The boy sobbed, hiccupping between words.
“It was her… She got mad and threw away her phone. I just wanted to pick it up for her, and she—she called me a bastard… told me to get lost.”
At the same time, Devin clung desperately to Shalane’s leg, trembling. “Mommy, Mommy, I’m scared. I wanna go home!”
Shalane turned to me, her eyes blazing with barely contained fury.
“Camryn,” she said through gritted teeth, “I know this is my fault. I shouldn’t have fallen for Brent. I’ve been to London all these years—I never wanted to get in your way. But Galvin is just a kid. If you have a problem, take it out on me. Hit me, yell at me, whatever you want.”
Her eyes welled up with tears.
I felt an overwhelming sense of helplessness and opened my mouth to explain when suddenly, the sound of Brent’s palm striking my face rang through the room.
His face was stone-cold, colder than I had ever seen it.
“I get that you’re upset, but I never thought you’d take it out on a child!”
Then he looked at me, his gaze like a blade cutting straight through my chest.
“This is the Ceppetellis’ property, Camryn. Galvin is the rightful son of this villa. Who the hell are you to call him a bastard and tell him to get out?”