“The bracelet first.”
Anna lifted her arm.
Adrian looked at her with an expression I could not understand.
Possession.
Pride.
Perhaps even love, twisted by nineteen years of selfishness.
“You look like your mother did at that age,” he said.
Anna’s face hardened.
“You mean before you began drugging her?”
“I never wanted Evelyn hurt.”
“You arranged to have her declared incompetent.”
“I wanted control of the company.”
“That is not an answer.”
“In our world, it is the only answer that matters.”
He stepped closer.
I moved between them.
“Stay away from her.”
Adrian laughed softly.
“You missed nineteen years, Evelyn. Do not pretend one hug made you a mother.”
The words struck exactly where he intended.
Anna answered before I could.
“She did not miss them.”
Adrian looked at her.
“You took them.”