Aiden's POV
I kept my face perfectly blank, as though the news meant absolutely nothing to me. As though it were nothing more than another business arrangement being discussed around the family table.
Not a decision that could change everything.
Not a sentence I wanted to tear apart with my bare hands.
I reached beside me instead, slow and deliberate, and brushed a tiny crumb from the corner of Valerie’s mouth with my thumb. I didn’t dare miss the way Gabby glared hard at me…like she wanted to punish me for being this way with Val.
“There,” I murmured.
I let my thumb linger for half a second before pulling away, giving her a soft smile that probably looked every bit as loving as it was supposed to.
“I’ve got you.”
Valerie’s expression melted instantly. She leaned into my touch, her
