Page 124 of Mason

I make it look real.

Because if I don’t—we’re both dead.

She plays her part well.

So well, in fact, that by the end of it, she isn’t just pretending anymore.

I don’t let myself think about it as I adjust my tie, as she clutches her dress to her chest, her face burning with shame.

I don’t let myself feel it as I leave the room with a lump in my throat.

I tell myself I saved her life.

But as I close the door behind me, I wonder if I just destroyed something in her instead.

Maxine doesn’t flinch.

She doesn’t look away.

She just stares me down—and for a moment, it’s me on trial.

The girl from that locked room is gone.

What’s in front of me now is something forged in the aftermath.

Sharper.

Colder.

Made of whatever was left after the fire scorched through her soul and didn’t quite put her out.

Brando picks up on it immediately.

His gaze flicks between us, shoulders going taut, like he can feel the tension bleeding out of us in thick, suffocating waves. He steps forward, slow and solid, slipping between us like a man walking into a storm. He’ll do anything to protect his sister in law from the likes of me.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” he growls. Not a question. A warning.

His eyes narrow as they bounce between Maxine and me, reading something in the silence—something unspoken and unsettling. And from the way his mouth hardens, he clearly doesn’t like it.

I don’t answer immediately.

Lucky steps in beside me, slow and steady, his posture calm but unmistakably protective. A silent message that doesn’t need to be spoken:

He’s with me.

Back off.

I keep my focus on Brando.

“Shelby was married to my partner,” I say, my voice even, emotionless. “I’m here to check on her.”

“She’s under our protection now,” Brando snaps, his tone flat, all edge. “You want answers, go through the proper channels.”

“She’s in a coma,” I reply. “What kind of answers do you think I came for?”

His silence is the kind that says everything and nothing all at once.

I glance back at Maxine. She hasn’t moved.

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