He let that sit. “They underestimated you. They always did. They thought quiet meant weak. But you have my blood in you, and I knew that if you were pushed all the way to the edge, you wouldn’t cry.

You’d fight. And tonight, in that study, you found the federal angle in ninety seconds without any help from me.”

I looked around the huge, shadowed room.

For three days I’d believed I was the hero of this — that I’d rescued a helpless old man from a pack of wolves. I’d driven through a blizzard. I’d defied my parents.

I’d broken my family in half to protect him.

There were no wolves in this house.