Page 32 of Of Lies and Shadows

Alice chuckles. “You heard him, Captain.”

She doesn’t look at me when she says it, but I feel it anyway. Like the name tastes different coming from her mouth.

We pull up outside the aquarium, and before the driver even stops, the twins are wriggling to escape. I open the door, and Lucia darts out, dragging Alice by the hand. Alessio follows, shouting about cannonballs and krakens, and in seconds, they’re halfway up the steps, pulling her toward the entrance.

She laughs, really laughs, and lets them lead her, her green dress catching in the breeze like seafoam. She’s radiant. Not just beautiful…alive. And for a moment, I don’t follow. I just watch.

Until a voice cuts through the air, sharp and unmistakably amused.

“Well, as I live and breathe, Dante Forziat a social event.”

I stiffen immediately.

That voice. That tone. Vicious velvet.

I turn slowly, and there she is. Madeline Cortez. My late mother’s best friend, wearing black like it’s armor and pearls like weapons, her lipstick bloodred and her smile even sharper.

She lifts one perfectly drawn brow and walks toward me with the elegance of a queen who’s already won the war.

“You must be desperate,” she drawls, stopping just short of me, eyes scanning the scene behind me where my children and their nanny disappear through the doors. “Or smitten. I haven’t decided which.”

“Madeline,” I say coolly. “I’d tell you it’s a pleasure to see you, but we both know I’m not that good a liar.”

Her smile widens, all teeth and danger. “I’ve always appreciated your honesty. It’s so… quaint in men like you.”

She glances again toward the entrance. “Who’s the girl?”

“The nanny.”

She hums, tilting her head. “Is that right? She looks a lot like a future wife to me. But what do I know?”

My heart slams against my ribcage. I glance back, but Alice and the kids are already gone.

“Exactly. What do you know?” I turn, intent on ending this. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to find my children.”

I take one step before she calls after me, her voice all silk and spite.

“Yes, I’m sure it’s nothing more. After all, you’re a recentwidower.”

That stops me.

I turn my head just enough for her to see the way my jaw tightens. “It’s been six months. And we both know that marriage was a business transaction. Nothing more.”

She tilts her head, her smile slow and cutting. “Then why do you sound so defensive? She’s just the nanny… right?”

Old viper.

“You have a good evening, Madeline,” I grit out.

I walk away before Madeline can sink her claws in deeper, but her words follow me like the echo of a curse.

Just the nanny.

I catch a glimpse of green near the edge of the pirate ship exhibit, Lucia’s dress, and follow the sound of children’s laughter. They’re up ahead, Alessio already brandishing a foam sword at a man dressed like a pirate, demanding he “surrender the map or suffer the consequences.”

Lucia is giggling behind a barrel, holding Alice’s hand. And Alice… Alice is radiant. She crouches beside my daughter, whispering something that makes Lucia erupt into another round of squeals.

For a second, I just stand there, watching them. The ache in my chest is slow and unfamiliar. Territorial. Unsettling.

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