Chapter 6
He took the toy.
Lily smiled.
The tenderness of the moment made my throat ache.
“What happens now?” I asked.
Vincent looked down at the rabbit in his hand.
“We identify the key.”
“And Ryan?”
“We do not contact him until we understand what he knows.”
“You mean you don’t contact him.”
His gaze returned to mine.
“I mean neither of us.”
“You don’t get to tell me what to do.”
“No.”
The answer came quickly.
“Then why say it like an order?”
“Because I am accustomed to giving them.”
“That doesn’t make it acceptable.”
“No,” he said again. “It doesn’t.”
Celia’s mouth twitched, almost a smile.
Vincent placed the rabbit beside Lily.
“Emily, Ryan may believe you still have the key. If he does, your call tonight may have confirmed that you know about Belladonna.”
“He didn’t mention the key.”
“He mentioned Daniel. That was not accidental.”
“He told me to ask you.”
“Because he wanted your fear directed toward me.”
The truth of it settled uncomfortably between us.
Ryan knew exactly which words would make me doubt myself.
He had been doing it for years.
“What if he was warning me?” I asked.
“Then we will find evidence of that.”
“You make everything sound simple.”
“No.” Vincent looked toward the key in my hand. “I make everything sound manageable. There is a difference.”
For reasons I did not understand, that answer comforted me.
A soft knock interrupted us.
Marco stood outside the door.
“We found a match.”
Vincent’s posture changed immediately.
“Where?”
“There is one remaining Belladonna property that still uses a key from that series. A private document vault beneath the old Lakeshore Trust building.”
May you like
“Who owns the building?”
Marco hesitated.
