Page 171 of Face Off

“I know.”

“You’ve seen that.”

“I have eyes.”

Her gaze returned to me. “You’re still protecting her.”

The answer came before I could stop it. “I never stopped.”

Crystal went quiet.

“Don’t.”

“I wasn’t going to ask you for anything.”

“Good.”

“I only wanted you to know that I see it now.”

I didn’t answer.

Crystal steadied herself. “I owe you an apology.”

“You owe Charm a life where she doesn’t have to wonder whether you’ll choose him again.”

“I’m trying to give her one. Every day I show up and support her, build with her and support her.”

“Then give it.”

“I will.” Her voice trembled, but she kept it level. “But I still owe one to you.”

I let her speak.

“I judged you before I knew you. I looked at your clothes, your tattoos, where you came from, the way you spoke, and I let everything Lance believed become what I believed because agreeing with him was easier than questioning him.”

I felt my jaw tighten.

“Lance made his opinion clear.”

“So did I.” Crystal swallowed. “Silence was an opinion. Standing beside him was a choice.”

The words reached too close to the study.

She saw it happen.

“I loved my daughter privately while supporting Lance publicly,” she continued. “Charm told me that still left her alone. She was right.”

“She learned it from you.”

“Yes.”

Some of the anger lost its footing. I realized I was berating a woman who survived and protected the only way she knew how. It doesn’t excuse her pressuring Charm, but abuse fucks everyone up different.

Crystal drew a breath. “Charm has told me things about you over the last year that I should have known while you were together. The books. The tutoring. Your mother’s dictionary. The way you challenged how she spoke about herself. The way you took her work seriously when Lance and I treated it like a hobby she would eventually outgrow.”

“She earned that.”

“I know.”