Chapter 10: The Toast

The ballroom was gold and crystal and four hundred people.

I walked in on Dario's arm, and the sound in the room changed.

It didn't stop.

It dipped.

I saw the Sartori boss near the front, laughing with a cluster of men.

I saw Valentina in a pale gold gown, standing beside the stage with a glass in her hand.

I saw Colin's law partners at a table by the dance floor, three gray men with wives.

Colin saw me last.

He had been looking at his glass.

When he looked up, his face went the color of paper.

"Ladies and gentlemen," said a man with a microphone. "Our host."

The Sartori boss took the stage, smiling.

He thanked everyone for coming.

He talked about thirty years of marriage and a family that had never forgotten its friends.

"And tonight," he said, "we are blessed with a second celebration."

He put one hand on Valentina's shoulder and the other on Colin's.

"Colin has been like a son to me for many years. Tonight, he becomes one."

People clapped.

Colin lifted the little boy onto his arm.

He lifted his glass.

"To my family," he said.

I let go of Dario.

"Marlena," he murmured.

"Stay here."

I walked down the long aisle between the tables with my heels clicking on the marble.

I did not hurry.

People turned in their chairs as I passed.

I watched them recognize me, one by one.

The wife.

The wife who was supposed to be at home.

At the foot of the stage, the band leader stepped back and offered me the microphone.

I don't know why.

Maybe he saw my face.

"Thank you," I said.

The room went quiet in a long slow ripple, from the front to the back.

"Good evening. I'm Colin's wife."

Somebody gasped.

Colin said, "Marlena..."

"Last week," I said, calmly, "two children were taken outside my daughter's school. One of them was a little boy."

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