Chapter 36
Victor stopped beside me in the hall.
“You and Lily can remain here until the roads clear.”
“I know.”
“No one will force you.”
“I know.”
“And when you leave, your job will still exist.”
I looked at him.
“I don’t want charity.”
“It isn’t.”
“What is it?”
“Accountability.”
I studied his face.
“Then make sure every cleaner working under your name can take a sick child to a doctor without losing rent money.”
“I will.”
“That will matter more than what happens to me.”
He nodded.
“I understand.”
This time, I thought he might.
Rosa prepared a bedroom upstairs, away from the broken window and the security rooms.
I laid Lily in the crib and sat beside her until her breathing settled into a soft rhythm.
Sofia appeared in the doorway.
“May I come in?”
I hesitated.
Then nodded.
She sat across from me.
For a while, neither of us spoke.
“Your mother used to sing when she was frightened,” Sofia said.
“She sang when I was sick.”
“The same tune every time?”
I hummed a few notes.
Sofia smiled.
“Yes.”
“What did it mean?”
“It was an old Italian lullaby. She changed the words.”
“To what?”
Sofia’s voice softened.
“Sleep, little star. Morning remembers your name.”
My throat tightened.
“She never told me that.”
“She probably wanted it to belong only to you.”
May you like
Lily shifted in her sleep.
Sofia looked at her.
