Chapter 8
Declan insisted he never intended serious injury.
I believed him.
It changed nothing.
“The barriers were foam.”
I stared.
“So?”
“The kart was child-speed.”
“So?”
“He was never in real danger.”
I leaned forward.
“You pinned his wrists.”
Silence.
“You remote-steered him into a crash.”
Nothing.
“You filmed his fear.”
His jaw tightened.
I continued.
“You don’t get to define harm only by whether bones broke.”
That silenced him.
Evelyn tried another defense.
“We were preparing him.”
“For what?”
“The family he was born into.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
“You can pretend all you want, Mara. One day men will test him.”
“Maybe.”
I looked toward Finn’s room.
“But I will not teach him the lesson by becoming the first person who betrays him.”
That landed.
Because that was what their training really was.
Not courage.
Betrayal disguised as preparation.
Make home unsafe so the outside world feels familiar.
May you like
Old Mafia logic.
I was done with it.
