Frank’s expression remains perfectly neutral. Too neutral. “I know of him.” Danger. Immediate danger. Professional-officiating calm. That's the dangerous kind. Elena senses it too, because her eyes widen over the wineglass.
Piper, oblivious, smiles warmly. “Well, he adores Toni, so I already feel like we’re connected spiritually.”
I nearly aspirate my own oxygen. “Piper,” I hiss.
“What?” She looks genuinely confused. “He does. I have eyes.”
Frank’s gaze slides toward me slowly. Steady. Controlled. Terrifying. “Toni works with the Guardians,” he says measured.
“Yes,” Piper says brightly, setting down the pastry boxes. “And Max has been emotionally unstable about it since approximately day three.”
“PIPER.”
“What? Elena already knows!”
Elena raises her hand immediately. “I absolutely know.”
My father leans back in his chair slightly. Observing. That’s always been the dangerous part with him. He notices everything.
Piper finally seems to realize she may have walked directly into a minefield. “Oh no,” she says softly. “Did I accidentally do hockey politics?”
“No,” I say too quickly.
“Yes,” Elena says at the same time.
Frank’s eyes remain on me. “Antonia.” That tone alone could stop traffic. I straighten instinctively. “It’s professional.”
“Mhm.”
God, I hate when he mhms.
Piper looks between us nervously. “For what it’s worth, Max talks about her like she hung the moon.”
Silence detonates across the kitchen. I close my eyes. Elena looks delighted. And my father, he gets very still. Evaluating. Something new landing. Like he’s suddenly fitting pieces together he didn’t realize existed. “Interesting,” he says finally.
Piper immediately points at herself. “I’d like the record to show I came here with sugar and good intentions.”
Frank nods once. “I believe you.”
“You’re intimidating when you’re polite,” Piper blurts out.
To my absolute horror, Frank laughs. “You sound exactly like my daughter.”
“Because she’s terrifying too,” Piper says.
“PIPER.”
“What? You are!”
Elena is openly crying, laughing now into her wineglass while Piper unpacks cannoli onto plates, as if emotional support pastries can reverse the damage she’s caused.
Frank watches the chaos calmly for another moment. Then, very casually, he says, “So, Max Stevens talks about my daughter.”
It is not a question. That somehow makes it much, much worse.
Chapter Twenty
Max Stevens
