"Family matters?" Lucas's lips twisted into a sneer, as if he had just heard the world's most ridiculous joke.
He stalked toward Richard, and his eyes oozed with contempt. "Richard, did you forget? You and my mother are still legally married. And this woman," he jerked his chin at Clara, Jack's mother, who had just crumpled to the floor and was now being hauled up, "she has never even crossed the Hale family's threshold."
His voice was quiet, but it hit like a grenade blast, and everyone's ears rang from the impact. "The son she whelped is just a dirty secret, unworthy of the name. So tell me, who the hell does he think he is to talk about the Hale family?"
The room froze, and then it exploded into chaos as whispers hissed like snakes. All eyes darted between Richard, his son, and Cla
