His eyes hardened. Not fully. Just enough for me to recognize the old disease.
“So that’s it?” he said. “You sell my home, and now you lecture me from behind a gate?”
“I sold my property after you assaulted me.”
His jaw tightened.
“And there he is,” I said quietly.
“What?”
“The man from last night.”
He looked down again, breathing hard.
“I’m trying,” he said.
“No. You’re bargaining.”
He pressed both hands to his face, then dragged them down. “What do you want from me?”
“The truth.”
“I told you.”
“All of it.”
He froze.
I watched carefully.
He blinked once.
Too slowly.
There was more.
“Brandon,” I said.
His phone rang.
He glanced at the screen and went pale.
I knew before he turned it toward me.
Amber.
He answered with shaking fingers and put it on speaker.
Her voice came through bright and cold.
