Chapter 3 - That Uncle Over There
The private ante-room smelled faintly of aged mahogany, beeswax, and the lingering floral perfume of the ballroom outside. Sarah pulled a wingback chair closer to the fireplace, guiding Lily into it with practiced gentleness. The little girl's curly blonde hair caught the warm amber glow of the hearth fire, the white bows in her hair looking pristine against the dark wood of the furniture. I remained standing near the door, my black suit jacket buttoned tight across my chest, my dark ring pressing coldly against my left thumb as I turned it over and over.
"Lily," I began, keeping my voice low and steady so as not to frighten her further. "Can you tell me what you saw happen across the table? Exactly how did he do it?"
Lily looked up from her lap, her small fingers nervously twisting a fold of her white lace dress. "I was watching the lights in the ceiling," she whispered, her voice carrying a quiet clarity that defied her three years. "Then I looked down because my shoe was untied. Uncle Alessandro was sitting across from you. He had a little shiny bottle in his coat."
Sarah knelt beside the chair, resting a soothing hand on her daughter’s knee. "It's all right, sweetheart. Tell Mr. Moretti everything."
"He pulled the top off with his teeth," Lily continued, her blue eyes wide as she reenacted the motion with precise, unhesitating gestures. "And when everyone else was looking at the man singing on the stage, he poured a little drop into your glass. Just a drop. It looked like water, but it made a funny ripple."
The air in the room seemed to drop ten degrees. Alessandro hadn't relied on hired outside muscle; he had taken the risk himself, sitting barely twenty feet away while waiting for the poison to take effect. I nodded slowly, committing every detail of Lily's account to memory. The methodical arrogance of the act chilled me to the bone. Alessandro believed his bloodline and his polite smiles made him untouchable.
"Thank you, Lily," I said, crouching down so I was once again at her eye level. "You have no idea how important this is. You are the smartest girl I know."
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She offered a small, shy smile, comforted by the reassurance. I rose and looked toward Sarah, whose expression was a mixture of fierce maternal protection and mounting dread.
"We stay here until my security team secures the perimeter," I instructed, my tone brooking no argument. "Alessandro thinks he won tonight. He's about to find out how wrong he is."
