For a heartbeat, the world froze. The paparazzi’s flashing bulbs illuminated the sidewalk like lightning strikes, the crowd pressing closer with phones raised high. Sloane’s taunt hung in the air, sour and venomous, but Damon still hadn’t spoken.
Until now.
He lifted his head, his gaze locking onto Mya with sharp disdain. His voice was low, but it carried over the buzz of whispers.
“Did you pay them to take you in?” Damon asked. His words sliced clean, meant to wound. “Did you hire them to pose as your brothers so you could pull your name out of the mud?”
Mya gasped, her hand flying to her chest. The accusation hit harder than any slap. Of all the ways Damon could have demeaned her, this one pierced deepest—painting her new family as fraud, her rebirth as nothing but another scheme.
T
