Chapter 6 - The Feast of Glass and Lies
The marble staircase felt like a mountain of ice beneath my trembling feet.
My bandaged right hand throbbed in time with the frantic hammer of my pulse.
I walked down the vaulted corridor toward the master suite, where the scent of French tuberose still hung heavy in the conditioned air.
The silver cake knife was still in Luca’s hand downstairs, but the look in his eyes had been deadlier than any blade.
I reached the double mahogany doors of the master bedroom and paused.
My heart battered against my ribs like a trapped bird.
I raised my left hand and knocked twice against the polished wood.
"Come in, whoever it is," Vanessa snapped from behind the door.
I pushed the door open with my elbow.
Vanessa stood in front of the illuminated vanity mirror, holding a crystal glass of amber scotch.
She was touching up her scarlet lipstick with cold, practiced precision.
When she caught my reflection in the mirror, her hand halted mid-stroke.
Her lips curled into a sneer of pure disgust.
"Why are you still wandering through this house, girl?"
She turned on the heels of her diamond-encrusted Christian Louboutins, crossing her arms over her silk dressing gown.
"I thought I made it very clear to Luca that you were to be dismissed immediately."
"Mr. Moretti sent me to find you, ma'am," I said, keeping my eyes fixed on the Persian rug beneath her feet.
"Did he now?"
"He asked me to tell you that he is waiting for you downstairs in the ballroom."
Vanessa’s eyebrows arched in triumphant amusement.
"And why would he be waiting in an empty room?"
"He said he is finally ready to cut the cake."
A slow, venomous smirk spread across Vanessa’s face.
She set her lipstick tube down with a sharp click against the marble vanity top.
"Of course he is," she purred, taking a long sip of her scotch.
"Luca is a businessman."
"He knows that causing a scene in front of thirty state senators and federal judges would cost him millions in contracts."
She set her glass down and smoothed the silk of her robe.
"He understands where his loyalties lie."
She stepped closer to me, her perfume sickeningly sweet in the confined space.
Her eyes flicked down to the thick white gauze wrapped around my right palm.
"A shame about your accident, Lily."
"A real tragedy for a girl who depends on her hands to pay her sister's tuition."
"I'll have Arthur write you a severance check in the morning."
"Five thousand dollars."
"That should buy your silence and your train ticket out of Illinois."
She walked past me without waiting for an answer, her perfume trailing in her wake like smoke from a burning house.
I stood in the doorway and watched her descend the grand staircase with the regal stride of an empress going to her coronation.
She did not know that the executioner was already holding the blade.
I followed at a distance, my breath catching in my throat as she reached the bottom step.
The ballroom was silent, save for the faint hum of the refrigeration unit beneath the cake table.
Luca stood beside the towering six-tier cake, bathed in the dim amber glow of the wall sconces.
His tuxedo jacket was open, his hands resting lightly on the edge of the linen tablecloth.
The porcelain bride had been replaced on top of the uppermost tier.
It looked pristine, innocent, and untouchable.
"There you are, darling," Vanessa called out, her voice echoing in the vast, empty ballroom.
"I must admit, your little tantrum earlier was dreadfully dramatic."
She walked right up to the table, leaning her hip against the mahogany edge.
"Our guests were whispering all the way to the valet stand."
Luca did not move an inch.
"They will forget by Monday," Luca said, his voice flat and even.
"Of course they will," Vanessa laughed softly. "Money has a wonderful way of erasing memories."
She reached out her manicured hand toward the silver knife resting on the silver platter.
"Shall we finish this absurd ritual so we can finally go to bed?"
"Before we cut it, Vanessa, I want to admire the craftsmanship," Luca said quietly.
Vanessa’s fingers paused an inch above the silver handle.
"The craftsmanship?"
"The porcelain figures," Luca continued, gesturing to the bride and groom standing atop the sugar flowers.
"You spent three weeks telling me how difficult they were to commission."
"You insisted that no other artisan in America could capture the likeness."
Vanessa offered a delicate, dismissive shrug.
"Art takes time, Luca. You know I have exacting standards."
"Indeed," Luca murmured.
He reached up, his long fingers wrapping around the waist of the porcelain bride.
He lifted it from the royal icing.
Vanessa’s breath hitched in her throat for a microsecond, a tiny flicker of terror flashing behind her eyes.
"Luca, be careful," she said, her voice tightening slightly. "It's extremely fragile."
"Is it?" Luca asked.
He held the figurine upside down.
The brass plate was missing.
The hollow core was exposed to the ballroom light.
Vanessa’s glass went completely still in her hand.
The color drained from her cheeks, leaving her flawless makeup looking like paint smeared on a corpse.
"Where is the screw, Vanessa?" Luca asked, his charcoal eyes locking onto hers like crosshairs.
She swallowed hard, her throat bobbing visibly.
"I... I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Where is the acoustic dampening foam?"
"Luca, you're scaring me."
"Where is the Zurich drive, Vanessa?"
The name of the Swiss city hit her like a gunshot to the chest.
She took an involuntary step backward, her Louboutin heel catching on the hem of her gown.
"I don't know what you're playing at," she whispered, her voice trembling. "Did that little kitchen whore tell you some ridiculous lie?"
Luca stepped around the table with the speed of a striking cobra.
He did not shout.
He did not raise a hand to her.
He simply closed the distance until his shadow fell over her entire frame.
"Do not speak her name," Luca commanded, his voice vibrating with absolute authority.
"Her name is Lily Carter."
"And she has more honor in her blistered palm than your entire family has carried in three generations."
Vanessa’s lips parted, but no sound came out.
"I watched the video, Vanessa."
The silence that followed was suffocating.
"I heard Anna's voice."
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"I saw the invoices from the clinic in Geneva."
"And I know what you did to my brother."
