Claudia
We stack the cylinders in the panic room, which has a built-in temperature-control system and dehumidification system. George does some online research and comes back with an ideal temperature range (bless you, George), and we plug that in and close the door.
Gabriel goes out and comes back with a spread of food, and we have a celebratory meal. Everyone is excited, talking about the manuscripts we’ve identified so far, wondering what secrets they might reveal. I smile and clink glasses along with them, but my mind is a million miles away.
Eli’s made it clear what he thinks. And under normal circumstances, I’d agree with him. But this isn’t normal. Nothing in my life is ever normal. The safety of my family is too important to let this treasure fall into the hands of a museum or university. I hate the idea of sending those scrolls off to some Russian oil baron who could accidentally drop one in the ocean, but I can’t think about myself. I’ll do what I have to do.
But not right away. This treasure is my birthright. It gives us the perfect opportunity to do what has to be done. Brutus was right about one thing – my father became a victim of his own moral code. He allowed others to overtake him because he refused to do what was necessary. I won’t make the same mistake, especially not when Mackenzie is so close. And so dangerous.
But how to use the treasure to draw Mackenzie out of hiding?
I slide out from under Noah’s arm and head to Howard’s office. Alone for the first time in hours, I drum my fingers on the desk as I turn over my idea in my head. I pull out my mobile phone and stare at it, my finger paused over Livvie’s number. I drop the phone. Pick it up. Stare at it some more.
I hit CALL.
Livvie picks up on the seventh ring. “Claudia August,” she says. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”
I hear noise in the background – glasses clinking, voices chattering, soft piano music. “Where are you?”
“At one of Daddy’s restaurants with Eli’s parents. We’re celebrating Daddy’s new heir.” I hear a door swing. “I was at the bar when I saw your name come up, so they don’t know I’m talking to you.”
“How can they be celebrating? Eli hasn’t agreed to be Nero’s heir.”
I can practically hear Livvie rolling her eyes. “Tell that to Daddy. Hold on.”
I hear scrambling and footsteps and a door clicking shut. The noise disappears. Livvie flicks the call to a video screen. Her face is in shadow, sandwiched between chef whites and cleaning equipment. “I’m hiding in a closet now.”
“Did anyone see you?”
“Let me check.” There’s rustling on the other end, followed by the creak of a door. Livvie returns to the phone a moment later. “We’re secure. I’m intrigued to have a call from you after my father tried to marry me off to your boyfriend.”
“Your father is a piece of work,” I growl. The audacity of his trying to steal Eli out from beneath me sends a fresh wave of fury through my veins. And the fact that it could actually work in our favor makes it grate all the more.
“Tell me about it.” Livvie’s tone is bitter. I can’t say I blame her. For all the effort Nero’s put into choosing his ideal heir, he can’t see what’s right in front of him. “So what’s up?”
“Hold on. I’m making this a three-way call.”
I punch a couple of buttons, and in a few moments, Cali’s face appears in the third window. There’s a dribble of blood over her eye that I’m guessing isn’t hers.
“I’m busy,” she snaps, panning the camera around so I get a view of a man trussed up from the ceiling, soaked in blood. “This better be worth it, August.”
“It is.” I grin. “You said you might know where my sister is hiding?”
“I said I can find out.” She twists the knife in her hand. “But it will cost you.”
“I’ll pay whatever you ask.”
“Your sister?” Livvie asks. “You don’t have a sister. Claudia, what’s going on?”
“You want to show Nero how ruthless you can be?” I lean forward. “I have a proposal for you.”
40
Eli
We don’t mention the treasure again. It hangs over Malloy Manor like a bad smell, tainting every conversation, scratching at the back of my throat when I kiss Claudia goodbye. She’s not even going to school anymore, instead spending hours in her office, on the phone, poring over the shipping data Noah and David compiled for her.
I fly out to Cambridge to visit Harvard and tour the law school. I wish Claudia could’ve come with me and seen the university – all those ivy-covered buildings and secluded courtyards, the ancient manuscripts on display at the Houghton library. I think it might’ve changed her mind.
