Lydia's Point Of View
We hadn't just bullied a relative; we had poked a sleeping giant. And now that giant was awake, and he was angry, and he had the resources to destroy us completely.
"Charles, it's okay," Aunt Rita whispered as she placed a gentle hand on his arm, and I saw him glance down at her with something almost tender, a softness that seemed impossible in a man who radiated such controlled menace. "They probably thought I had a child with a begger." she chuckled, but there was nothing soft about it. "They didn't know."
"Oh, they knew exactly what they were doing, Rita," Charles said, his hand resting on the small of her back in a gesture both protective and possessive. The intimacy of the touch spoke of a relationship we had all dismissed as shameful.
