“If that’s true, you wouldn’t be bringing it up now, trying to smooth away the sins of the past.” I don’t move, don’t shift in any way that could be construed as a physical attack. Why bother when my words will do the trick? “Monroe cares about me, you know.”

“I’ve been made aware.” Her mouth twists. “Which is why we’re having this conversation. It’s in your best interest to keep your mouth shut about your childhood. I will not interfere with your relationship, but I will also not allow you to interfere with my relationship with my daughter.” She turns to the door. “No matter what the cost. It will hurt her to lose you, but only in the short term.” Then she’s gone, closing the door softly behind her.

It takes several beats for me to reconcile the fact that she just threatened me. I have absolutely no desire to tell Monroe that her precious Amazons are responsible for the abuse I suffered as a child. No matter what else is true of her, she’s got rose-tinted glasses when it comes to her faction. If I were another person, I wouldn’t hesitate to rip them off her face and force her to see the truth—that monsters lurk everywhere, and Amazons aren’t exempt—but it would hurt her to discover that.

I don’t want to hurt her.

I…care about her.

The door opens again, and Monroe stalks back into the room. She drops into her chair. “Well, this is a giant clusterfuck.”

I’ve never seen her look so off-center. I don’t make a conscious decision to move. One moment I’m standing there, still trying to process the enormity of what Aisling dropped on me, and the next I’m moving, crossing the office in giant strides to pull Monroe into my arms. I half expect her to push me away. She’s not the type to lean on someone, let alone someone like me. Someone who’s technically an enemy.

But…she does lean on me.

Monroe hugs me tightly to her for one long moment…two…three.

It turns out I need this hug just as much as she apparently does. I close my eyes and inhale the sunny scent of her, letting her presence wash away the shadows clinging from the past. I knew my parents had a connection with the Amazon throne, that they were protected by it, but I had convinced myself that Aisling didn’t really see me that day, that she had no clue what they’d done to me.

At some point, I’m going to have to process that information, but not right now. Nothing that happened to me as a child was Monroe’s fault, and right now, Broderick is in more danger than I am.