Too Late: The Innocent Traitor I Destroyed

a tunnel of opulence, lined with silk wallpap

ester of a cheap server's uniform, my back pressed agai

performanc

shut, but I could

clink of a belt buckle hitting the hardwood floor. Then

hen,

sh, but the deep timbre of it vibrated through the so

ek until the metallic tang

as my

other, Lucrezia, to bury the uglier truth-that she had taken her own life following a sordid af

the crack in the door

ante..

throat. I slid down the wall until I hit

d the agony in my chest. I focused on the physical torment. It was easie

damask pattern

two,

two,

t, guarding their intimac

tepped out first, fully dressed in a charcoal suit. He looked immaculate, untouc

e, looking flushed and thoroughly sat

here?" She tilted her h

at her. His cold g

ed, his voice void of em

ast him into the room. The scent of sex and his sand

the ro

ollably as I bundled the fine Egyptian cotto

k, the torment

but as a silent shadow. I stood behind his chair while he ate. W

essing the table while gesturing to me. "Yo

after glass of

. Nausea rolled over me in waves, and my vision

ther dollar added

Sofia's bi

ding Sofia's clutch while she greeted the guests. She wore a gown of deep e

ized it

in her notebook years ago. She had dra

he ambient light. "Do you like it, E

" I said, my voi

hey passed us, their

e matricide. How does

mind him of the hat

uld be gone soon enough. The cancer was devo

r was black and still, a mirror reflecting the cold moon. Sofia

you, don't you?" she hissed, s

hates me," I

ks at you with so much anger it burns

d not

ng on her finger. It was a ma

ed to be the perfect little Vitiello bride. An

ned. "Yo

pills in your bag. Painkillers. Strong ones. You'r

the ring of

ver the dark water. "But I know it was me

toss

second-a falling star-before it vanished into

" she

na. Prove you k