Page 81 of Brutal Husband

They hold up shiny objects for me to look at.

“Mrs. Lombardi. Did you hear me? Can we come in?”

I realize what the shiny objects are, and fear seizes me by the throat. They’re badges. These men are police detectives. This is how it happens in the movies. An absent husband. The police at the door. The next thing that happens is the wife screams because the husband has been found dead.

My throat feels choked up. Maybe if I pretend everything’s fine, it will be. Wordlessly, I lead the detectives into the living room and sit down on the edge of the sofa.

“We want to talk to you about your husband’s brother, Luca Lombardi,” one of the detectives says after they sit themselves opposite me.

“Luca?” I exclaim. It feels so strange to hear that name spoken aloud by someone who isn’t Nero. How do these detectives even know that Luca exists?

The detectives frown at me. “Yes. We were hoping to speak with you and your husband about him. Is there something wrong, Mrs. Lombardi?”

I have to be careful until I know what’s going on, especially with a body buried in the back garden with signs that someone’s been digging around out there.

I take a breath and prepare to give the performance of my life.

“I’m sorry, you caught me on a bad morning.” I smile and press my hand to my stomach. “Nero and I are expecting our first, and morning sickness and all this baby anticipation is new to me.”

Their expressions clear, and they nod. “We won’t take up too much of your time, Mrs. Lombardi. Can you tell us how well you know Luca Lombardi?”

Far too well. More than I ever wanted to know.

With a bland smile, I tell them, “I’m not close with my husband’s brother.”

“We understand that they shared an office downtown at one point.”

“Did they?” I say vaguely, hoping that my position as Nero’s wife means they don’t expect me to know anything about their business.

One of the detectives has a large notebook in his hand, and he takes out a photograph. “Does this look familiar to you?”

I gasp and take the photo from him. “This is Harriet’s hair clip. She used to wear these all the time. Where did you find this?”

“In Luca and Nero Lombardi’s shared office.”

Why would they suddenly search Nero and Luca’s office after all these months? Who tipped them off that Luca is responsible for Harriet’s abduction? I wonder if this happened because we killed Costa, and the trail has led back here. I wonder how much guilt is written on my face. The detectives could be reading me like a book.

“Where is your husband now?”

“Away on business.”

“Where?”

“I don’t know.” I wish I could sound more vague than scared.

“Does he ever have any unexplained absences?”

“No,” I say quickly. Too quickly.

“You reported him missing several months ago.”

“I made a mistake. It was just a business trip.”

“That must have been some business trip.”

“I was confused. I was having some problems with alcohol at the time. My husband would never hurt Harriet or any child.”

The two men are silent, and I can feel their suspicion. Not toward me, but toward Nero. Even though he’s left me, I want to protect him. He doesn’t deserve to go to prison for Luca’s crimes.

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