“I matter to you?”
Dominic didn’t answer.
“Go inside.”
“No. You don’t get to say that and order me upstairs.”
“I’m trying to protect you.”
“By keeping me ignorant?”
“Yes, if necessary.”
“That might work with your employees.”
“You are my employee.”
The words hurt more than they should have.
“Right. Good reminder.”
For the next week, the estate became a fortress.
Extra guards. Inspected deliveries. Changed entrances.
Dominic assigned me a driver.
I refused.
He assigned one anyway.
I threatened to take the bus.
He threatened to buy the bus company.
Then he withdrew from me completely.
Breakfast became silent.
The kitchen stayed empty.
He thought distance would keep me safe.
Rosa found me attacking weeds in the greenhouse.
“He’s frightened,” she said.
“Good.”
“Of you.”
I stopped.
“Of me?”
“Of wanting you.”
“Rosa.”
“My grandson looks at you like a starving man looking through a bakery window.”
“That metaphor is particularly cruel given my employment history.”
She smiled.
“Grief can make people hurt others while trying to protect them.”
That night, I found Dominic in Isabella’s old sitting room.
“You’ve been avoiding me.”
“I’ve been working.”
“You run an empire. You’re always working.”
“What do you want me to say?”
“The truth. Why was I photographed?”
“Because someone noticed me looking at you.”
My pulse changed.
“They believed you could be leverage.”
“Could I?”
“No.”
“You’re lying.”
“Marin.”
“Would losing me hurt you?”
He didn’t answer.
“I’m not Isabella.”
His entire body went rigid.
“I know.”
“You couldn’t save her.”
“Stop.”
“But keeping everyone away doesn’t change what happened.”
“And she’s still dead.”
The anger vanished immediately, leaving pain.
“I was supposed to pick her up that night,” he said. “She called me three times. I was in a meeting. I sent a driver.”
“What happened?”
“The driver received a message changing the pickup.”
“From whom?”
“We never proved it.”
Dominic looked toward her photograph.
“By the time I reached her, she was dying.”
I wrapped my arms around him.
He froze.
Then his arms closed around me.
When we separated, his hand remained at my waist.
His eyes dropped toward my mouth.
Then the door opened.
Victoria stood there.
Dominic stepped back.
“Victoria. How did you know I was here?”
“I saw the light beneath the door.”
Dominic looked down.
The thick oak door had no visible gap.
“I changed my schedule twenty minutes ago.”
Victoria stepped backward.
Then Biscotti charged down the hallway and collided with her.
A small black device fell from her pocket.
Dominic picked it up.
“A receiver.”
“For what?” I asked.
“Audio surveillance.”
Security appeared.
Victoria raised her hands.
“This isn’t what you think.”
“You have ten seconds to explain why you’re carrying surveillance equipment inside my sister’s room.”
Victoria looked at me.
Fear filled her eyes.
“Because Isabella’s death wasn’t an accident.”