“No.”
Elena answered.
“Your decisions change your life.”
For several seconds Reuben stood perfectly still.
Then he pointed at Samantha.
“This isn’t over.”
Elena’s expression sharpened.
“Thank you.”
Reuben looked confused.
“For what?”
“For saying that in front of seven witnesses.”
Grizzly counted the room.
“Eight.”
Reuben’s face flushed.
He looked at Wyatt.
At Grizzly.
At Elena.
Then back at Samantha.
He had spent years teaching her that fear was proof of his strength.
Now she saw fear in him.
Not physical fear.
Exposure.
The fear that someone else might get to define what happened.
Samantha spoke quietly.
“Go.”
Reuben’s eyes locked onto hers.
There were no tears in her voice.
No apology.
No bargaining.
Just the same word she had been trying to say for years.
“Go.”
This time he did.
He turned.