"Enough, Anneliese!" Colino barked, his face suddenly dark as a storm rolling in from the sea. "Piper was conned too. She lost everything. And you? Instead of showing any compassion, you've been running around telling everyone she's your father's bastard child. Do you even have a heart?"
"Compassion?" I let out a hollow, bitter laugh that scraped my throat raw. "What about my mother? She died in the most horrific way imaginable!"
"She died because she got greedy and made stupid choices," he scoffed, his lip curling with contempt. "Piper had nothing to do with it. Don't even think about laying a finger on her."
His voice was frost-edged now, sharp enough to draw blood. I shook from the inside out.
I gripped the front of my silk nightgown like it would hold my chest together, like it could keep my heart from spilling out onto the floor. The marble blurred under the torrent of my tears.
"Colino," I whispered. "Have you forgotten? When you were snatched—when that rival Family grabbed you off the street—who risked everything to save you? Who fought off those men with her bare hands until your father's soldiers arrived?"