I tilted my wrist and poured every last drop of the herbal stomach-healing soup I'd spent three hours brewing into the soil.
That was when Olimpia appeared, wearing the gown that had been slashed to ribbons.
She watched me pour out the soup, a smug little smile curling at the corner of her lips.
"Giuliana, Domenico just told me the master bedroom gets better natural light. He said it would help with my recovery."
"He wants me to move in tonight. So you might want to start packing your things to make room."
The master bedroom in the Corrado estate. I'd lived there for five full years. Every corner of it held traces of the life Domenico and I had shared.
I looked at Olimpia's gloating face and nodded.
"Sure. I'll go pack now."
I walked into the master bedroom. I didn't take any of the jewelry. I didn't take a single designer handbag Domenico had bought me.
All I grabbed was a black duffel bag. I packed a few basic changes of clothes and my identification documents.
My phone buzzed.
A message from my eldest brother.
"Giuliana, the process of erasing all social traces tied to the Giuliana Chambers identity has begun."
I zipped the duffel shut, gripped the handle, and walked out of the master bedroom.
I moved into the most remote guest room in the villa.
It was normally used for storing junk. The air carried a faint smell of mildew. No soldier stood post outside this door. No one in the compound would think to check it.
I set the duffel on the narrow single bed in the corner and didn't touch anything else in the room.
Twelve hours. That was all that stood between me and leaving.
By evening, heavy snow had begun to fall.
Domenico wrapped up a sit-down with his caporegimes at the social club and returned to the villa carrying the cold in with him.
He strode into the main hall, swept his gaze across the room, and his brow furrowed immediately.
A housekeeper delivered the report in a trembling voice.
"Don Corrado, Miss Chambers moved to the storage room in the north wing today."
Domenico's expression darkened instantly.
He cut through the hallway in long strides and kicked the storage room door open.
The wooden door slammed against the wall with a deafening crack.
I'd been sitting on the edge of the bed watching the snow. I turned to look at him.