Chapter 8
Edmund slowly removed his second glove.
Placed both gloves on the table.
Julian watched.
“What are you doing?”
The butler looked at him.
“For thirty-seven years, I have served this house.”
Julian laughed.
“You just heard me say that.”
Edmund’s face hardened.
“No.”
“You called me furniture.”
Julian’s smile disappeared.
Edmund continued.
“I buried your grandfather.”
“Held your mother’s coat while she identified Marco.”
Avice looked up at her father’s name.
Edmund’s eyes moved briefly toward her.
Something uncomfortable passed through his face.
Not remorse yet.
Memory.
Cesare noticed.
Edmund looked back at Julian.
“And you believe I will stand here while you explain that loyalty means being discarded when the evening ends?”
Julian stepped forward.
“You struck Avice for me.”
Edmund’s expression changed.
Cesare’s eyes sharpened.
There.
Direct admission.
Julian realized too late.
The ballroom became silent.
Edmund looked at Avice.
For the first time, he could not meet her eyes.
Vanessa smiled bitterly.
“Keep going, Julian.”
Her voice dripped with venom.
“You seem determined to bury yourself without help.”
Julian turned.
She stepped toward him.
“You told me Cesare would never accept me.”
“He didn't.”
“You told me Avice had to be blamed.”
“She did.”
“You told me Edmund would keep her upstairs after the fall.”
“He would.”
Edmund’s face hardened again.
Vanessa laughed.
“And you told Ethan you would make him underboss.”
Ethan’s head snapped toward her.
Cesare looked toward him.
Julian said nothing.
Ethan’s eyes became dangerous.
“You said what?”
Vanessa smiled cruelly.
“Aw.”
Her gaze slid toward her brother.
“He didn't tell you?”
Ethan stared.
Vanessa enjoyed it.
“Apparently you weren’t important enough for the whole promise either.”
Ethan looked toward Julian.
“You told me I would control the north crews.”
Julian’s jaw tightened.
Vanessa’s smile widened.
“He told me the same crews were payment for getting me out after the miscarriage.”
Ethan’s face changed.
Another lie.
Another ally split.
Cesare remained still.
He barely needed to push anymore.
Julian had built a coalition from mutually incompatible promises.
Now the room itself was dismantling it.
Then Cesare looked toward Edmund.
“Why Avice?”
Edmund’s jaw tightened.
Julian said:
“Because you would protect her.”
Cesare ignored him.
He kept his eyes on Edmund.
The butler finally answered.
“Because the sight had to be unbearable.”
Avice pressed closer to Cesare.
Edmund’s voice became lower.
“If Vanessa simply fell, you might hesitate.”
“If Avice appeared responsible…”
He swallowed.
“You would not.”
Cesare’s face hardened.
Edmund continued.
“Mr. Julian said your love for her was the only predictable thing left about you.”
A silence passed.
That was the real weapon.
Not Avice’s body.
Cesare’s love for her.
Julian had built the entire plan around the certainty that his father would choose the child.
Then Cesare asked:
“What did you intend to do with her after Vanessa fell?”
Edmund looked down.
No answer.
Avice whispered:
“Storage room.”
Cesare turned toward her.
She pointed toward the private room Edmund had been dragging her toward.
“I heard him tell Ethan I had to stay there until Grandpa left.”
Cesare looked at Edmund.
The butler’s face changed.
Then Avice added:
“He said if I cried…”
Her little voice became smaller.
“…nobody would hear me over the music.”
Edmund finally looked ashamed.
But Ethan laughed.
Cold.
Haughty even now.
“Oh, spare us.”
Everyone turned.
He looked toward Avice.
“She would have spent an hour in a room.”
He shrugged.
“Children survive worse.”
Cesare’s expression became lethal.
Ethan saw it.
And smiled.
“Come on.”
His chin lifted.
“Hit me again.”
The old plan still lived inside him.
Make Cesare perform.
Cesare did not move.
May you like
Ethan’s smile faltered.
For the first time, Cesare denied them the reaction they had built everything around.
