“Except you.”
“And now you,” she said softly.
His expression shifted, lips tightening. “That’s not enough. You shouldn’t have kept this from me.”
Leticia stepped to the side, distancing herself more than she intended. Her hands went to her sleeves to comfort herself. “Do you think I wanted to?”
She drew her arms across her middle. “I didn’t know what it was until the Historical Society. Someone pointed out a necklace. I looked more closely at the brooch that night. That’s when I saw it. The raven.”
She swallowed. “I didn’t know what it meant, only that it could not be innocent.”
He stood still, unreadable.
“I wanted to say something,” she said. “But my mother warned me never to speak of it. Not to my aunt. Not to anyone.”
She glanced toward the windows. “I didn’t know if Aunt Margaretwas involved. I didn’t know who to trust.”
She met his eyes again. “And you and I… we weren’t what we are now. Maybe we still aren’t.”
She let the silence sit for a moment before adding, low, “I didn’t hide it to deceive you. I was trying to decide what to do.”
Still, he didn’t speak.
“You don’t trust me,” she whispered. Even she heard the accusation in her throat. “Even now.”
Gabriel’s jaw ticked.
Leticia frowned. “What aren’t you saying?”
He hesitated, exhaled hard. “A note came. The morning after Lammer Cove.”
Leticia’s brows knit. “A note?”
“They didn’t name you. But it was clear.Return what is ours. Or bury her with it.Next time, they warned, we won’t miss. Give us the brooch.” He kept his voice steady as if he were reciting a fact.
She drew back as if struck. Her hand flew to her mouth, fell away. “You knew? All this time, and you didn’t tell me?”
“I was trying to protect you.”
“By keeping me blind?” Her voice broke. “You let me walk into danger without knowing.”
He stepped closer. “I thought that if you did not know everything, you would not be targeted directly.”
“You thought to spare me by leaving me helpless?” she snapped. “You let me face the cliff and the cove without knowing the full danger.”
“I thought someone meant to kill us,” he said, the confession raw at the edges. “I thought keeping the matter contained was the only way to manage it.”
“You knew there was a threat,” she said, heat rising. “And you told no one?”
“I told those who needed to know,” he said. “I arranged watches.I—” His voice cracked. “I tried to keep you from seeing how dangerous it was.”
“You received a threat against my life and told no one,” she said, incredulous. “How could you think that was protecting me?”
“I was trying to protect you,” he repeated, voice low, but the certainty had holes.
“And I was trying to protect you!” Her voice cut like wind over stone. “I’ve followed clues. I’ve spoken with people. You have no idea what I’ve done.”
His brows pulled together. “You were alone?”
