Chapter 2
I ended the reception.
Not dramatically.
Guests were moved into the east salon.
Family remained.
No one left until I understood enough to know who should.
Noah went upstairs with Maria.
He refused at first.
Wanted me.
I promised I would come.
“After talk?”
“Yes.”
“Promise?”
“Yes.”
He accepted that.
Those small promises mattered more now.
Victoria sat opposite me.
Marcus remained standing.
He preferred the illusion of mobility.
I removed it.
“Sit.”
He did.
“What did Clara see?”
Victoria stared at the floor.
Marcus answered:
“Us.”
Good.
“Doing what?”
Silence.
I waited.
Marcus finally said:
“Together.”
The word required no translation.
My cousin.
My current fiancée.
Together.
“How long?”
Victoria began crying.
“Rocco—”
“How long?”
“Before Clara died?”
Marcus looked at her.
Bad.
I leaned forward.
“Answer independently.”
Victoria whispered:
“Five months.”
Marcus said:
“Six.”
Interesting.
Even their affair had different histories depending on who narrated it.
I looked at Victoria.
“You were sleeping with Marcus while Clara was alive.”
“Yes.”
“And Clara discovered it.”
“Yes.”
“When?”
Neither answered.
I already knew.
“The night she died.”
Victoria covered her face.
Marcus stared at me.
“It wasn’t planned.”
I had not asked that.
Which made the answer useful.
“What happened?”
Marcus exhaled.
Clara had been looking for me at the villa.
I was downstairs meeting two captains.
Victoria was supposed to be her friend.
That part hurt differently.
Clara trusted her.
She went upstairs and found Victoria and Marcus in the private gallery beside the terrace.
Not in bed.
Did not matter.
Close enough.
Kissing.
Arguing afterward.
Clara understood.
She told Victoria:
“I’m telling Rocco.”
Marcus tried to stop her.
Not attack.
Talk.
He stepped between Clara and the gallery door.
She turned toward the terrace instead.
Rain had started.
The stone was wet.
Marcus followed.
Victoria too.
Then Clara moved backward while telling them to stay away.
Her heel caught the edge of a drainage channel.
She slipped.
The railing had an open section under repair.
She fell to the lower garden.
No one pushed her.
According to them.
But two people chased a frightened woman onto a wet terrace because they were terrified she would tell me the truth.
That was not nothing.
May you like
Then came the question that mattered.
“Why did you tell me she was alone?”
