Chương 6
“Dominic.”
“What?”
“You should consider moving Ethan.”
“No.”
“You just told Sophia moving Lily without a plan is dangerous.”
“And it applies to Ethan.”
Vincent held his gaze.
“You have another property.”
“So do people who know me.”
“The city apartment?”
“Too exposed.”
“The Connecticut house?”
“Too far.”
Vincent nodded reluctantly.
“The secure suite, then.”
“Both children.”
Vincent paused.
“Sophia will hate that.”
“I know.”
“She may refuse.”
“I know.”
Vincent gave him the faintest smile.
“You’re enjoying having someone tell you no.”
Dominic stared at him.
Vincent left before the stare became expensive.
Upstairs, Sophia sat beside Lily’s bed and watched her daughter sleep with one hand tucked under her cheek.
The room was small by the standards of the estate and enormous by the standards of the apartment Sophia had lived in after Michael died.
Lily had filled it with paper butterflies, stuffed animals, and drawings taped crookedly to the wall.
One drawing showed three people holding hands.
Sophia had never asked who the third person was.
She had assumed Michael.
Now the assumption frightened her.
Lily stirred.
“Mommy?”
“I’m here.”
The child’s eyes opened halfway.
“Party over?”
“Yes.”
“Ethan sad?”
“A little.”
Lily frowned.
“Cake was bad.”
“I know.”
Sophia stroked the hair from her forehead.
“Sweetheart, the man you saw in the cold room.”
Lily’s eyes opened a little more.
“The mint man?”
Sophia’s chest tightened.
“Yes.”
“Did he talk to you?”
Lily shook her head.
“What did he do?”
“He put yucky stuff.”
“I know.”
Sophia kept her voice soft.
“Before that.”
Lily thought.
“He looked at me.”
“Did he know your name?”
A pause.
Then a nod.
Sophia stopped stroking her hair.
“What did he call you?”
“Lily.”
“Anything else?”
The little girl rubbed her nose.
“He said I got big.”
Sophia felt the room tilt.
“Sweetheart, when did he say that?”
“In the cold room?”
Lily shook her head.
“Outside.”
“At school?”
“No.”
Sophia’s breathing became shallow.
“Where outside?”
Lily pointed vaguely toward the window.
“At Daddy place.”
The garage.
Sophia looked at the closed bedroom door.
“When you were little?”
Lily nodded.
“Did Daddy talk to him?”
Another nod.
“What did Daddy call him?”
Lily closed her eyes.
“I don’t know.”
Sophia waited.
Children could not be questioned like adults.
Push too hard and they offered answers to end the discomfort.
Her pediatrician had warned her about that after Michael’s funeral.
So Sophia sat quietly.
Lily’s breathing slowed.
Then, just before sleep reclaimed her, she whispered, “Uncle Gabe.”
Sophia did not move for several seconds.
The door opened behind her.
Dominic stopped when he saw her face.
He lowered his voice.
“What happened?”
Sophia stood and walked into the hallway.
She pulled the door almost closed.
“She called him Uncle Gabe.”
Dominic’s expression became unreadable.
“Are you sure?”
“She just said it.”
“Did you use his name first?”
“No.”
“Did you show her the photograph?”
“No.”
He looked toward Lily’s room.
Sophia folded her arms.
“Michael knew him.”
“It sounds that way.”
“No.”
Her voice sharpened.
“Don’t soften it now.”
Dominic looked at her.
“My husband called your uncle family.”
“We don’t know that.”
“She called him Uncle Gabe.”
“Children use uncle for family friends.”
“That’s what I mean.”
Sophia pressed her fingers to her forehead.
“They knew each other well enough for Michael to teach Lily that name.”
Dominic did not argue.
A door opened at the end of the corridor.
Julian Moretti appeared with one of the guards behind him.
He was thirty-six, handsome in the careless way that had made strangers forgive him too quickly most of his life.
His jacket was gone.
His tie hung loose.
“What the hell is going on?”
Dominic’s posture changed instantly.
Julian noticed.
“So I’m finally allowed out of the library?”
“Who let you out?”
“I let myself out.”
The guard behind him looked miserable.
Julian spread his hands.
“I’m not twelve.”
“No,” Dominic said.
“You’re thirty-six and apparently still incapable of following one instruction.”
Julian saw Sophia.
His irritation cooled.
“Is Lily okay?”
“She’s sleeping.”
“Good.”
He nodded toward Dominic.
“Now will somebody tell me why Vincent asked if I lent anyone my access card?”
Dominic studied him.
“Did you?”
“No.”
“Lose it?”
“No.”
“Leave it unattended?”
Julian scoffed.
“What is this?”
“Answer.”
“I put it in my jacket pocket like I always do.”
“The jacket you checked at the ballroom entrance?”
Julian’s expression shifted.
“I didn’t check it.”
“You weren’t wearing it during the party.”
“I left it upstairs.”
“Where?”
“In Ethan’s game room.”
Dominic went still.
Julian noticed.
“Oh, come on.”
“Who was in there?”
“Kids.”
“How many?”
“I don’t know.”
“Adults?”
“The magician was setting up equipment.”
Sophia looked at Dominic.
Julian frowned.
“What?”
Dominic said, “Your credential opened the cold room.”
Julian’s face lost color.
“At six twenty-five.”
“That’s impossible.”
“You were on camera in the ballroom.”
“Then somebody used my card.”
“Which you left unattended.”
Julian’s jaw tightened.
“I didn’t know someone was planning to poison a birthday cake.”
“Neither did the three-year-old who stopped it.”
The cruelty of the sentence landed immediately.
Julian looked toward Lily’s room.
“Don’t do that.”
“Do what?”
“Make me responsible for this because you’re scared.”
Dominic stepped closer.
“I’m responsible for everything that happens in this house.”
“Then act like it.”
Sophia moved between them before either brother seemed to notice she had.
“Not here.”
They both looked at her.
“My daughter is sleeping ten feet away.”
Julian exhaled and rubbed his face.
“Sorry.”
Dominic said nothing.
Sophia looked at him.
“Dominic.”
“Fine.”
They moved downstairs to the library.
Julian poured himself a whiskey before anyone invited him to sit.
Dominic took the glass from his hand.
“What?”
“I need you clearheaded.”
“It’s one drink.”
“It’s midnight.”
“That is traditionally when whiskey becomes useful.”
Sophia almost smiled.
Dominic did not.
He set the glass aside.
Julian dropped into a chair.
“All right.”
Dominic placed the tablet in front of him.
The old photograph filled the screen.
May you like
Julian looked at it.
His annoyance disappeared.
