"I see."
Olivio's tone was polite, but Edgar wasn't buying it. At all.
"I know what you're thinking, and it's not that. She isn't like that."
"Of course."
Edgar was starting to realize that Olivio already had a plan in mind. "You're too calm."
Olivio leaned back and the leather received him without sound. "How suspicious you are, Zio."
Edgar shook his head. "Something's up. I can feel it. Otherwise, you would have already said something—-done something—-by now. Because an issue of this magnitude? You're not the type to let it slide."
"I'm starting to sense some favoritism," Olivio said mockingly. "How is that you seem to take her every word as truth while I have yet to say a thing—-"
"Because I know you—-"
"Do you, Zio?"
"Of course."
"Then will you be surprised if I tell you I agree with her, and that we should stay married?"
Silence.
"Now is the time for you to offer your well wishes, Zio."
Edgar finally recovered from his shock. But before he could say another word—-
"And you were right earlier, by the way." Olivio rose to his feet in one fluid movement and straightened his jacket. "I would normally not let something like this slide. But circumstances as such allow me to be forgiving."
A pause, and Edgar had the grace to flush. He knew he should be at the very least grateful that Olivio was letting him off this lightly, considering that what he had done—-however well-meaning—-was still a crime.
"I suggest we take that as a win for both of us. And for our friendship's sake—-I'll appreciate it if you don't get in the way of my plans."
If Edgar had been a decade or so younger, the warning underscoring Olivio's words could have made him bristle and offended his pride. But because he was much older now, and much calmer and wiser—-
"What exactly are you planning, Olivio?"
"Right now? I simply want a private word with my wife."
"And after that?"
Olivio looked at his mentor—-this man who had sat across from him in lecture halls and boardrooms and once in a hospital waiting room at two in the morning—-and said nothing for long enough that the city seemed to hold its breath.
"I appreciate your concern, Zio. And while I can't give you my word that she won't get hurt—-" He moved toward the door, the room falling away behind him. "This much I can promise: for as long as she's my wife, and she's smart enough to play by my rules—-you'll have nothing to worry about."
