Chapter 1
“My dog knew you were dangerous before I did.”
Victor knelt in front of me with Titan’s leather leash wrapped firmly around his forearms.
My voice came out rougher than usual.
The room still tilted.
Dr. Reynolds had one hand against my shoulder, telling me not to stand too quickly. Dante held the security tablet several feet away, frozen on the image of Victor leaning over my water glass.
Sophia sat near the bookshelf with her drawing notebook open across her knees.
Titan stood beside her.
Not me.
Her.
That mattered.
Victor stared at the dog.
“You think an animal proves anything?”
I looked at the tablet.
“No.”
Then at him.
“You did.”
His jaw tightened.
Dante enlarged the footage.
Victor entered the study twenty-three minutes before I collapsed. He checked the corridor, removed something from his coat, and poured it into my glass.
Clear.
Simple.
Ugly.
Dr. Reynolds whispered behind me:
“Whatever he used was meant to incapacitate you.”
Victor laughed.
“Or maybe your doctor wants you frightened.”
Titan growled.
Not at Reynolds.
At Victor.
Again.
Sophia touched the dog’s shoulder.
“Good boy.”
Titan stopped.
Every adult in the room looked at her.
Elena rushed into the doorway.
Her face turned white when she saw her daughter inside the study.
“Sophia!”
The little girl looked up.
“I helped.”
Elena pulled her close immediately.
Victor smiled despite the leash.
“Your maid’s kid wandered into a guarded study and everyone thinks that’s normal?”
My head cleared another degree.
Interesting choice.
Not deny the drink.
Attack the child.
I looked toward Sophia’s notebook.
“What were you drawing?”
She held it up.
A dog.
Titan.
A desk.
And a man standing near my glass.
Black suit.
Silver watch.
Victor’s watch.
Victor saw it.
His face changed.
There.
Fear.
Not of the security footage.
Of a three-year-old’s drawing.
I took one slow breath.
“Sophia.”
She looked at me.
“Did you see Victor in here before I fell?”
She nodded.
Victor closed his eyes.
Then Sophia added something worse.
“He comes when you’re gone too.”
The room went silent.
I looked at my cousin.
May you like
Victor had touched my drink once.
My daughter-sized witness had apparently seen him in my study many more times.
