"Yes. Come in and close the door."
She slides inside, dressed in paint-spattered overalls with her dark hair piled messily on top of her head. There's a smudge of blue on her cheek.
"Everything okay?" Her gaze sweeps over me, and I know she can read the tension in my shoulders.
"Make sure no one comes in," I tell Daniel, who nods and closes the door behind her.
I gesture toward the couch. "Relax, Lu. You look like you're waiting for me to tell you someone died."
Lucrezia settles onto the sofa, tucking her legs beneath her.
"Are you going to tell me what's going on, or do I have to guess?" She tilts her head. "Because if we're playing twenty questions, I already have a theory."
"What theory?" I lean against my desk, crossing my arms.
A smile spreads across her face, wiping away her concern. "You and Zoe are madly in love, aren't you? And you called me here because you don't know how to process actual human emotions."
Her question hits closer to home than she could possibly know. I open my mouth to deny it automatically, but something stops me.
"Fuck." I run a hand over my face. "Is it that obvious?"
Lucrezia's eyes widen. She wasn't expecting me to confirm it. "Holy shit. I was mostly joking, but you're serious?"
"I can't speak for Zoe," I say carefully, feeling my way through unfamiliar territory. "But from my end... yes."
"Oh my God." She practically bounces on the sofa. "I knew it! The way you look at her?—"
"I don't?—"
"You absolutely do." She points an accusing finger at me. "Like she hung every star in the sky."
I look away, uncomfortable with how transparent I've become. "It wasn't supposed to happen."
"The best things never are," Lucrezia says softly. "Does she feel the same way?"
That's the question that's been tearing me apart. "I don't know," I admit, the words feeling like gravel in my throat. "Sometimes I think yes. Other times..."
"Mio fratello in love." Lucrezia's voice pulls me back. "I never thought I'd see the day."
I stare at the floor, trying to find the right words. "It's complicated, Lu."
"Complicated how? You love her, she loves you—what's complicated about that?" Lucrezia's enthusiasm radiates from her like sunshine.
"It's not that simple." I push off from the desk and pace across the room. "This marriage was arranged. An agreement between families. What if..." I pause, hating the words even as they form. "What if she's not who she says she is?"
Lucrezia's smile falters. "What does that mean?"
I stop pacing and face her directly. "Have younoticed anything suspicious about Zoe? Anything out of place?"
The light in my sister's eyes dims instantly, her expression hardening in a way that reminds me of our mother whenever she caught us lying.
"Are you fucking kidding me right now?" Lucrezia stands, her small frame vibrating with sudden anger. "You call me in here to talk about your feelings, and then ask me to spy on your wife?"
"That's not what I?—"
"That's exactly what you're doing!" She cuts me off, hands on her hips. "Zoe has been nothing but kind to me. She listens when I talk. She actually cares about my art. And now, what—you think she has some secret agenda?"
"Lu, I'm just being cautious?—"
