Page 109 of Red Masquerade

We hadn’t changed into bathing suits, but the water was too cold, anyway. My feet hung off the dock, my bare toes skimming the icy water. Flora joined me, laying down so our shoulders brushed. She reached over and rubbed my arm, her bracelets cool against my skin.

We sat in a comfortable silence, listening to the cyclical sound of the waves, the chirps of the occasional seagull. The dock swayed beneath us, just barely, the wooden beams creaking.

Vince still had yet to come out here with me, preoccupied with his work. It occurred to me then that I never really saw him leave the house, not besides the few times we’d gone out at night. He stayed sequestered within the manor walls, working, feeding. Not even during his parties did he seem to venture out, not since we’d found each other.

He was the beating heart of the house, stuck in the center, making all the other parts work. A well-oiled machine.

I sucked in a deep breath of the seaside air, holding it inside me until my chest burned.

Flora turned over, propping herself onto her elbow.

“Are you alright?”

I squinted against the midday sun, rolling over so we faced each other. I felt like I was at a sleepover from our childhood, where we pined after the young men we’d met at dances and in soda shops, giggling over the boys we thought spared us a glance.

“I know I already asked,” Flora prefaced, “but truly—are you okay?”

I gave her a smile. I couldn’t tell her anything, not like when we were those young girls. “I am,” I said. “I’m just…shocked.”

She nodded. She’d been there when Lucas was my favorite playmate, and she was there the first time he turned on me.

“I worry about you,” she said, her city accent drawling just a little. “You aren’t usually this shut in.”

“Well, I’m not sure I’ll be going out in the city much more as it is,” I mumbled.

“I just mean—” She paused, thinking. “I just mean that we always went out. We were always busy. And now…”

I sat up a little. “There’s arewardon my head,” I said.

“Sure, but who’s going to rat you out? Who’s gonna recognize you?”

Probably half the city,I wanted to say. For a million dollars.

“All it would take is a little makeup, maybe some hair dye.” She lifted a shoulder. “I’m just saying, Vince has money. He could pay anyone off whodidrecognize you.”

I paused. “You think I stay at the house because of him?”

She sighed. “I don’t know, doll. I know things have changed.” She sat her hand on my arm again, her slim fingers cooler than the touch of the spring sun shining down on us. Her brown eyes glittered. “Just don’t go changing yourself.”

I shook my head. “I won’t. YouknowI won’t.” I hadn’t let any man I’d met change who I was. I dropped them quicker than they could blink if they even tried.

“But for Adam?” Her expression turned sheepish.

I opened my mouth to speak, but she cut me off.

“I know, I know.” She sighed again. “Why the name change, anyway?”

How much could I reveal before it was too much? I looked out on the Sound, the waves undulating, a dark grayish blue, shining bright like serpents’ tails under the sun. I frowned. “Because his parents don’t know, I suppose.”

“His parents don’t know?” Flora was quiet for a moment, as though it was a truth she hadn’t considered. I wouldn’t have understood, either, if I didn’t know who he really was now.

“So, what, they think he’s still dead?”

He is, in a way.

I shrugged instead.

She whistled, turning to look out at the water too. She leaned back on her elbows, her blouse sleeves ruffling down her arms. “I can’t imagine.”