THE WOMAN HE WAS ORDERED TO DESTROY

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