The private Winterland estate remained dead silent after the patriarchs finished explaining the secret history behind the family pact. Yet Zeraida could not accept that their explanation represented the complete, unvarnished truth.
The aged documents lying on the mahogany table neatly explained why the marriage had been arranged. They did not explain why Evelyn had died on a rain-soaked highway.
Zeraida gathered the surviving diary pages carefully, sliding them into her coat pocket while Xaviere remained standing beside the fireplace. His face was distant and unusually pale under the warm hearth light.
"We need to determine exactly what Evelyn discovered in the days before her death," Zeraida said quietly, stepping to his side.
His dark eyes lifted toward her, clouded with a mixture of shock and lingering doubt. "You believe she knew about the consolidated evidence."
"I believe she knew enough to become an immediate threat to someone powerful," she replied smoothly.
