Chapter 4
I brought Katherine and Marcus into the council room.
No wine.
No Christmas decorations.
Only the three of us and Salvatore.
I started with Marcus.
“Who tampered with the decanter?”
He looked at Katherine.
Wrong move.
She noticed too.
“Marcus,” she warned.
I raised one hand.
“Let him choose whether he answers as your son or as my capo.”
His jaw tightened.
Then:
“I didn’t touch it.”
I believed him.
Not innocent.
Different role.
“Who did?”
Silence.
“Katherine?”
Nothing.
I looked at Marcus.
“Did you know what was inside?”
“Not exactly.”
There.
“What were you told?”
“That it would make you sick.”
“How sick?”
He looked away.
“Enough to end dinner.”
I almost laughed.
“End dinner.”
“You’d be taken upstairs.”
“And you?”
He stared.
“I’d keep the captains calm.”
Exactly.
Katherine finally spoke.
“This family cannot be leaderless every time you become emotional over your daughter.”
I looked at her.
“I was not leaderless until you tried to drug me.”
Her mouth tightened.
“You have been weak for months.”
There.
Not one night.
Longer resentment.
“Why?”
“You canceled the harbor punishment because Clara was ill.”
I remembered.
She had a fever.
I stayed home.
Another captain handled it.
Nothing collapsed.
“You delayed the winter council because she had pneumonia.”
“Yes.”
“You stopped sleeping at the city house.”
“Yes.”
“So?”
Katherine leaned forward.
“Your life revolves around a child.”
“My daughter.”
“Your heir.”
“No.”
I shook my head.
“My daughter first.”
That infuriated her.
“Exactly.”
Now I understood.
To Katherine, loving Clara as a child threatened the organization because she viewed every family member as a future function.
Marcus = successor.
Clara = obstacle.
Me = chair.
Not people.
Positions.
I looked at Marcus.
“And you agreed.”
His face tightened.
“I agreed you were distracted.”
“So you helped plan a public collapse.”
“I agreed to stabilize the room.”
“You knew why the room would need stabilizing.”
Silence.
Yes.
That distinction mattered.
May you like
Katherine built the trap.
Marcus agreed to benefit from it.
