Chapter 4 - The Girl Before Me
Mrs. Alvarez stopped folding my sweater when I showed her the message.
For several seconds, she said nothing.
“Who’s Nora?”
She sat on the edge of the bed.
“A former housekeeper.”
“Why did she leave?”
The answer came too carefully.
“There was a disagreement.”
“About what?”
“Money.”
“Did she steal something?”
“No.”
The word was immediate.
Mrs. Alvarez looked toward the open door.
“Nora asked to be paid for hours Victor kept removing from her time sheets. Isabella accused her of taking an envelope of cash.”
My stomach tightened.
“What happened?”
“They found it in her bag.”
“Did you believe she took it?”
“No.”
“Did you say that?”
Mrs. Alvarez’s eyes filled.
“No.”
I wanted to be angry.
I was angry.
But she looked so ashamed that I couldn’t turn it into cruelty.
“Why didn’t you?”
“My husband was sick. We lived in a house tied to this job. Victor reminded me of that.”
Bruno appeared in the doorway with Luca behind him.
The dog came straight to me.
Luca had heard enough to understand.
“When?”
“Last February,” Mrs. Alvarez said.
“I was told Nora resigned.”
“She signed whatever Victor put in front of her.”
Luca’s face hardened.
“Why wasn’t I told?”
Mrs. Alvarez stood.
“Because you paid Victor to make problems disappear.”
The room went silent.
For the first time since I had met him, Luca looked as though someone had hit him.
Not hard.
Accurately.
He asked for Nora’s number.
Mrs. Alvarez refused to give it to him.
“She gets to decide whether she wants to hear from you.”
After a moment, he nodded.
“Then ask her.”
Later, in the guest room, I discovered the unknown sender was Daniel, the gardener.
He called instead of texting again.
“I saw Victor go into your room,” he said. “Isabella was with him.”
“Will you tell Luca?”
A pause.
“I have a daughter in college.”
“I understand.”
“No,” he said quietly. “You shouldn’t have to.”
He agreed to speak the next morning.
I finally lay down with my ankle raised on pillows.
Bruno settled beside the bed.
At midnight, he lifted his head.
Footsteps stopped outside my door.
A key scraped against the lock.
May you like
Then Isabella’s voice came through the wood.
“Emma. Open up. We need to discuss what happens to that dog.”
