Roxanne pushed herself up to sitting. Her jaw throbbed where his fingers had dug in. Her wrist ached where he'd grabbed her. But she didn't curl up and refused to cower.
Just met his eyes with something that looked almost like contempt.
"You know where Phei lives," she said quietly. "The Sovereign Tower. That's where Sierra went. You're her father." Her lips curved into something that wasn't quite a smile.
"Why don't you go get her back? You're all-powerful, aren't you? Head of the second most powerful law firm in the world. Senators cower when your name comes up. Judges recuse themselves at the sight of your lawyers. Go use all that power and bring your daughter home. What's stopping you—"
The slap cracked across her face like a gunshot.
Her head snapped to the side. She fell all the way down this time, her cheek met the carpet in a sickening crunch, stars exploding behind her eyes, the taste of copper flooding her mouth where her teeth had cut the inside of her cheek.
