Chapter 6
I asked Vanessa one question in private.
“Why did you marry me?”
She laughed.
“Are we really doing this?”
“Yes.”
“For love.”
“Only?”
Her eyes sharpened.
“What answer do you want?”
“The one you were afraid to give on the terrace.”
She stood near the window.
Elegant.
Controlled.
Nothing like the woman who had forced Lily onto her knees an hour earlier.
“I loved you.”
“I believe that.”
She turned.
Surprised.
Good.
I continued.
“You also hated that loving me did not make Elena disappear.”
Her face tightened.
There.
“You kept her photographs.”
“Yes.”
“Her dresses.”
“Some.”
“Her mother’s recipe book.”
“Yes.”
“You talk about her to Lily.”
“She is Lily’s mother.”
Vanessa laughed bitterly.
“Exactly.”
The word came out sharp.
“She is dead and still gets to be the mother.”
I stared.
“And you wanted the title.”
“I am raising Lily.”
“No.”
My voice remained low.
“You were disciplining her into needing you.”
Vanessa’s face hardened.
“You have no idea what it is like.”
“Then tell me.”
She finally did.
Every time Lily cried for Elena after a nightmare, Vanessa felt excluded.
Every time I told a story about Elena, she felt second.
Every time an old capo said Lily had Elena’s eyes, Vanessa felt like a guest.
So she tried to reverse the feeling.
Make Lily the guest.
Make Mason central.
Make the household reflect the marriage Vanessa wanted instead of the history she inherited.
That explained motive.
Not everything.
“Why involve Luca?”
She looked away.
There.
Bigger.
“You met with him.”
Silence.
“What did he promise?”
“Nothing.”
Wrong.
“What did you promise him?”
Her jaw tightened.
I understood before she spoke.
Access.
Luca had resented several of my crew decisions.
Vanessa could influence the house.
He could influence the captains.
Each gave the other something.
“What was the plan?”
She shook her head.
“No plan.”
I stepped closer.
“Then why was Mason sitting in my chair while Luca watched?”
Her face changed.
That was enough.
Vanessa had not only wanted emotional victory over Elena.
May you like
She had found old men willing to turn her insecurity into a structure.
And they were using my home to rehearse it.
