Rider's POV
“You already decided something before I opened my mouth,” I said, keeping my voice even because anything else would push her the wrong way, “and I need to know which direction you’re leaning before I say the rest.”
Bailey did not answer immediately, and that silence told me everything I needed to know because she was not shaking or shouting or falling apart, she was standing there still and alert, her eyes steady and distant at the same time, and I had learned fast that this was the version of her that scared people, not the angry one, not the hurt one, but the one that was thinking several steps ahead.
“I’m listening,” she said finally, her tone calm enough that it scraped against my nerves, “but don’t waste my time with soft edges or half truths.”
“I won’t,” I replied, dr
