Chapter 18

• “Why are you always so quiet?” I asked without thinking, my words tumbling out faster than I could stop them.
• Mayor, who’d been sitting across from me, leaning back in his chair, raised an eyebrow, his lips quirking ever so slightly at the edges. His expression was unreadable, but there was something about the way he held himself—distant yet present—that made me want to dig deeper. His brothers were open books, loud and brash in their pursuit of whatever they wanted. But Mayor? He was a mystery. One that I had no interest in solving, or so I told myself.
• He didn’t immediately respond. Instead, he studied me, his gaze intense but oddly calming, like he was weighing the truth behind my question before offering an answer. It made me nervous, made me feel exposed in a way that was both unsettling and... intriguing.