Chapter 2
I emptied the gallery.
Guests first.
Then the capos who weren't needed.
Nobody argued.
Not after seeing Julian underneath a collapsed ramp rack.
Agatha tried.
Of course she did.
“This is absurd.”
I ignored her.
“This child has spent his entire life learning that if he looks frightened enough, people stop expecting anything from him.”
I turned.
“You mean my son.”
“I mean exactly what I said.”
Her expression remained perfectly composed.
That was Agatha's talent.
Cruelty became wisdom if she said it calmly enough.
I carried Merrick into the smaller reception room.
Cecily rolled his chair behind us.
He refused to leave my arms.
I didn't make him.
Julian and Agatha were brought in five minutes later.
Two guards stayed beside each door.
Julian rubbed his ribs.
Agatha adjusted her pearls.
As if dignity were something jewelry could restore.
I looked at Cecily.
“What did he mean?”
She knew.
I could see it.
“The button.”
Cecily hesitated.
Agatha smiled at her.
“Careful.”
I turned toward my aunt.
Agatha's smile widened.
“What?”
“Don't threaten her.”
“I was giving advice.”
“No.”
I looked at Cecily again.
“Talk.”
She swallowed.
“Julian asked me yesterday whether the emergency button could be removed.”
My eyes went to him.
Julian shrugged.
“I was curious.”
“Why?”
“The thing is ridiculous.”
My jaw tightened.
He continued.
“Merrick presses it because his juice is warm and suddenly three bodyguards appear.”
Cecily shook her head.
“He has pressed it twice.”
Julian looked at her.
“Stay out of family matters.”
She stared back.
“You threw family matters onto the carpet.”
Agatha laughed.
“That little uniform has made you brave.”
Cecily said nothing.
Agatha leaned toward her.
“You're paid to push a chair, Cecily. Don't mistake proximity for importance.”
Merrick buried his face against my chest.
I felt him react to Agatha's voice.
That mattered.
“How many times?”
Cecily looked at me.
“What?”
“How many times has he reacted like that around her?”
Silence.
Agatha rolled her eyes.
“Oh, now we're examining facial expressions?”
I ignored her.
“Cecily.”
Her eyes filled.
“Months.”
My hands went still.
“How many?”
“I don't know.”
“You knew she frightened him?”
“I knew he didn't want to be alone with her.”
Agatha laughed.
“Because I don't baby him.”
Cecily turned.
“You took away his lunch because he wouldn't stand.”
I looked at Agatha.
She didn't deny it.
Instead she sighed.
“He refused therapy.”
“He cannot stand independently.”
“He can try.”
“He was crying from pain.”
Agatha's expression sharpened.
“So?”
That one word nearly made me move.
She continued.
“Pain is not death.”
Merrick whispered against me.
“She said Mommy died because she was weak too.”
Agatha looked at him.
“Don't put words in my mouth.”
He flinched.
I stood.
“You will not speak to him.”
Agatha laughed.
“What are you going to do, Conrad? Shield him from every unpleasant sentence until he's forty?”
I stepped closer.
“No.”
Pause.
“Just from you.”
Julian stood.
“This is getting ridiculous.”
I looked at him.
“Why did you want the button removed?”
He said nothing.
I held out my hand toward Merrick's chair.
Cecily turned it slightly.
The tiny indicator still blinked.
I had designed the system myself after Merrick once woke screaming and couldn't reach me.
A press sent my phone an alert.
Two presses alerted the nearest security detail.
And there was one feature neither Julian nor Agatha knew about.
The device captured the previous ninety seconds of audio.
I took out my phone.
Julian saw the screen.
His face went white.
Agatha noticed.
“What?”
I opened the recording.
Her voice filled the room.
If you want it, crawl faster.
Then Merrick crying.
Then Agatha again.
Maybe if your useless mother had raised you properly, she'd still be alive.
Cecily gasped.
Merrick started shaking again.
I stopped the playback.
Nobody spoke.
Julian looked at Agatha.
“You weren't supposed to talk about Elena.”
Not supposed to.
Not didn't.
I stared at him.
My wife's name had not been mentioned.
Until Julian supplied it.
May you like
I stepped closer.
“What exactly weren't you supposed to tell my son about his mother?”
