Lucian
My father exhaled. “You’re much stronger than I remembered.”
I let out a quiet laugh. “Stronger than I let on.”
He nodded, eyes dropping. He couldn’t look at me for long. Guilt had a way of lowering even a king’s gaze.
“So?” I said, cutting through the silence.
A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. “You finally claimed each other,” he said, catching Mara’s scent on me.
I nodded once.
“She’s tough,” he said. “Not many women would handle Tina’s pregnancy with that kind of grace.”
I didn’t respond. I wasn’t in the mood for small talk or compliments dressed as insight.
He seemed to pick up on it. He walked over to his desk, opened a drawer, and pulled out a thick file. He handed it to me without a word.
“What is this?” I asked, taking it cautiously.
“I asked you here to
