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“Worse than what?” My brain is bolting. Thoughts are pushing at the side of my head, theories clambering to get out.
“You’re in a relationship with Gianni, no? There’s no point in you answering. I’ve seen you with him at his house. You have not been very discreet.” I don’t say anything. “It’s not the relationship that bothers me… I don’t give a damn who he sleeps with.” Piero glares at me. “No, this isn’t what bothers me.”
“Then what is it?”
“Do you know why I employed you?” Piero asks, quickly changing the subject. I shake my head. “Because you looked like Juliette before you ruined your hair by dying it brown.” Piero’s voice changes as he says her name. Gianni has never told me her name, but this must be Gianni’s wife. “The day you walked into the shop for your interview, I thought I was seeing things. The resemblance was striking. You took my breath away. I thought she was standing in the room, but you were not her. No one could ever be her,” Piero says. “Gianni has told you about her, about the accident.” He says the word ‘accident’ like it’s a sour sweet. “I employed you because I wanted Gianni to have to look at you every day. I wanted him to have to look at the face of Juliette every time he stepped through the door. I wanted him to see her. For him to never forget. For him to feel pain every time he looked into your eyes.” Piero pauses. He squats down before me, staring into my eyes for the face that’s still there behind the brown curls. “I wanted you to drive him mad. And for a while, you did.” He waits before continuing. “But then something changed, the night of the stabbing, and I did not expect this.” He rises and walks to the back of the room, where I can see all of him. “He fell in love with you.” I gulp back stale air. I don’t see where this is going.
“It seemed impossible to me that my brother could love anyone. But it seems I was wrong.”
“He loved his wife,” I say. Piero’s reaction is like a tiger to its prey. He’s on his knees in front of me, shouting in my face, the spit hitting my eyes.
“He did not! Don’t you ever say that. Gianni did not love Juliette.” And in that second, a tiny detail slots into place.
“But you did. You loved her.”
Piero rocks slightly on his bent knees.
“I loved her,” Piero says, slightly deflated. “I loved her more than anything. More thanheever could.” Had they been having an affair? That would explain why Gianni had been so angry with me when he thought I’d had an affair with Cora’s husband.You’re just like her.
“So, is this what all this is about?” I guess.
“That depends on how you look at it.” Piero snarls.
“Gianni isn’t allowed to be happy because you aren’t?” His smile is gone, and the sneer is back. “But you can’t blame him for something that was an accident.”
“An accident?” Piero raises his eyebrows as if I’ve thrown mud in his face. “Is that what he told you? An accident?”
“He told me they were arguing, and she lost control of the car.” My stomach feels tight, and my chest needs to expand. “Why? Is that not true?”
Piero laughs like a madman, throwing his head back, his mouth wide open as if he’s catching flies. Heat works its way up my back, and I’m suddenly afraid. Afraid of what he will say more than what he will do.
“Maybe this is what he has been telling himself all these years to the point where he actually believes it.”
“But why? Why would he lie?” I appeal.
“Why? Why does anyone lie?” Piero shouts, and it’s as if he knows about my own lie. I know more than anyone why someone would lie. So, what has Gianni been lying about? What has he done? And how much has he convinced himself about what actually happened?
“I’ll tell you why he lied,” Piero begins. “Because to admit the truth would be to admit that he’s a killer.”
I can’t swallow, can’t blink. I want to move, but the notion of what Piero has told me weighs on my heart like an anchor that’s sure to pull me under. I don’t trust my ears, yet I don’t want to hear the words again. A killer. It can’t be. I don’t believe him.
Piero’s phone rings, and the noise of it reverberates off the dead walls.
“Yes,” Piero answers. “I am still here. Did you get the photo?” Pause. “I told you I’d bring her. No, no one has followed us.” Piero ends the call and puts his phone back in his pocket. He glares at me with such hatred.
“I’ve been waiting for so long to avenge Juliette’s death, and when you walked through the door, I knew you were meant for this. You were brought to me by her. She sent you to me, and now it is time.”
“Time for what?”
“I wasn’t sure how it would work, but when Lewis was stabbed, everything fell into place. The police were very informative. To investigate something, they must first reveal some of the facts, and with my employees being involved, they were more than happy to share the details about your previous dealings with this Carl person. They told me that your previous employer was, in fact, married to him. They even gave me her name and description so I’d know if she came into the coffee shop. Cora was quite easy to find, although not as easy to persuade that I had something her husband would want. But I think the photo I sent will be proof enough.”
“You’ve told Cora where I am?”
“And she has told her husband, who I’m certain has unfinished business with you.”
“You don’t understand.” I begin to shake my head, fear grinding through my teeth.
“No, I don’t understand, and I don’t want to. A man doesn’t come to find you with a knife for no reason. You must have done something to him. What? I don’t care. All I care about is Gianni and how he will feel when he knows you’re gone.”
