Page 177

“There.” His eyes sharpen. “That word.”

I go still.

Love.

I said it.

I don’t regret it.

That alone tells me how far gone I am.

And it tells my brother everything he needs to know. My father, too.

My father was married to my mother for years, and not once do I recall him telling her he loved her.

And I’ve certainly never heard my youngest brother say it to anyone.

Cain’s expression darkens into something I can’t read. “Do you stand with love, then?” he asks softly. “Like our idiot brother?”

My body tightens.

“Or with our father?” Cain continues. “With me?”

“There is no with you,” I say. “There’s only under you.”

He frowns. “You’re angrier than usual.”

“I’m clearer than usual.”

He cocks his head. “Ella Hart has made you sentimental.”

“Ella Hart has made me honest.”

Cain turns away and moves to his computer monitor. “Take a look,” he says. “Construction has already started on VexleyARC.”

My blood turns cold.

Construction has already begun.

No.

No, that isn’t possible.

Father told me⁠—

New blueprints would be drawn up.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”

I look at the monitor, showing the construction site in real time.

Father never reconsidered.

My stomach hollows and I snap my gaze to the chessboard, the men still holding me.

Fuck it all.

Cain let me win.