SORRY MR. CROWNELL YOU'RE TOO LATE
The words landed with unexpected weight, fragments of distant, hazy memories surfacing unbidden, warmth and safety I'd always attributed vaguely to childhood rather than any specific person.
"That doesn't excuse tonight," I said, though my voice had lost some of its earlier certainty. "Kidnapping Lily, threatening our daughters, manipulating Sarah's mind for years."
"No," she admitted quietly. "It doesn't. But desperation makes monsters of all of us eventually, Chaise. I simply want the chance to reclaim something Marcus stole before either of us had any say in the matter."
Sarah made a small, choked sound, drawing my attention sharply back toward her trembling form.