Chapter 6
"I didn't know!" Bianca sobbed, her voice echoing shrilly against the pristine white walls of the empty dining room. "I swear to God, Alexander, I thought Julian was dead just like everyone else!"
Alexander pulled out the chair beside her and sat down. He leaned his forearms on the table, clasping his hands together. The generous negative space of his tattoos drew the eye, moving rhythmically as he flexed his fingers. He stared at her with an unnerving, predatory patience.
"You just told me a moment ago that the man in the garden was the gardener," Alexander noted, his deep voice slicing through her hysterical crying. "Now you admit it was Julian. Which is it, Bianca?"
"He ambushed me!" she cried, dropping her hands to reveal her tear-streaked face. Her diamond earrings swung wildly. "I was walking near the rose bushes, and he just stepped out of the shadows. He looked terrible, Alexander. He had that scar, and his clothes were worn. I was terrified!"
"So terrified that you kissed him?" Alexander asked, tilting his head slightly. The extremely short, neatly trimmed stubble along his jawline shadowed his rigid expression.
Bianca choked on her breath. "He forced himself on me! He grabbed me, and he kissed me to keep me quiet because one of your guards was walking past! I didn't want it! I love you, Alexander!"
Alexander slowly reached into his pocket and placed the heavy silver ring back onto the table. The square black stone seemed to absorb the luminous golden glow from above.
"Julian’s ring," Alexander murmured, his eyes locked on the piece of jewelry. "He never took it off. He swore he would die wearing it."
He looked back up at Bianca, his perceptive eyes stripping away her lies layer by layer. "If he forced himself on you, why didn't you scream? Why didn't you alert the guard? Why didn't you bring me the ring the moment he left?"
"I was in shock!" Bianca pleaded, her controlling temperament completely broken, replaced by a desperate, ugly survival instinct. "I didn't know what to do! I didn't want to ruin the engagement dinner with news of a ghost! I was trying to protect you!"
"You were trying to protect yourself," Alexander stated coldly. He stood up, towering over her. "You are a terrible liar, Bianca. My son saw you. He saw the truth in your body language. You didn't pull away from Julian. You welcomed him."
"No!" Bianca screamed, standing up and grabbing his arm. "You can't believe a six-year-old child over me! Julian is a monster! He told me he was going to destroy everything you built! He told me he was coming for your life!"
Alexander looked down at her hands gripping his tailored suit. He slowly, methodically peeled her fingers off his jacket.
"If Julian wanted me dead, he wouldn't have sent my son to deliver his ring," Alexander said, turning his back on her. "He would have sent a bullet. The ring is a message. It means he wants to talk."
"He's going to kill us all!" Bianca shrieked, falling back into her chair.
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"No," Alexander said softly, walking toward the exit. "He might kill you, Bianca. But he is my brother. I intend to find out exactly why he had to die five years ago, and why you are so terrified that he is alive."
Alexander opened the heavy doors and stepped into the hallway, leaving his weeping fiancée alone beneath the crystal chandeliers. He had to speak to the only two people in the house who had actually told him the truth.
