"For the love of any god…" Alexandra exhaled, defeated. "He is doing it out of spite, like his father."
"Which one?" Gabriel asked, mild enough to be cruel.
Alexandra's eyes narrowed. "Don't start."
Gabriel's expression didn't change, but the corner of his mouth twitched. "I'm not starting. I'm observing."
"You're observing with malicious intent," Alexandra accused.
Rafael shifted Natalie higher against his chest, because the baby had decided her head belonged under his chin and nowhere else, and because this wing had a way of turning every conversation into a knife fight with silk gloves. "If it helps," Rafael offered, "he looks like the type to spite people as a hobby."
Alexandra made a wounded sound. "Thank you for your support, Rosenroth."
"I'm not Rosenroth," he said automatically, then remembered exactly where he was and who he was speaking to, and corrected himself with a tight smile that felt like swallowing glass. "I mean. Yes. I suppose I am."
