The second Tia couldn’t see him, even from the back, the smile slid from Seth’s face. He let himself into the house, closed the door and leaned against it. “Holy shit,” he said on a long exhale. Tia was right—her beautiful face was destroyed. She’d never get another acting part. And it was only a matter of time before some brazen journalist managed to snap a picture of her. Then those scars would be plastered all over the tabloids for the world to see, and she’d become the brunt of ruthless jokes and endless speculation.

He cringed to imagine what that would be like for her, especially because he was no longer convinced plastic surgery would help.

“Poor thing,” he muttered.

“Pretty girl... Pretty girl,” Kiki was saying. Although it wasn’t loud, her parrot voice came through the glass walls of the atrium and echoed against the ceiling, seemingly mocking his thoughts. Tia had once been more than a pretty girl. She’d been stunning. But now...

At least he’d been honest about her eyes. A man could drown in those eyes. They were mesmerizing.

But people wouldn’t be talking about her eyes if pictures ever leaked online. They’d be talking about the terrible scars, and he was already afraid of what some might say. People could be so cruel. He knew because they’d been cruel to him, once upon a time, when he was just a defenseless boy.

I know why you don’t have any parents—it’s because no one could love you.

And this, said in a whisper by so many of his foster families: How could a mother give away only one of her sons? What does that say about him and his behavior?

Trying to block out the echoes, he used his phone to text Eli. Just in case I didn’t make a big enough point of it, you can’t tell anyone Tia is here, okay? No one. Including Cora. It’s important.

Sorry, dude. Already told Cora came his brother’s response. She’s my wife. I tell her everything. But I’ll make sure she knows it’s a secret. We can trust her.

Seth liked Cora, but what if she confided in a friend, maybe even someone at New Horizons where she worked as a teacher? It would go through the school like wildfire. “Damn.”

Did you call Lois and Graham? his brother wanted to know.

Seth groaned. He’d chosen to focus on Tia instead, not only because she needed help and there didn’t seem to be anyone else in her life to provide it but also because he welcomed the diversion. It was so much easier to deal with someone else’s problems.

But he’d already put off contacting the Iveys for too long.