Chapter 6
Isabel had not hidden the markers in the locked room.
That surprised me.
Victoria had searched it constantly during the first weeks. She cut open pillows, removed floorboards, emptied cabinets, and even dismantled the cot.
She found nothing.
“Because I never brought them inside,” Isabel said.
I sat beside her while the children slept nearby. Sofia had refused her room and curled at the foot of our bed. Mateo slept against Isabel’s side. Alma kept one fist closed around her mother’s sleeve.
“Where are they?”
Isabel looked toward Sofia.
“In something Rafael would never value.”
I followed her gaze.
Sofia’s old wooden puzzle box sat on a shelf.
I brought it over.
Sofia woke immediately.
“Mommy’s box?”
Isabel nodded.
Sofia flipped it over and pressed two corners. A hidden panel slid open.
Inside were small engraved metal tiles.
Each carried a surname and a symbol.
Salvatore stared.
“Old loyalty markers.”
I recognized them then. My father had used similar pieces during private strategy meetings, arranging families around maps instead of writing alliances where servants might see them.
Twenty-three markers.
Seven carried a black slash.
“Those are Rafael’s,” Isabel said.
I picked up the first.
Moretti.
Then Carbone.
Hale.
Vega.
The last surname made me stop.
“Which Vega?”
Isabel pointed toward the tiny secondary mark beneath it.
My stomach tightened.
Aunt Lucia.
My father’s younger sister.
She had remained close to my children for years. Hosted holidays. Comforted me after Isabel vanished. Encouraged me to “move forward” with Victoria.
I stared at the marker.
“She knew?”
“About me? I don’t know.”
“Then what?”
“She knew Rafael wasn’t gone.”
That was enough.
Every conversation with Lucia changed in my memory. Her encouragement to reconcile with old captains. Her introduction of Victoria at a family event. Her insistence Sofia needed “stronger female influence.”
The conspiracy had not entered my home through Victoria.
Victoria had been invited in.
I looked at Salvatore.
“Where is Lucia?”
He checked.
His expression changed.
“She left the city two hours ago.”
I looked at Isabel.
Too late.
May you like
Not because Lucia had escaped.
Because someone had warned her the gray door was open.
