“Now! The signora is waiting!” The wicked witch looked downright gleeful.
“Scrape what you can off your fingers, and we can resume when you’re done,” Franky said tightly.
“Oh, she won’t be resuming anything,” Sanderson sneered.
Worms writhed in my stomach. But I took my time cleaning up, enjoying how the housekeeper fumed. The moment we stepped into the service passage, Sanderson poked my ribs.
“Move,move!”
I pulled up short. “Don’t touch me.”
Her mouth wrinkled, but she wisely kept her hands to herself.
“What’s going on?” I asked, because the suspense was killing me.
“You’ll see,” she practically sang out.
I wracked my brains trying to figure out where I’d messed up. I hadn’t been caught with Nico—although he’d found me vacuuming the library and kissed me until I couldn’t breathe. I hadn’t broken any more dishes either.
Smoothing my apron, I followed the housekeeper into the sunroom. The lady of the house flipped through a magazine in her brocade armchair but set it aside the moment we stepped inside.
“Magnolia, thank you for coming.” Mrs. Grimaldi folded her hands over her lap. “I have a few questions for you.”
I nodded, the worms flipping and squirming inside me. It didn’t matter what she did to me. It was my uncle that I was most worried about.
I won’t let her hurt him.
“You cleaned Arabella’s room this morning?” Mrs. Grimaldi asked, tipping her head to the side.
There was no telling where this was going. “Yes, ma’am.”
“What were you doing in there?”
The question took me aback. “Um, vacuum. Make the bed. Dust. Wipe down the bathroom, and I took out the trash.”
Mrs. Grimaldi hummed. “You were in and out rather quickly.”
Great. Now they were timing me.
“Was it unsatisfactory? I kept to the protocol.” I shot a look to the side.
Sanderson was practically dancing on her toes.
“Did you touch any of my darling goddaughter’s things?” Mrs. Grimaldi asked, staring hard at me.
“Only to clean around them.”
The housekeeper scoffed.
I clenched my jaw so as not to react.
Mrs. Grimaldi sighed. “It seems that Arabella’s necklace is missing. It was an early birthday present from the signore and me. Since you’re the only other person who’s been in her room, this puts us in an uncomfortable position.”
“The necklace was on her vanity.” I knew the one she was talking about. It was five million dollars’ worth of shiny diamond set in platinum. Arabella had showed it to me yesterday and declared it was the ugliest thing she’d ever seen.
“I didn’t touch it, if that’s what you’re insinuating,” I added, feeling the heat bubble inside me.
Because that was exactly what this felt like—an accusation.
