I gape at him.
No. I need to fix this.
"I said now," he orders.
"I've done nothing," I whisper, my insides cracking open. And my pain is no longer staged. Brax is betraying me.
I give him one final look, silently begging him to see me.
He doesn't.
I sulk out of the room, but I don't go far. I hover beyond the wall, eavesdropping on my world dissolving in real time.
I hear every hurtful word.
Stalking.
Obsession.
Delusional.
Valentina Abruzzo.
Her name becomes a blade twisting inside my chest.
My father's rage shakes the walls. Brax's fury scorches. Their fight explodes into choking, shoving, and threats, with two powerful men tearing each other apart over me.
Mom arrives and rushes into the room, horrified. She screeches, "Enough!"
I use it as my moment to reenter the scene. If Dad and Brax see me shaken enough, maybe they'll stop tearing each other apart long enough for Brax to remember who the real villain is, and it's not me. It's his wife, Valentina.
I shriek, "Oh my God! Dad, let Brax go!" I shift in front of Mom and push my body against Brax's.
More heat fills me.
Brax releases his grip on Dad's neck, then pries my father's hands off his own neck. He jumps backward, catching his breath, then points at me like I'm toxic. "Don't you dare touch me!"
The words detonate inside my chest.
This is all going the wrong direction.
I didn't plot this out.
Where did I go wrong?
Mom's voice slices through the tension. "Adrian! What is going on?"
Dad points at Brax. "His Abruzzo wife sliced Blue's arm!"
Mom's eyes widen. She grabs my arm, and the color drains from her face exactly the way I practiced in my head.
If Brax would just play his part, he'd be comforting me right now and promising me he'll kill his wife in her sleep tonight.
Instead, he insists, "Valentina did no such thing. Blue broke into her house and has been stalking us. She's broken into mine several times over the last few months."
Mom gapes at him.
"It's true," he adds.
