This is it—the standoff between us that feels long overdue. Raizo stares at me, his face unreadable. I return the same expression, both of us unwilling to let the other see the cracks in our facade.
We don’t move.
We don’t speak.
The only difference is, there’s fear in his eyes.
Fear, and a rolling realization that the jig is up; the curtain has been yanked aside. I’m onto him. He can’t hide from me anymore.
“In any case,” I say to break the silence, “time for me to run. Business meetings and all. Thanks for the tea.”
The first person to break the silence is the one who loses. I know that and I know he knows that. I want him to feel this small victory, to think that I’m rattled by his revealed control over all the different aspects of my life. My father, my enemies, my woman.
It’s t
