Ryan didn't move at first. The smirk that had been playing on his lips slowly faded, and the silence that followed Jamal's revelation was loud enough to make the ticking of the grandfather clock in the corner feel like thunder.
His eyes narrowed. "What did you just say?" he asked, voice low and tightly controlled.
Jamal held his ground. "She's not mute. She can talk. She's been pretending."
Ryan leaned back in his chair slowly, resting an arm on the armrest as he regarded Jamal, his expression unreadable now. "And how did you known this?"
"Earlier on when I went to pick her from the restaurant on Ms Genevieve's instruction, I heard her mutter under her breath as I approached her table," Jamal replied carefully. "She didn't hear me coming behind her. When we got to the car I asked her about it and she admitted she could talk. But she asked me to keep it a secret."
