CHAPTER 75
MARCO
THE TIES THAT HOLDS
I went back to the lower study. The study smelled the same as it always did: mahogany, leather, and the faint metallic tang of power. I sat on the edge of the chair, hands pressed against my knees, staring at the floor. Silence stretched, thick and suffocating, but I could feel her, the bond pulsing faintly, muted by my father’s wards, but alive. Callie was alive. That was enough. For now.
Travis stepped into the room quietly, hands loose at his sides. The man had always carried himself like a shadow that could either protect or suffocate you, and right now I needed him to be both.
“You’re quiet,” he said, leaning against the table. The dim light caught the sharp planes of his face. He wasn’t smiling, but I could read the amusement in the slight t
