Chapter 4
Olivia did not want the ring.
That became clear once I spoke to her without Frank or Damon nearby.
She sat at my kitchen table with untouched lemonade and stared at her hands.
“Grandpa says I’m better at being Rossetti than Leo.”
I kept my voice calm.
“What does that mean to you?”
She shrugged.
“He doesn’t cry.”
“Frank?”
She almost smiled.
“No.”
Good.
At least she was still thirteen somewhere beneath all this.
“What happens if you say no to his tests?”
Her face closed.
There it was.
“He says Dad gets embarrassed.”
My chest tightened.
“How?”
“He says people already think Dad is less important because you’re boss.”
Damon’s wound.
Passed to his daughter.
“What did your father say?”
Olivia picked at the table.
“That I could help.”
“Help him?”
She nodded.
“How?”
“Show people our side of the family is strong too.”
Our side.
As though Damon and I were separate bloodlines instead of siblings.
Frank had split one family into competing branches and assigned children as evidence.
“What did you think would happen today?”
Olivia’s eyes filled.
“I thought I was supposed to hit the post.”
“Not Leo?”
“No.”
She started crying.
“Grandpa moved him closer.”
I went still.
“What?”
“The ribbon was farther away before.”
She pointed toward the yard.
“Grandpa retied it.”
That changed everything.
The danger had been increased deliberately.
Not by Olivia.
By Frank.
She covered her face.
“I thought if I stopped, Dad would look weak.”
I reached across the table but did not touch her until she nodded.
“You were not responsible for making your father look strong.”
She cried harder.
May you like
Neither was Leo.
The adults had turned both children into weapons against each other.
