Absently, Jasper looped a strand of Abella’s hair around his finger and examined its healthy shine. “Flynn was pissed. Then my parents turned to me and said I’d been invited to join the gifted class in the fall. This was kindergarten. I was, like, five years old. I had no idea what they were even talking about, but they looked excited, so I got excited, too.

“Afterward, Flynn and I went outside and Flynn patted me on the back. ‘Good job, Jas,’ he said. ‘You’re a fucking genius.’ He swore all the time around me, and my parents didn’t catch on for years; the first and only time I cussed in front of them, Flynn got the blame for that, too. So we’re out in the yard, and Flynn’s got this big grin, and I remember thinking, wow, my big brother’s proud of me. It felt so good—and then it got even better. Flynn asked if I wanted to toss around the football. He played for the high school, was pretty good at it, but he’d never once played with me. I was so psyched. I was a scrawny kid, but I gave it all I had when I threw that ball because I wanted to impress him even more. Flynn caught it and whipped it back, hard as he could. Straight at my face.”

Reflexively, Abby brought her hands to her nose. She could almost feel the crushing blow, the hot geyser of blood and confusion and fear Jasper experienced that day, as if she’d taken the hit herself. She’d noticed the bend in his nose, of course she had. He’d never mentioned how he got it.

“Flynn doesn’t deserve excuses,” Jasper said. “He’s an asshole, yet somehow he always gets what he wants. He slacked off all his life and now he’s fucking CFO. Flynn thinks he’s my boss. Can you believe that?” Jasper stared out the window, his mouth a fixed line. “It’s not about competition for him, Abby, it’s about control—over me, and Ned, and everyone else. The only thing that keeps me from smashing his face in is knowing it can’t last forever. One of these days, his luck’s going to change. And he deserves what he’s got coming.”

The wind was picking up. Beyond the window tree branches stuttered and swooped upward, buoyed by gusts so strong they shook the leaded panes. Abella sank deeper into the crook of Jasper’s arm and used the pad of her thumb to buff a tiny smudge from her pinkie nail. She didn’t know how to comfort him, not about this. In the hallway, the staircase creaked. She sensed Jasper stiffen, and a second later Flynn passed by the doorway with his laptop under his arm. He paused to glance disinterestedly in their direction before entering the library and slamming the pocket doors closed behind him.

“I better check on Nana,” Jasper said. “God knows what Flynn said to her. I swear her blood pressure spikes when he’s in a half-mile radius.” He lifted his arm from around her shoulder, and instantly Abella felt cold. “Maybe she wants to play a round of rook with us. You in?”