Chapter 36 The Family We Choose

• The ache in Madeline’s ribs pulsed with every step, but she ignored it. Pain had long since become a familiar companion. The wounds from the ambush still burned, but the betrayal she had witnessed—that hurt in a way no bullet ever could.
• Matteo.
• She had seen him in the chaos, moving too swiftly, too effortlessly, among the men trying to kill her. It wasn’t a mistake. It wasn’t a trick of the mind. Her brother had been there, and he hadn’t been on her side.