“Why don’t we go straight home?” I asked again.
“Because I have to meet someone.” Dad’s voice sounded a little hoarse.
“Who?”
Dad looked at me.
“Someone we shouldn’t have to meet.”
That answer wasn’t helpful at all. I was still curious.
I returned to my seat.
Lorenzo was still standing.
Now I turned my attention back to him.
“And him?” I pointed deliberately.
Dad looked over.
“Lorenzo is coming.”
“Of course.”
I said it without thinking.
Dad raised an eyebrow. “Do you object?”
“No. Not yet.”
Lorenzo looked at me.
I met his gaze. I wasn’t about to back down to a man, especially not this one.
“At least not for now,” I continued.
He nodded.
Not offended. He didn’t ask anything, either.
I was starting to genuinely want to throw something at him.
Carlo came back in.
This time, his face was more serious.
“Don Valerio.”
Dad turned.
“What is it?”
Carlo paused for a moment.
Then he said,
“We found something.”
Dad didn’t move.
“What?”
Carlo pulled a black envelope from the inside pocket of his jacket.
I saw it.
There was no family crest.
No name.
Only a dark red wax seal.
Dad walked over.
“Where?”
“In your cabin.”
I frowned.
Dad’s cabin was at the back of the ship.
No one could get in there without passing two guards.
Dad took the envelope.
I watched his hands.
For the first time since morning, they looked slightly stiff.
He broke the seal.
Pulled out a sheet of paper.
Read it.
He said nothing.
“Dad?”
He remained silent.
I walked closer.
“What does it say?”
Dad looked at me.
Then he handed me the paper.
I took it.
There was only one sentence.
Handwritten.
Neat.
There was no signature.
I read it once.
Then again.
I didn’t understand it right away.
Or maybe I didn’t want to understand it.
Don’t bring the Lady to San Aurelio.
I looked up.
“The Lady?”
No one answered.
I looked at Dad.
His face had already changed.
I looked at Carlo.
He lowered his head.
Then I looked at Lorenzo.
And for the first time since we met, the man didn’t look calm.
Only for a moment.
A very brief moment.
But I saw it.
His eyes were fixed on the sentence in my hand.
As if he knew exactly what it meant.
I clenched the paper.
“Who is the Lady?”
Lorenzo didn’t answer.
Neither did Dad.
I looked between them.
Then the ship turned.
Bellacosta slowly appeared in the distance.
And for the first time in my life, I felt that something was waiting for me on the mainland.
Something even Dad was afraid to name.
I didn’t sleep that night.
Not because of the ship’s engines or the waves pounding against the hull of the Azimut Star 7. I was used to the sound of the sea. I could even sleep through a storm if necessary. What kept my eyes open was the one sentence that had been circling through my head ever since we left San Aurelio.
Don’t bring the Lady to San Aurelio.
I’d tried to dismiss it as an ordinary threat. Someone wanted to scare Dad, then chose my name as the easiest target to use. The problem was, no one seemed to regard that sentence as a joke.
Especially Lorenzo.
I got out of bed and walked to the window. The Bellacosta sea stretched dark beyond it, lit only by moonlight that was occasionally hidden by clouds. The ship was still heading toward Valdoro, but my thoughts had already reached somewhere else.
San Aurelio.
The family home.
And the Lady.
I took a deep breath and put on a light coat. If Dad wouldn’t give me answers, I would find them myself.
I left my room.
The ship’s corridor was fairly quiet. Several guards stood at their posts, but there were more of them than usual. They were trying to look casual, but I knew my family’s people too well to be fooled.
Something had changed since we found the envelope.
I walked toward Dad’s office.
Two guards stood in front of the door.
They immediately straightened when they saw me.
“I’m going in.”
One of them exchanged a glance with his partner before answering.
“I’m sorry, Miss.”
I stopped.
“Sorry?”
“Don Valerio doesn’t want to be disturbed.”