"Actually—"
The word hung there for half a second before she aborted the entire mission, turning her face toward the window.
"Never mind."
The silence that followed was three seconds long. She stared at her window with a blank expression on her face.
"You can ask me," Dex said, breaking the silence. "What is it?"
Bellatrix moved her gaze back to her son.
"Will you talk to Serena for me?"
Dex blinked.
"Talk to Serena," he repeated. "About what?"
"I was trying to surprise her." Bellatrix's voice was quieter now, stripped of the theatrical projection she usually operated at, running at a register Dex had heard maybe twice in his life. "There is champagne, flowers, balloons, and Onyx. My tailor was there. I was going to surprise her with a fitting for a wedding gown."
