Chapter 2
I took Miriam into my private sitting room.
Garrett went nowhere.
Two bodyguards placed themselves outside the adjoining gallery.
Evelyn demanded to leave.
I told her she could sit.
She sat.
That helped.
My mother held a glass of water with both hands.
“Start at the beginning.”
She looked toward the door.
“He’s been asking for six months.”
“The black seal.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Her eyes closed.
I hated the answer before she gave it.
“Because he said you knew.”
Of course.
My name again.
Borrowed authority.
“He said you wanted the old family records opened before winter.”
“I never said that.”
“I know now.”
My chest tightened.
“Why did you believe him then?”
Miriam looked embarrassed.
“He’s your husband.”
There it was.
Marriage as access.
Garrett had used the role exactly as older families always did.
Not by ordering my mother directly.
By implying I had already decided.
“What did you give him?”
“Nothing.”
I looked at her.
Nothing.
Good.
“Then why did he kick you tonight?”
“He asked again before the gala.”
“And?”
“I told him the seal was gone.”
My expression changed.
“Gone?”
“I lied.”
She looked ashamed.
“I wanted to see what he would do.”
I almost laughed.
My mother had tested him.
And he failed violently.
“Where is it?”
She shook her head.
“I won’t tell you yet.”
That surprised me.
“Mom.”
“Not until you understand what it is.”
Fair.
I sat back.
“Then explain.”
Miriam breathed slowly.
“The black seal was your grandfather’s emergency authority.”
I knew fragments.
Nothing complete.
“Emergency for what?”
“If the Carbone organization fractured after the death of its head, the seal opened three things.”
She counted.
“The old oath room.”
“The reserve channels.”
“And?”
Her eyes met mine.
“The succession ledger.”
My hands became still.
I had heard rumors about the ledger.
Names.
Bloodlines.
Old promises.
Who could command what if the family split.
My father dismissed it as mythology.
Apparently not.
“What does Garrett want from it?”
Miriam looked toward the door.
“He doesn’t want to read your succession.”
May you like
A pause.
“He wants to rewrite everyone else’s.”
