For a long moment after Steven finished speaking, no one moved.
The wind hissed through the weeds near the abandoned tower, and the rusted metal above them creaked as if it, too, was trying to decide what to do with the truth.
Ryan stared at Steven like he was looking at a stranger wearing a familiar face.
He had expected Steven’s secret to be ugly.
He had not expected it to be this.
A pregnant woman.
A hit-and-run.
A chauffeur drugged and sacrificed.
A mother who smiled in public and destroyed lives in private.
Tevin’s arms were folded so tightly across his chest his knuckles had gone pale. Maxwell’s jaw flexed once, slow and controlled, like he was forcing himself not to speak words that would tip into violence.
Steven stood there breathing hard, eyes wet, shoulders sagging, as
