Chapter Twenty Three
Serena knew her words weren’t reaching Fabian, even as she spoke. She’d seen this mood of his twice before: once when they were children, and their father had fired a farmhand for stealing. The man had been a favourite playmate of Fabian’s, and indeed — whether he was guilty of stealing or not — he’d been good to the child. But stately, dictatorial Thomaso Carterett had refused to listen to eleven-year-old Fabian. Fabe had displayed such a powerful rage, everyone had been shocked by it. By the time he’d finished, he had broken every single toy in their shared playroom, along with every article of furniture in that room and his bedroom. When he had finally calmed down Fabian had been shocked by the destruction himself, as though he had committed such violent acts in so
