I relaxed, then sat up. “Was it? Did she?”

“No.” Another laugh from him as he grabbed the drink menu. “Val just called you ‘him’ or by your name. That’s about it. She didn’t talk about you much, to be honest. Didn’t have to, I guess. We all knew she loved you.”

I felt a good one-two punch at everything he just said.

Valerie.

I’d been so focused on Nova that I pushed my thoughts and emotions about Valerie to the side. I didn’t know if that was fair to her or not, but Nova and the fight for Nova took first priority. Hearing that information now, regret sliced through me.

If she had told me? What then…

But I hadn’t called him to discuss Valerie. It was the other sister I needed information on.

The waitress came over, getting our orders. When she left, Graham lifted his chin toward me. “So, what’s up? I’m guessing you called for a reason, and talking about Val’s term of endearment isn’t it?”

I liked Graham.

We’d known him since college, though not well. Mason had met him at a football camp, but it wasn’t until after college that we got to know him better. He suffered an injury and went into sports broadcasting instead of an NFL career. Then when my brother-in-law and Aspen lived in Seattle, and Graham was here, it was inevitable our paths would cross more and more. Because of all that, I felt comfortable viewing Graham as a friend.

“Has Duke Royas reached out to your mother at all?”

The waiter had come over, and he was in the midst of lifting his glass for a drink. He froze right before the glass touched his mouth at my question. Then he set it down and scowled at me. “You’re serious?”

I had to ask. “Yes.”

“Fuck no. I hate that dipshit. Not only did he fuck over my mom, and he wasn’t in the standing to do that in the first place, but he’s been in Quincey’s head all her life. He’s turned her against us. Swear to God, she felt guilty about just having a meal with us.” He made a gun motion pointing at his head. “That’s how engrained he is in her head. Poisoned my own sister against us, against all of us.” He paused, frowning, and gripped his water tighter. “Why are you asking?”

“Because Quincey moved in with me.”

My statement was the equivalent of a mic being dropped.

Graham could only gape at me, and as far as I’d known Graham, he wasn’t a guy to gape. Always charming. Ever smooth. Maybe one or two retorts to Logan, but he was mostly a laidback and unshakeable guy.

Graham Robertson was shook now.

“You kidding me?”

“No.”

“When? I mean, fuck. Fuck! That’s great, right? That means you have Nova then?”

I nodded. “We dotted the i’s and crossed the t’s, but we have her. Both Quincey and I do.”

“In your house?” He jerked upright and shook his head briskly. “Wait a minute. You have a house here? Since when?”

“About four weeks ago, maybe a little less.”

“Holy shit. You Fallen Crest people move fast once you know what you want, huh?”

“Want my daughter? Fuck yes. You have kids?”

“I don’t, no. Val was the first in the family to have them.” Graham winced, reaching for his beer again. “Is that why you’re asking about Duke? Is he making things hard on Quince? Fuck, of course he is because he’s a dick.”

I nodded. “He’s been quiet lately. I was wondering if I needed to be gearing up for a fight that I can’t see coming.”

“Oh. Well.” He thought about it, taking another sip of his beer. “I mean, if Quincey and Nova are with you, then there isn’t much he can do. Right? Unless…”

“Unless?” I raised an eyebrow.

He took another drink of beer and grimaced as he swallowed. “Man, I don’t know if I should say anything. I mean, that’s for Quincey to tell you.”

“Quincey isn’t sharing. If I need to know something, then I need to know. I can’t fight a battle if I don’t know all the plays.”

“Yeah. Yeah. I can see that. But I feel like I’m betraying her if I tell you.”

I couldn’t fault him, but it had to be said. “This is Nova. She’s who we’re all protecting at this point.”

He grunted. “Fuck.” He hissed that word. “I know, and I can totally see Quincey not sharing because yeah, I can’t imagine what she’s going through right now. He’s been in her head all her life, literally. She’s probably detoxing from his toxin, you know? There’s absolutely no way he’ll go to any of us to move against her. No way in hell. He knows that’s a lost cause. We all hate him, but the only move I can see him making is either declaring you unfit or declaring Quincey unfit.”

“He has no standing against me.”