Chapter 12
There was something about Mal’s disapproval that made mincemeat of my heart, especially as she dressed down my father.
I wasn’t sure exactly what it was, but as she glanced over at me like that with such a righteous fire in her eyes, I felt incredibly small. No one ever made me feel that way, not even my father. He had made me feel a lot of things in my lifetime, very few of them good, but I could always tell myself that he did it as some kind of perverse power play, and that would make me feel better again.
I couldn’t do that with Mal, and I didn’t know why. Maybe it was because, deep down, I knew she was right. But what was I supposed to do? Mr. Verger was one of the biggest clients we had. It was definitely going to upset Mal, but I couldn’t just tell him “no.” The kind of
