Paper scatters differently when everyone in the room knows at least one sheet can ruin a bloodline.The briefcase hit the stone hard enough for the latch to split. Pages burst across the pantry floor in a messy white fan—typed statements, old copies, notary forms, insurance extracts, one church transfer slip, and the counter-file Hector had come there to protect.Gabriel kicked the case away first.I got to the counter file second.Hector got a hand on my sleeve.I shook him off.He came again.Gabriel blocked him this time with a shoulder hard enough to send him into the shelving.Glass jars rattled.One cracked.Brine smell opened sharply into the cold room.Luc moved to Yselle’s side instead of his father’s.That mattered more than the shove.Hector saw it.Of course he did.And because men like him do not believe in losing rooms cleanly, he said the filthiest thing availa
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