Chapter 5
She had caught someone else.
Twenty minutes later, Alessia sat alone in the library.
She had been in this room exactly twice in seven months, both times to dust the shelves under Mrs. Conte’s supervision, both times with the door open. Now the door was closed and she was sitting in a leather chair that cost more than her father’s car had, and her suitcase was still in the foyer, and the termination letter was still on the table where Mrs. Conte had set it down, unsigned.
The library smelled of old paper and lemon oil. There was a fire in the grate, which was strange, because it was June and no one had asked for a fire.
The door opened.
Dante came in and closed it behind him, and the click of the latch was the loudest sound in the room.
Alessia stood.
“Sit.”
“I’d rather stand.”
His eyebrow moved — a fraction of an inch, the smallest acknowledgment she had ever received from anyone.
“Fine.”
He crossed to the desk and stood behind it. He did not sit either.
“What did you see?”
“Nothing.”
“You’re a bad liar.”
“So I’ve been told.”
“By whom?”
“You. Ten minutes ago.”
For half a second, something moved at the corner of his mouth. It disappeared before it became anything.
“Bellini wanted you out of this house before I could question you.”
Alessia said nothing.
“He was too eager.”
Nothing.
“And you looked at him before you lied.”
She folded her arms. “You notice a lot.”
“It’s kept me alive.”
That answer changed the room. It was the first honest thing anyone had said to her all day, and it was not the kind of honesty she expected from a man who owned half the properties on the north side and had, according to the newspapers, never been charged with anything.
Alessia looked away.
Dante leaned back against the desk.
“If you stole from me, tell me now.”
“I didn’t.”
“If you copied something.”
“I didn’t.”
“If someone paid you to enter my study.”
“No.”
That answer came out differently — immediate, offended, before she had time to shape it. Dante believed it. She could see him believe it, which was almost worse, because it meant he was listening properly.
“Then tell me why you were there.”
Alessia looked toward the library door.
“Will you let me leave afterward?”
“If you want.”