MARCELLUS
For a long moment, silence crackles over the line, the tightness in my chest worsening.
"Who is Rachel Gregory to you?" Nora demands again, her voice rising.
I exhale slowly, staring out at the glittering city lights beyond the window.
"You should stop digging, little wolf."
"No," she spits.
Of course she won't. My stubborn wife never does what she's told.
I close my eyes briefly, already feeling the pull of her voice low in my stomach.
"Nora—"
"No," she snaps, her voice hardening like steel. "You don't get to drop bombs on my family and then play mysterious. Tell me the f*****g truth."
The silence stretches for a second or two, charged with pure tension. The words slip out before I can hold them back.
"She was my mother."
Her sharp inhale travels straight down my spi
