"Do not answer that call, Julian."
My own voice sounds strange to me. Hollow. Sharp. It comes from someone standing outside my body, watching everything break at once.
Julian stares at the bright screen in his hand, as if it might burn him. Richard Thornton never calls. A man like him only reaches for his son when he wants something ugly. The message under his name still sits there, cold and simple.
Bring me my son.
"Put it on speaker," Nathaniel says.
"Absolutely not," Julian bites out.
I look from one man to the other. Nathaniel stands calm, but his jaw is too tight. Julian looks proud, but the fear in his eyes is raw. They both want control. They both think they can protect me by making choices for me. I am tired of men deciding what my life should look like.
"Give me the phone,"
