round, but right there between the two of them, everything felt distant. He knew she was watching, waiting for him to slip up just a little and prove her right. The question itself d

your mother,"

his face, his tone, and every reaction that might give him away. He'd sat across from men who could lose a fortune without b

ra wasn't

cognize

ady. "I recognized t

ine Va

aught, just

es

believe you've never h

n't sa

t are you

hand. "I'm saying a photograph doesn'

d him even

oked su

sn't expecting to s

y n

r mother has nothing to do

nything to do with the Valerions ei

s-the openi

. "So you've been look

dn't

unless I ha

d

t re

to lie, just the hesitation of someone still piecing i

er mother's trail, asking dangerous questions. But face to face, she didn't look like a woman who'd spen

ared when you were y

ened. "How do

picked a diff

actly impossib

y, neither

ething like a

"What do you actually

t m

ow Leontine

n't k

rk for the

n't k

er visit th

at I kn

hat happened twent

He hadn't mentioned any

face. She'd se

idn't come from

wer

ed twenty-fi

w she realized he'd turne

don't

ed you

from her bag. She showed him a photo on the screen-a

n property. Financial records vanished. People whispered about

the image. "Whe

chi

k your mother

er head. "I

ed honesty. Not

y look i

y mother standing with Leontine Valerion-a

ilence grow

lerions. I didn't know the family, the fire, any of it. I didn't know why anyone would wa

ly secrets, why did she know so little? If her mother had confided in her, how could she still be stumbling over basics

ly seemed a lot fuzzier th

mother leave

rowed. "Why

lerions, that might explain

ing she left

d s

ans

ers twitch on h

something,

dn't d

ay

t is

you so

iosi

d. "That's

've accused me of lying

ve done i

at that. "You have a pr

formed any

That's

t to-as if he'd forgotten why he was even here. This night was supposed to be about asses

he trusted less: Vespera,

back to him.

ria

not what

t her

p asking about what she left behind. You recognized a photo you claim doesn't matter

dn't

are

phone buzzed. S

Unknow

alking to isn't

ht there-but something in him had shifted. He wasn't hiding behind polite conversat

lowed h

's wr

thi

look like

to make

ht n

es

epped

screamed: some

ria

d. She wa

are

aw something almost raw-gone so fast she was

im vanish down the corridor. S

alking to isn't

rt beat

he phone away

en the next. Guests drifted by. No sign of him. She

as g

oment, not sure if she felt

he floor where he'd stood-a glint of b

n, engraved with t

.

initials. A chil

een the

er. Not on some

le and file she'd read about the family

an Va

lerion

ast for a little while had been lyin