Zoe tenses and drops her face, burying her nose in Anna’s curly hair.

Eric chuckles, spinning back to Lynell. “Zoe here is from Oklahoma. That’s where Anna has lived all this time.” Lynell tries not to react to this information, afraid of tipping Eric off to the fact that she already knew.

“Unfortunately, the family wasn’t home when we arrived. They were up north visiting relatives. So, they had a short flight back to Dallas earlier. It wiped poor Anna out.”

Carefully, Eric turns and walks back to the chair with Zoe and Anna. Zoe shrinks away from him, her grip tightening on Anna, who frowns and looks up. “Are you tired, darling?”

Anna blinks. “No.”

“Come here, let me hold you,” Eric says, holding out his hands. Zoe shakes her head and curls a protective arm around Anna.

“Please, no,” she mutters.

Eric shoots her a venomous look, and she flinches. She barely fights him when Eric grabs Anna and lifts her up to sit on his hip. “Smart choice,” Eric says to Zoe before tapping Anna’s nose lightly. “Do you like it here?” he asks her.

Anna nods. “Uncle Eric lives here,” she says.

Eric beams. Lynell grits her teeth, and Zach whispers, “Careful.”

“That’s right!” Eric says, sounding genuinely proud. “You can trust Uncle Eric.”

Anna turns to look back at her. “Mommy,” she says, reaching out for Zoe.

“It’s okay, darling. Mommy isn’t feeling very well,” Eric says. He bounces Anna on his hip and turns so she can’t see Zoe anymore. The movement allows Lynell a glimpse of Anna’s face. She’s frowning, her bottom lip pushed out, probably signaling that she is about to erupt into tears.

“Please, Eric,” Lynell says. “She’s just a kid.”

“I’m not going to hurt her. I’m not a monster.”

She tugs at Zach’s grip, but he keeps her back. “Could have fooled me. You already murdered her father!” She wants to shout it, to scream at Eric, but the presence of Zoe and Anna keeps her voice as a harsh whisper. The sight of tears welling up in Anna’s eyes makes Lynell’s own sting.

“Isn’t her father Daniel Carter?”

This is it, she thinks. The lie she agreed to tell.

“Daniel?” She shakes her head. “No. She’s not Daniel’s.” Without being able to stop herself, she glances past Eric at Zoe. The woman catches Lynell’s gaze and seems to beg with her silently.

“Please,” Zoe mouths.

Lynell looks back at Eric and quickly adds, “Let them go. She’s not a threat to you. She’s not a legitimate Elysian.” Panic fills the entire cavity of her chest.

“Not according to my records,” he says, moving Anna to his other side.

Guilt fills Lynell’s stomach, mixing with the panic to create a toxic emotion that makes her feel dizzy. “I cheated on him. Anna isn’t Daniel’s. She’s not legitimate. That’s why I . . . I didn’t want her. Please, she’s not a threat to you.”

Eric raises his eyebrows and looks down at Anna. “You look quite like your father,” he says to her.