Chapter 3
A Blue Ribbon
In the sitting room, Rosalie tried to wrap a clean towel around Livia's shoulders. Livia pulled away each time it brushed her hair.
“No more,” she whispered.
“No more,” Rosalie agreed. “I won't touch your head without asking.”
She sat on the floor so she wouldn't tower over her. For several minutes neither spoke. Beyond the door, wedding guests waited for music that had stopped. A florist wheeled away buckets of white lilies. Someone laughed, not yet aware that the ceremony was canceled.
Livia opened her fist. A torn piece of blue ribbon lay inside, crushed and damp. “Mama put this in my hair.”
Rosalie's throat tightened. Sofia Rizzano had died eighteen months earlier. Every birthday since, Livia had asked to wear the blue ribbon her mother saved for special days. Rosalie had tied it carefully that morning, right before Bianca came in.
“Can we put it in my pocket?” Rosalie asked.
Livia nodded. Rosalie made a little envelope from a tissue and tucked it into Livia's cardigan. “There. Nobody gets to take it.”
The door opened. Gabriel stood outside, enormous and pale. “Mr. Rizzano wants you both moved to the nursery.”
“Did he tell you that?” Rosalie asked.
Gabriel glanced at the phone in his hand. “I got a message.”
Rosalie didn't like his answer. “I'll wait for him to tell me himself.”
Gabriel's jaw tightened. “You're making my job harder.”
“My job is the child.”
He stepped aside, and she locked the door. A moment later Alessandro called Rosalie directly. His voice was steady, but she could hear panic beneath it.
“Are you with Livia?”
“Yes.”
“Don't go anywhere. I didn't send Gabriel.”
Rosalie looked through the peephole. Gabriel was walking away, speaking into his phone. She told Alessandro everything. He swore softly.
Before she hung up, Livia tugged at her sleeve.
“Tell Daddy,” she said, “Aunt Bianca said after today I have to live where the windows don't open.”
From the other side of the locked door came three careful knocks.
May you like
“Rosalie,” a man's voice said. “It's Enzo. Open up.”
