Arranged to the Don, Freed from the Lie novel · Chapter 2 of 24

Chapter 2: Sign Here

The Council reads out Santino's acceptance letter, Helena says yes on one condition, and the doors open on the man who supposedly signed it.

I touched the signature with one finger.

The ink was dry.

"When did he sign this?" I asked.

"Last Thursday," Harrison said. He had set my tea down beside the folder. "The letter came by courier."

Last Thursday, Santino had come to my door at one in the morning, and I had not asked him a single question.

"May I see the letter?"

"Of course."

Edmund drew a second sheet from the folder and laid it flat.

It was on Carraro letterhead, three lines long.

The Carraro family accepts the Crowninshield Council's arrangement for Helena Crowninshield and will honor all terms of the pact.

The name at the bottom was Santino's.

The C was slanted the way he made it, with the little hook at the top.

I looked at it for a long time.

Two hours earlier he had sat on my desk and laughed at the idea.

He had told me to send him a card.

"You're very quiet," Edmund said.

"I'm reading."

"Take all the time you need."

"I'd like to call him."

"Naturally."

I stepped out into the front hall and dialed.

It rang six times and went to voicemail.

I did not leave a message.

When I came back, the Great Hall had filled.

Five people sat at the long oak table with their hands folded: three old men, a woman in a pearl collar, and a man with a hearing aid who had taught me to ride a bicycle when I was seven.

None of them looked at me.

Edmund stood at the head with his cane planted.

Harrison stood behind him.

"Helena," Edmund said. "The Council would like your answer."

"Do I have a choice?"

"You always have a choice, dear. If you refuse, your shares pass to the Council at midnight on Friday, and the trust is reviewed."

"The trust that pays for my mother's cottage."

"And for Phoebe. Yes. I'd hate to see that reviewed."

He said it kindly.

That was the worst part.

"Helena!"

Phoebe came through the side door at a run, in a Harvard sweatshirt and mismatched socks, with her braid half undone.

She hit me hard enough that I took a step back.

"You didn't tell me you were coming," she said into my shoulder. "I had to hear it from the cook."

"I just got in."

"Why do you look like someone died?" she whispered. "Did someone die?"

"Nobody died."

"Then why is everyone at that table staring at the wall?"

"Because I'm being married off, Phoebe."

She pulled back and looked at me.

"To who?"

I held up the letter.

Her eyes went from the signature to my face, and her mouth fell open.

"Your Santino? The guy you swore was just a boss? The one you never talk about, so obviously you talk about him constantly?"

"Phoebe."

"I'm just saying. Statistically, nobody gets this lucky and this unlucky on the same day."

"Phoebe," Harrison said, in a mild voice. "This is Council business."

She looked at him, and her braid swung.

"I live here. It's my business too."

"Sit down, dear," Edmund said.

She sat on the arm of my chair instead.

I put the letter down.

I thought about Phoebe's tuition, and my mother in the cottage with her roses and her bad hip.

I thought about Santino's mouth saying, Send me a card.

All right, I thought.

If that is the price of knowing what he is, I will pay it.

"I accept," I said.

Nobody moved.

"I accept the Council's arrangement," I said again. "On one condition."

"Name it," said Edmund.

"I say it to his face. Not on paper, not by courier. He walks in here and looks at me when I agree."

The old woman in the pearls pursed her lips.

"The groom has already consented, Edmund."

"Then he won't mind repeating himself," I said.

Harrison smiled at his father over my head.

"That's reasonable," he said. "I'll call his office in the morning."

"He's coming tonight," Edmund said, and everyone turned.

His cane tapped the floor once.

"I sent word that he should present himself the moment the Council sat. He has been in the drive for twenty minutes. The housekeeper tells me he refuses to be announced."

That was when the double doors at the end of the hall opened.

Six men in dark coats came in first and spread out along the wall.

Santino came in after them, alone, with his jacket open and rain on his shoulders.

He did not look at the Council.

He looked at me.

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