They sweep their hair back with the right hand and reach for the back of their neck with the left when they’re nervous — I watched all four of them do it in that bathroom, Yelena.
My father used to say it was how you spotted a Ravensworth losing his nerve.” I took a step closer.
“Don’t tell me they don’t concern me.
Please don’t.”
Her eyes filled, and she refused, with visible effort, to let it fall.
She wrapped her arms around herself.
“Six years ago,” she said, low and shaking, “you made your choice.
You chose the family.
You chose the empire and your mother’s plans for you.
You left me alone in a hospital room in Queens with a hundred-dollar bill and a note in your own lawyer’s hand telling me never to contact you again.”
The cold that went through me then had nothing to do with February.
“What did you just say,” I said.
“You heard me.” The bitterness in her voice was six years old and worn smooth as a stone.
“The day after I found out I was pregnant, your family’s attorney walked into my hospital room.