CHAPTER 6 — THE SIX YEARS THAT VANISHED

Her small room. One lamp on. Sophie asleep on the second bed, an arm flung above her head, a rabbit tucked under her chin.

Aleandro looked at the child for a heartbeat longer than he meant to. Then he looked away. He set the silk down on the little table beside the door. He did not sit.

“You have kept this,” he said. “For six years.”

Clare did not speak.

He did not tell her yet. He asked instead — only asked — a question