Eden looked at Curtis. Really looked at him this time.
His face was scrunched up in a way she rarely saw, the usual composed, put-together deputy nowhere to be found. His brows were drawn tight, his jaw stiff, like he was physically trying to wrestle with what he'd just heard.
Then she spoke.
"Because as stupid as she was, Celine wasn't entirely wrong."
Curtis's eyes flickered.
"I couldn't just make you choose when I know for a fact that you wouldn't even hesitate to pick the disadvantageous option."
He stared at her, words clearly still processing.
"Huh?"
"If you'd come back and found me at that time, wouldn't you have thrown away all those years of toiling just so you could go out there and prove to everyone that everything coming out of Tavian's mouth was likely pure bullshit?"
She didn't wait for him to answer.
