Chapter Three: The Conservatory

Carmela disappeared during the toast.

Only Skylar noticed.

Dominic stood trapped between Lorenzo Moretti, two senators, and Bianca’s hand on his sleeve. The music swelled. The ballroom smiled.

Skylar slipped through a side door.

The east corridor was dimmer. Quieter. Older.

Portraits of dead Rossi men stared from the walls as if they still owned the air.

Skylar checked the library first.

Empty.

Then the powder room.

Empty.

Then the conservatory.

Voices bled through the cracked doors.

“You are confused again.”

Bianca.

Soft enough for cruelty.

Carmela’s voice shook.

“This is my house.”

“For now.”

Skylar stopped outside the glass-paneled doors.

Inside, Carmela stood near a wrought-iron table, one hand braced against it. Bianca stood over her in a white gown that clung like polished ice.

The diamond ring flashed.

Skylar smelled the bitter chemical beneath perfume and roses.

Vesper-type neurotoxin.

Not exactly the same.

Close enough.

“Dominic will marry me,” Bianca said.

“He would not let you hurt me.”

Bianca laughed.

“Dominic loves power.”

“He loves his mother.”

“He loves what you represent.”

Carmela trembled.

Skylar stepped inside.

“Move away from her.”

Bianca turned.

Her eyes swept Skylar’s uniform.

“Oh. The servant with opinions.”

Skylar kept walking.

“Mrs. Rossi needs quiet.”

“She needs a facility.”

Carmela reached for Skylar.

“Penny.”

“I am here.”

Bianca lifted a glass of red wine.

“Of course you are.”

Skylar placed herself between them.

The room tightened.

Bianca’s smile sharpened.

“Does Dominic know his little maid has surgeon’s hands?”

Skylar did not answer.

Behind Bianca, the conservatory doors reflected a shape in the hallway.

Matteo.

Watching.

Then gone.

Carmela shifted, frightened by Bianca’s voice. Her hand caught the wine glass.

Red wine splashed across Bianca’s white gown.

Silence.

The stain spread like blood.

Bianca looked down.

Then her face emptied.

“You stupid old corpse.”

Her hand rose.

Skylar moved before thought.

The ring struck her cheek.

The sound cracked through the conservatory.

Pain turned white.

Then red.

Skylar hit the tile hard, one hand flying to her face. Blood spilled over her fingers and down the white apron.

The burn came next.

Not normal pain.

Poison.

Carmela screamed.

Bianca stood above them, breathing hard.

“Look what you made me do.”

Skylar forced her shaking fingers under her apron.

Emergency injector.

Too far.

Her grip failed.

“Do not touch my blood,” she rasped.

Carmela froze.

“What?”

“Poison.”

Bianca’s face changed.

Then Dominic’s voice came from the doorway.

“Step away from her.”

No shout.

No rage.

Only cold.

Deadly.

Bianca turned instantly.

“Dominic, thank God.”

Skylar blinked through blood.

Dominic stood at the entrance, black suit sharp against the glass and plants. Two guards waited behind him.

His eyes went first to Carmela.

Then Skylar.

Something broke behind his face.

Only for a second.

Then he was beside her.

On one knee.

His hand hovered over her cheek.

“May I?”

Skylar almost hated him for asking now.

She gave one small nod.

He pressed a silk handkerchief to the wound.

It turned red immediately.

Bianca backed away.

“She attacked me.”

Dominic did not look at her.

Skylar gripped his wrist.

“Ring,” she whispered.

His eyes snapped to hers.

“Poisoned.”

Dominic looked at Bianca’s hand.

Bianca went pale.

Skylar’s vision blurred.

“Your mother’s medicine.”

“What?”

“Someone inside.”

Dominic leaned closer.

“Who?”

Skylar tried to speak.

Then Bianca laughed.

“Ask Matteo.”

The name entered the room like smoke.

Dominic went still.

Bianca smiled through fear.

“Or ask why your little doctor lost everything.”

Skylar’s breath caught.

Dominic closed his eyes.

Bianca whispered, “He ruined her to save her.”

Then Skylar convulsed in his arms.

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