Lila waited exactly twelve seconds after their mother closed her eyes before turning to Alex and saying:
"So."
Leo already knew that tone.
He closed his eyes briefly. "Lila."
"No, let me speak." She pointed at him without looking away from Alex. "You've had enough speaking for one lifetime."
Alex, to his credit, looked deeply entertained by this.
They were still in the hospital room, afternoon light stretching pale across the floor.
Leo had fixed her blanket twice. Lila had rolled her eyes through both attempts.
Now she sat cross-legged in the visitor chair, facing Alex with the terrifying calm of a seventeen-year-old girl preparing legal action.
Alex leaned back slightly in his chair. "Should I be worried?"
"Yes."
"Lila—"
"No, seriously." She pointed again. "If you break my brother's heart, I will expose you."
Alex blinked once.
Then: "Expose me. how?"
