Martin nodded stiffly, jaw clenched. I whispered my agreement. Nora breathed out, shaky, as though releasing a secret she had been guarding with her whole body. “Then you can meet him,” she said softly. “But only if I’m there too. Only if you let me speak first.”
That night before the meeting, Martin lay awake, his fists opening and closing against the sheets. “What if she’s lying? What if he manipulates her right in front of us?” His voice cracked under the weight of his own fear. I had no answer, because dread was working its way up my gut, too.