Chapter 6
Marcus Vale came to dinner because I invited him.
No warning.
No accusation.
He arrived wearing the same calm expression he had worn at my father’s funeral.
That nearly impressed me.
Nearly.
I served him wine.
He noticed I did not drink.
“What happened?”
I looked at him.
“Why should something have happened?”
He smiled.
“You’re quiet.”
“Am I usually loud?”
That removed the smile.
Good.
Then Evelyn entered.
Not alone.
Anna beside her.
Two guards behind.
Marcus’s hand tightened around the wineglass.
There.
No need for theater.
He recognized a dead woman.
I leaned back.
“Tell me about my father’s ring.”
Marcus stared.
Then laughed.
“This is insane.”
Evelyn sat.
He did not look at her again.
Too deliberate.
“Marcus.”
Nothing.
I let silence work.
Finally:
“Your sister made decisions.”
Coward.
Immediate distance.
“What did you make?”
He looked at Bianca’s empty chair.
“We thought you needed restraint.”
There.
“We?”
“Older family.”
“Names.”
“No.”
“Fine.”
I nodded toward Evelyn.
“She already gave me three.”
His face changed.
Bluff.
Mostly.
Enough.
Marcus spoke.
Enzo.
Peter Sloan.
Himself.
Bianca.
Two captains who attended discussions but never agreed to confinement.
Important distinction.
Not everyone was equally guilty.
“What happened to the ring?”
Marcus looked at Evelyn.
Finally.
“She took it.”
“Yes.”
“We searched everywhere.”
“Apparently not everywhere.”
His jaw tightened.
“Where is it?”
I almost laughed.
“You’re still asking the wrong person.”
He looked at me.
“The ring belongs to Castellano.”
“No.”
I leaned closer.
“The authority people imagined around it belonged to fear.”
Silence.
“My father is dead. A ring cannot appoint his replacement council.”
Marcus’s face hardened.
“That isn’t how the old men see it.”
“Then they can learn.”
May you like
And just like that, the symbol they built three years of cruelty around became less useful.
Because I refused to worship it.
