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“I don’t know. I noticed it this morning.”
“You must be mistaken.”
“No, I’m not. It wasn’t there yesterday. This morning, it is.”
“Didyouput there?”
“No—why would I be asking if you did it, if I did it?”
We frown at each other.
“Do you think Tristan put it there?” I ask.
“No. No way. It would upset her. Why would he want to do that?”
“Then that leaves one person.”
We glance at the doorway toward Meredith’s guest room.
“Meredith had to have put it there, then. She did it to mess with Nina. To agitate her. I’m telling you, something is off with that woman.”
“That’s quite an accusation.”
“Mariana, I need to tell you something,” I say quietly, stepping forward. “I caught Meredith sneaking into Nina’s room late last night.”
“What?”
“Yeah. I heard her come up the stairs. When I looked out of my bedroom, she was standing in the doorway, watching Nina sleep. It was ... unnerving, to say the least.”
“Did you tell Tristan?”
“No. I don’t ever see him. Should I?”
“No,” Mariana says quickly. “Let me handle it.”
“I’ll tell you how it needs to be handled—the woman needs to be kicked out of this house. What if Nina found out she’s here? That her husband allows her to stay the night?”
Mariana sucks in a breath. “She wouldn’t be happy about it.”
I throw my hands into the air. “Of course she wouldn’t! It’s ridiculous! I don’t understand why Tristan doesn’t—”
“Hey.” Mariana’s sharp tone startles me. “It’s not your job to judge what happens in this home. Your job is to take care of your responsibilities to the best of your ability. That’s it.”
I blink. “Sorry.”
Mariana’s cheeks flush.
I take a step back and notice her hands are trembling as she grabs her coffee and walks away.
14
Lavinia
Uneasy now, I carry Nina’s lunch up the staircase.
Mariana’s loyalty to Tristan is unwavering. But I don’t get the sense that it’s a romantic allegiance. I sense something else between them, something that Mariana protects at all costs.
After all, if they were having an affair, Mariana would want Meredith gone as badly as I do, right? And also, she wouldn’t have cared for Nina for as long as she did before I stepped in. It would have been too emotional for her, if she and Tristan were sleeping with each other behind Nina’s back.
