glass onto the desk.
“You know nothing about it.”
Gideon saw the violence in the motion.
He moved closer to Rosalie.
Silas noticed.
His lip curled.
“This is what you’ve chosen?
A damaged animal who cannot even hear his own name?”
Gideon’s expression did not change.
Rosalie’s did.
She picked up the whiskey glass and threw it into the fireplace.
Silas shouted.
Flame flashed briefly over the spilled alcohol.
Rosalie faced him.
“Call him an animal again.”
Nobody moved.
Even Merrick seemed startled.
Silas stared at his daughter.
Then he smiled.
It was the old smile.
The one Rosalie remembered from childhood whenever someone had challenged him.
Cold.
Certain.
“You think you’re brave because he stands behind you?”
Rosalie shook her head.
“No.”
She stepped away from Gideon deliberately.
“I discovered I’m brave because you aren’t.”
Silas’s smile disappeared.
