Chapter 5

The first time I was truly afraid of Julian wasn’t when he humiliated me at our wedding.

It was that moment.

He stood there holding my mother’s necklace, using the men my father had left behind to force me to submit.

Dozens of employees who had worked for my father for years were still at the docks.

Some had taken a knife for him. Some were putting their children through school on those wages.

They hadn’t stayed for Julian.

They had stayed because they had promised my father they would look after the docks for me.

But now the Morettis controlled their paychecks and contracts.

I looked at Julian.

“What will you do to them?”

He didn’t answer. He simply closed his hand around the necklace.

His silence was enough.

I unclenched my fists.

“Put the necklace back in its box.”

“Go out there first.”

“I want to see you put it away.”

He stared at me for a few seconds, then took Sienna’s clutch and placed the necklace in the jewelry box inside.

“Happy now?”

I turned and opened the door.

No one in the hall was drinking anymore.

My mother’s photograph was still on the screen. She looked young and bright, a little self-conscious in front of the camera.

I walked to the microphone. My throat felt scraped raw.

“I take responsibility for the partnership.”

Questions erupted from the audience.

“Have you read the court ruling?”

“Your mother spent two years offstage trying to prove the work was hers!”

“And now you’re using her name to promote him?”

I gripped the microphone, my fingertips going numb.

“The partnership will not go forward. I’m sorry for the pain tonight has caused.”

My mother’s teacher sat in the front row.

The elderly woman, her hair completely white, slowly stood and looked at me for a long time.

“Claire, your mother never taught you that everything had a price.”

My vision blurred.

Behind me, Julian led Sienna out through a side door.

He didn’t stay to hear the rest of my apology.

After the guests had gone, I returned to the side room and found Sienna touching up her lipstick in the mirror.

The jewelry box sat on the table.

I went to pick it up. She suddenly pressed a hand over the lid.

“Why didn’t you tell them you’re just jealous of me?”

I looked at her.

“Let go.”

“Julian promised he’d deal with your marriage when we get back.” Her voice dropped. “Keeping these things won’t make him stay.”

“I said, let go.”

I reached for the box, but she took out the necklace first.

The emerald flashed under the lights.

She stepped back, deliberately catching the chain on the corner of the table. When I caught her wrist, she jerked away.

The fine chain snapped.

The pendant struck the marble edge with a faint, brittle crack.

I froze.

A piece had broken off the enamel iris my mother had chosen.

“See?” Sienna let go. “You broke it trying to snatch it.”

I slapped her.

The sound had barely faded when the door swung open.

Julian saw Sienna clutching her cheek. He saw my hand, still raised.

He strode forward and shoved me.

My lower back slammed into the table. My forehead caught the metal trim on the wall. As pain burst through me, he demanded,

“What the hell is wrong with you?”

I pointed at the pendant on the floor.

“She broke—”

“You got your necklace back!”

He reached to steady Sienna, his shoe pinning a section of broken chain to the floor.

I dropped down and grabbed his pant leg.

“Move your foot.”

He looked down, momentarily stunned.

“Claire, get up.”

“I said, move your foot!”

At last, he stepped back.

I gathered the pendant and broken chain into my palm. Fragments of enamel pierced my skin.

Blood dripped between my fingers, but I couldn’t loosen my grip.

I was afraid I would lose another piece.

Julian crouched and reached for my forehead.

I flinched away.

His hand stopped in midair.

By then, I could no longer make out what he was saying.

All I could see was my mother’s broken iris, blurring in my hand.