The implication hangs there, and Devero is not a stupid man. He looks down at her, such a fragile-looking thing, and all he can think is how unnecessary. How cruel.

He offers a hand out, as if to give her shoulder a squeeze, but the motion clearly choreographed so that she can accept or reject the gesture as she wishes. "You're right," he says as he does so. "No one deserves that at all."