If there was anything that could convince Pepper that Gene has changed, it's this. Gene had never been particularly open about his emotions, both as friends and as enemies. He had certainly not trusted any of them with how he was really feeling. She'd be more shocked if her nerves didn't feel numb.

"That's awful. Worse than awful." She looks down at the floor for a moment. "Skulduggery... he said they adopted Foreigner parents." Almost unwillingly, she raises her eyes to meet Gene's again. "Was one of them yours?"