"What are you saying? You don’t have to lie to Mum to prove a point," Lucas said, his voice rising just enough to turn heads. "We all know you can’t stay with any woman, not after what happened to you. You are…"
Bryan snapped. "You won’t dare, Lucas. You won’t."
He stepped forward with a tight jaw. The air between them felt like it could crack. Bryan’s hands were curling into fists, but before anything happened, Alicia stepped in.
She pressed her hand to Bryan’s chest, calmly. Her voice dropped low, just for him.
"Just breathe. Today is your mum’s birthday. You really want to ruin that for her?"
He paused, still glaring, but nodded. Alicia turned to Lucas with a polite smile that didn’t reach her eyes.
"Can we talk outside? Just you and me. We clearly have a lot to catch up on."
He
