“You left me.”
Remy’s jaw tightened at Grayson’s tone, but he held his tongue.
Not me. How could one man be so stupid? “Get your head out of your ass. He beat her. He beat your sister.”
“I was ten, and she left me.”
“I’ve spent my life caring for victims. Abuse escalates. A slap becomes a punch. A punch becomes a broken bone. A broken bone becomes a corpse.”
“You’re being dramatic.”
“You think I’m being dramatic?” I stepped closer, fury making my voice shake. “Drake assaulted me, and every single one of you just … sat there. Drinking coffee.” I jabbed my finger into his chest. “I defended myself from a rapist, and you let them whip me for it. You stood by and watched them poison me. You let them throw me in a pit to die.” My voice cracked. “That’s how it works, Grayson. It’s not the monsters who destroy us—it’s the good men who do nothing. Your father beat your mother, and I guarantee no one ever tried to stop him.” Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Marian flinch. I had plenty more to say about her sorry excuse for a husband, but I couldn’t do that to her. The woman had endured enough trauma without my dredging it up. “Just like no one stopped Drake.”
Remy shifted slightly, moving closer and reaching for my hand.
I glanced up at him, grateful he was beside me, and then turned back to Grayson. “That’s your precious Legacia, the nation you fight for, a place where women have no worth.”
He stared at me coldly.
“Your mother ran because she had no other option. How dare you blame her?” I took a step closer and jabbed him again,hard enough to bend my knuckle backward. “Then you made it worse by becoming part of the problem.”
“I have never raised my hand against a woman.”
“Have you ever raised your hand to help one?”
The question hung in the air. Grayson stared at me, and for a heartbeat, I saw something raw in his eyes—shame, maybe, or recognition. Then his stony mask slipped into place.
“That’s what I figured.” Scorn laced my voice. “Now, for the love of the gods, would you please leave?”
Chapter
Sixty-One
HAVEN
Grayson stormed past me, and Marian hurried after him.
Remy watched the door close behind him. “Rocks for brains.”
“Legacia teaches boys that they’re better than girls. Stronger. Smarter. More deserving. It’s a wonder he’s not worse.” I was making excuses for Grayson, and I had no idea why.
“I’ve seen your back.” His brows drew together, and his lips thinned. “If I were you, I wouldn’t be so forgiving.”
My back. He’d seen my back. The scars. My shoulders stiffened. “Grayson and I fought a wyvern together. He’s not all bad.”
Remy’s jaw ticked. “Being able to wield a sword doesn’t make him a decent man.”
“No,” I agreed, “but it does make him a brave one.”
“Brave enough to face hard truths?”
“Which truths?” I asked.
“Almost everything he believes is wrong, that or an outright lie.” Remy chuckled as if Grayson’s coming crisis amused him. “Promise you’ll make him grovel before you forgive him.”
Grayson would never admit he’d been wrong. About anything. He was too set in his ways. As for groveling, that would never happen. “Forgive him?”
“I know you will. You’re kind, and you have a tender heart. You won’t be able to hold his sins against him. You forgave me.”
