KATHERINE POV
He opened the door before I could knock a third time.
And his eyes—gods, those eyes—looked at me like he knew. Like he’d known this moment was coming since the day I was born. Since the moment I breathed and my mother didn’t.
His hair was grayer than I remembered. His face lined deeper around the mouth, around the eyes. But it wasn’t age. It was guilt. Something corrosive that had hollowed him from the inside out.
“Katie” he said softly, stepping aside.
I didn’t move.
For one stupid heartbeat, I stood there and stared at him like a stranger. Like the man who had tucked me in at night wasn’t the same one who had sent me away with nothing but secrets and a broken legacy.
But then Kingsley’s hand brushed the small of my back. Just a touch. Just enough.
I stepped inside.
