Somehow, this was a dream come true for me.
It has been almost a week since Chloe and Leo came into this fortress, but this is the first time we are having dinner together as a family. I had hoped this would be the start of something new. I had planned for this to be the perfect evening with my son, especially after Chloe sent one of the servants to inform me we were finally going to eat together.
However, dinner turned out to be a silent battlefield.
The dining room of the mansion was far too large for three people. The mahogany table stretched between us like a vast, polished ocean. I sat at the head, the King in his castle, while Chloe sat to my left and Leo to my right.
Every time I moved my arm to cut the steak, a white-hot spike of agony shot through my ribs. The stitches I'd ignored all morning were screaming now. Under my dark, heavy sweater, I could feel the warmth. It wasn't the heat of the room; it was the slow, wet crawl of blood escaping the bandage.
