Chapter 1
“Eat it all, right in front of me… I can wait.”
Odessa pushed the plate away.
Slowly.
Not disgust.
Fear.
That distinction mattered.
The conservatory had become silent enough that I could hear silverware touching china three tables away.
Marielle sat beside me, shoulders still trembling.
Odessa looked around at the guests.
Then back at me.
“You’re humiliating me over a maid’s imagination.”
I looked at the dessert.
Cream.
Dark chocolate.
Raspberries.
Nothing visually wrong.
“Then eat it.”
“I’m not hungry.”
“You were hungry enough to force it into Marielle’s mouth.”
Her jaw tightened.
There.
I picked up the plate.
Odessa’s fingers twitched.
Not toward me.
Toward it.
I handed it to Rafe, my bodyguard.
“Keep this untouched.”
Odessa laughed sharply.
“You think I poisoned you?”
“I think you’re afraid of your own dessert.”
“It was yours.”
Exactly.
Marielle looked at me.
Her face had gone pale.
I turned toward her.
“When did she switch it?”
“When you stood to greet Mr. Alden.”
Two minutes.
I remembered.
Old family friend.
Handshake near the orchids.
My chair empty.
“Which plate was originally here?”
Marielle pointed toward a service cart.
“One from the kitchen. She sent me away for coffee, then moved another plate into your place.”
Odessa snapped:
“You’re lying.”
Marielle recoiled automatically.
I saw that too.
I leaned forward.
“Odessa.”
She looked at me.
“If she’s lying, you have nothing to fear.”
Silence.
Then one of the dessert servers spoke from behind us.
“Boss.”
A young man.
Nervous.
“That plate didn’t come from our pastry station.”
Odessa closed her eyes.
Good.
The evening had just become simpler.
Not solved.
Simpler.
I looked at Rafe.
“House physician.”
Then at Odessa.
“You stay.”
Her eyes moved toward the conservatory’s side doors.
One glance.
Brief.
Enough.
May you like
She was not only afraid of what was on the plate.
She was worried about time.
