Chapter 10: What the Ledger Said

Vivi's POV

The villa was white, with green shutters and a terrace that hung over Lake Lugano.

I used Fabio's key card on the side door because I didn't want anyone ringing a bell.

Carlo stayed in the car, watching his phone.

Fabio had shown me the same screen on the plane.

Edoardo's jet was on the Lugano arrivals board, landing within the hour.

I had that long, and I meant to use it.

He had said very little on the plane.

He sat with his big hands between his knees and looked out at the clouds.

Inside, the house smelled of lemon polish and baby powder.

There was a bottle warming on the counter, and a yellow blanket on the back of a chair.

I followed the sound of a radio down the hall.

My mother sat in a wicker chair by the window with a shawl around her shoulders.

She was thinner than she had been a week ago.

She had her glasses on a chain, and a rosary tangled in her fingers.

She turned her head and saw me.

"Viviana," she said.

I didn't move.

I had imagined this a hundred times on the plane.

I had pictured myself shouting, and I had pictured myself crying.

What I did was stand there in the doorway with my hand on the frame.

"You were in the box," I said. "I knelt there all night. You were in the box."

"I was never in it, my darling."

"I know. I know you weren't."

She started to cry.

She did it quietly, the way she did everything, with one hand over her mouth.

I crossed the room and knelt in front of her chair, and I put my head in her lap.

I hadn't meant to.

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