I don’t respond because he’s right.
“Alexander.”
I turn. He hasn’t moved, but he’s watching me differently now, more closely.
“What happened?” he asks.
I sit down in the matching leather chair beside him. “It’s her.”
His brow furrows slightly. “The connection you suspected.”
I nod. “It’s not just a connection. She’s the daughter of the man I suspect is running the trafficking ring. She’s the daughter of York Malone.”
He doesn’t react immediately, of course not. He’s processing the multiple bombs I just dropped. I hadn’t told him about York’s potential connection to the case. And then to admit that Liv is that bastard’s daughter?
He’s calculating how to respond. Finally, he says, “I see,” like I’ve just told him something theoretical, not something that just flipped my entire investigation on its head.
Not something that could get her killed.
“That’s your reaction?” I ask, sharper than I meant to.
His gaze lifts to mine. “What would you prefer?” he asks calmly.
“Anything,” I snap. “Because this isn’t just… information, it’s-”
“A liability,” he finishes.
The word feels wrong. It feels cold and clinical.
“She’s not a liability,” I refute.
“She is to him,” my father replies. “Which makes her one to anyone trying to get to him.”
I clench my jaw. “I know that.”
“Then don’t mistake my tone for indifference,” he responds evenly. “I’m assessing risk. That’s what I do, son. You know that.”
“Yeah, well, she isn’t a variable on a spreadsheet,” I shoot back.
“No,” he agrees. “She’s significantly more complicated than that.”
Silence settles between us, because despite everything, he’s not wrong.
“She doesn’t know,” I admit.
My father studies me. “And you intend to tell her.”
It’s not a question.
I hesitate just long enough for his expression to sharpen.
“You’re considering not telling her.”
“I’m considering timing,” I counter. I’d already decided to tell her, and I nearly did the last time I walked with her in the garden. I’d thought the scenery would help lessen the blow but chickened out in the end.
“Why?”
Because I’m scared. Because the second I say it… everything changes. She changes. The way she looks at me changes.
