Gideon glances up at me, something close to confidence flickering behind the stress. “Remind me to never play poker with you.”
My phone buzzes again. This time it’s Penelope.
Penelope: On our way.
Gideon sits straighter. “Good. You talk. I’ll gather the rest of the intel.”
My pulse thuds hard once against my ribs.
“Silas,” Gideon says without looking up. “You’re ready for this.”
“I was born ready for this.”
“That’s not what I mean.”
I turn.
He meets my eyes. “You’re carrying the weight of three people who trust you. Don’t let that become the thing that breaks you.”
I hold his gaze for a beat. “It won’t.”
He nods once, but he doesn’t go back to the laptop. He just sits there, jaw working, hands clasped too tightly. Something crawls under his skin. I can see it before he even speaks.
“You want to talk about Abi,” I say.
His jaw flexes. “Do you?”
“You’re the one with the sister who we’ve confirmed is off her rocker,” I tell him. “How are you holding up?”
He huffs something that isn’t a laugh. “Silas… I don’t care about Abi. Not really.”
“You grew up with her.”
“Barely,” he snaps, then exhales and scrubs a hand down his face. “We were never close. Dominic was the tether that made us act like siblings. She’s always been… off. Something about her never clicked right. You know that.”
“I do.”
“I tolerated her because of Dom,” Gideon says. “That’s it. Talon and Minxy were the only reasons I ever picked up the phone when she called. Everything else about her? Noise. Background interference.”
“And now?” I press.
He looks up at me. “Now I don’t give a damn about anything to do with Abi, especially if she murdered my best friend.”
The air shifts. Hearing him say it out loud makes it real.
Dominic.
My brother.
My chest tightens.
Gideon studies my face for a moment. “How are you doing with it? Knowing your brother didn’t just… break?” Hisvoice lowers. “Knowing his death was probably something else entirely?”
I blow out a breath that feels ripped from my lungs. “Mad as hell,” I admit. “She didn’t just take him from us. She left Talon to pick up the pieces.”
Gideon’s features soften. “He unraveled hard after Dominic died.”
“I know,” I say quietly. “And instead of helping him, Abi shipped him off to that goddamn school and told everyone it was for structure. She let him grieve alone.”
