Chapter 2

When Sofia got there, I was still sitting on the steps.

She jumped out of her delivery van with the engine still running and hurried over to help me away from the driveway. The moment I saw her, I burst into tears again, the tears falling onto Leo's ash-covered jacket.

"Let's get inside first. Let me look at your hand." She took me by the right arm, then froze when her fingers brushed the swelling on my neck. "Did Marco do this too?"

I nodded. Sofia stared at the marks and clenched her jaw. She led me into the dining room and set the first-aid kit from her van down hard on the table.

"Enzo, are you going to let another woman die in this place?"

Enzo stood by the door and didn't answer.

Sofia and I had been friends since childhood. Her younger sister, Elisa, had died in the same fire as Leo. She used to help take care of him at the estate, and he followed her everywhere. Whenever Sofia stopped by with a delivery, Leo would race to the door to greet her.

Over those 18 months, Sofia had gone to the cemetery with me more times than I could count. Once, I sat in front of Leo's photo until it got dark. She didn't rush me. She just shared the water she'd brought and said she didn't want to leave either.

She knew what it was like to wait for someone who would never come back. Around her, I didn't have to hide my tears or pretend I wasn't hurting. When she opened the first-aid kit, I finally held out my injured hand.

She unfastened the cuff that was digging into my wrist, carefully bandaged it, then draped her delivery jacket over my shoulders.

"Come with me. We'll take the van out through the back gate. I'll drive, so you won't have to walk far."

"She can't leave." Viola pushed open the door.

Sofia didn't stop what she was doing. "Then have your men drag me back too."

Viola walked over and grabbed her arm. "Don't you want to know why Elisa never made it out that night? Come into the study and see for yourself. Then decide if you still want to take her side."

Sofia's hands stopped.

I grabbed her sleeve and reminded her what Marco had done to me after he came out of that study. She'd already seen the bruises, but I needed her to understand what that room had done to him. He'd come here promising to take me away.

"Let me watch it with you." I shifted to the edge of the chair and tried to push myself up. "Or call the police right now. Don't go in there alone."

She held my right hand and glanced at the unfinished bandage around my left wrist.

"I'm not Marco. If some bullshit story is enough to make me walk away from you, then what the hell have all these years meant?"

She lowered my hand back into my lap, left the loose end of the bandage hanging over the chair, and told me to wait there. I reached for her again, but she was already following Viola out of the dining room.

The dining room door was open, giving me a clear view of the hallway leading to the study. I heard her say her sister's name once. Then the study door closed, and I couldn't hear anything else.

When Sofia came back, she was holding a silver bracelet.

I recognized it. It was the one Elisa always wore. I was about to ask where she'd found it when Sofia grabbed my left wrist and wrenched my arm behind my back.

A searing pain shot through my wrist. I told her to let go, but she grabbed the bandage, pulled my hands behind the armrests, and tied them tightly to the back of the chair.

"When you went to the cemetery with me, did you think I was easy to fool?"

As I struggled, the chair legs scraped across the floor, and my knee knocked over the first-aid kit. Gauze spilled at my feet. Just minutes ago, she'd been tending my wounds, holding my hand as though even the slightest touch might hurt me. Now the same bandage she'd used to help me was digging into my swollen wrist. The harder I struggled and screamed, the tighter she pulled it.

"Sofia, just listen to me. Elisa stayed to take care of Leo. I never wanted to hurt her."

She grabbed my chin and forced my face up. "Don't you dare say her name again."

She was crying so hard her lips were trembling. I wanted to say her name the way I used to at the cemetery, but her nails dug into my cheek. Her grip tightened until I couldn't even turn my face away.

Enzo spoke from the doorway. "That's enough. She knows she was wrong."

"Does she?" Sofia turned around. "My sister is dead and Irene's still waiting for someone to take her away so she can get a divorce!"

She grabbed the bandage wrapped around my wrists and hauled me up. Someone had just set a bowl of soup on the table. I hadn't eaten all day, and my stomach clenched at the smell.

Sofia picked up the bowl and held it in front of me, then turned it upside down and hurled it to the floor.

Soup splashed onto my skirt. She dragged me to my knees and pointed at the scattered shards. "Elisa always waited on you. Now it's your turn to clean up the mess."

My right hand slipped free of the bandage. As I braced myself against the floor, a shard sliced into my palm. Blood welled from the cut. Sofia saw it, and her hand went still on the bandage.

I seized the chance to reach for her hand.

"Don't touch me." She recoiled, though her foot remained planted on the hem of my skirt. "So now you know what pain feels like?"

I pulled my hand back, my palm smeared with soup and blood. The silver bracelet dangled from Sofia's hand, bringing back something Elisa had once told me. She was saving up to take Sofia to the beach for a few days because her sister could never bring herself to close the shop and take a proper break.

I wanted to know why Elisa hadn't made it out, too. But Sofia wouldn't even let me say her name. What could I possibly say to make her listen?

Suddenly, the phone on the table lit up. It was mine, the one Enzo had taken and given to Viola. My grandfather's name appeared on the screen. I braced my hand on the edge of the table and pushed myself up.

A single message appeared on the screen. "Got my ticket. Arriving tomorrow. Wait for me."

Sofia grabbed the phone before I could. I reached for it, but she passed it to Viola.

Viola hurled the phone to the floor, cracking the screen. She stomped on it, then crossed to the landline and ripped the cord from the wall.

"Sofia, please take pictures of my injuries," I begged, my voice hoarse. "Just send them to Grandpa. Please."

She pulled my hand away, tugged the delivery jacket off my shoulders, and threw it over the dirty dishes. Just minutes ago, I'd thought I'd be leaving through the back gate with that jacket around me. Now even its warmth was gone.

"Stay away from my sister's grave. If you show up there, I'll run you off myself!"

She closed the first-aid kit, put it back in the van, and drove off. Viola called the guards, and they put me in the storage room at the end of the hall without even turning on the light.

I tried the door twice, but each time the guards shoved it closed. As the room grew colder, I wrapped my sleeve around my injured hand and sat on Leo's little jacket for warmth. I spent the rest of the night staring at the sliver of light beneath the door.

I was afraid my grandfather wouldn't get here in time. Even worse, I was afraid he'd walk into that study when he did.

Why did everyone I loved turn against me the moment they walked out of that study?

But now all I had left was my grandfather. I needed him to get me out of here.