In her suite at The North Pole Lodge, Kira thought about Xavier’s opening argument in court and wondered if he truly believed that he was doing the right thing. If he was the same person that he had been when they were young, she knew he meant it. When they were kids, he only said what he meant, and he always meant what he said.

But how could someone so good be so misguided? And now she had agreed to go to his parents’ house with him, even though she had told herself just moments before that she was going to stay as far away from him as possible until...