Since she wasn’t sure what else to do, Livvy finished off her own drink, barely tasting the liquid that ran a trail of fire down her throat. “You think my dad—”Murdered.
The girl’s eyes were cold. “I read the reports. He was driving.”
“Yes,” Livvy said expressionlessly. She felt oddly numb, and she wasn’t sure if it was the alcohol or the conversation.
No, she knew. It wasn’t the alcohol.
“Above the speed limit.”
Yeah. Her father had always been a careful, cautious driver. Why he’d been speeding when the roads were so icy, she had no idea. “Correct.”
Eve’s knuckles had turned white on her empty glass. “He was going eighty when he crashed into that tree.”
“I’ve read the reports too, Eve. Evangeline.”
“I want you to say it.” Her voice rose on the last words, and she pressed her fingers against her lips, like she was trying to silence herself. A hint of moisture gleamed in her eyes.
Compassion bloomed beneath the shock that held Livvy in the seat, but she couldn’t give Eve whatever she was looking for. “Say what? That he killed her?”
“Yes.”
“I can’t.” The only people who knew exactly what had happened on that stretch of road were Robert Kane and Maria Chandler. Robert had died on impact. Maria had passed away en route to the hospital, never regaining consciousness. “He wasn’t drunk or impaired in any way, and he definitely didn’t run his car into that tree deliberately.”
Eve paled, her light pink lip gloss garish on her lips “He might have. If my mother threatened to end their affair.”
Livvy jerked back from the table.“What?”
Eve’s lip curled, and Livvy totally reversed her original impression of the girl. There was a core of steel in Evangeline. If Livvy didn’t feel utterly sucker punched right now, she might be proud of her.
“You didn’t know,” Eve said, each word a little pinprick. “That that’s what people said? That the two of them were sleeping together?”
“No.” Livvy clenched her jaw. Every second from the moment the police had come to their door had been filled with grief and panic and anger. She hadn’t had a second to listen to gossip. Since she’d left, she’d only stayed in contact with friends, and they certainly weren’t about to spread lies.
Sure, no one fully knew why Robert and Maria had been together that Friday night. Maria hadbeen in Manhattan on foundation business, and Robert had been scoping out a new site in Pennsylvania. They hadn’t been expected home until the following Monday.
But plans changed and the weather had been bad. In the aftermath, Maile had speculated perhaps Robert had picked up Maria as a favor to drive her home. It made sense.
So why had they died on the road to the Chandlers’ lake house, thirty miles in the opposite direction?
Livvy shook her head. Sometimes all the pieces in an explanation didn’t fit perfectly, but that didn’t make the explanation completely wrong.
Her father had loved her mother. They hadn’t been an overly demonstrative couple, but Robert had never failed to touch Tani’s back or her hand when they passed each other. Livvy had grown up hearing bedtime stories about the first time Robert had seen Tani, when he’d been a kid working at his parents’ café.I thought she was a princess, Robert had told her and her brothers, a fond smile on his broad face.
Her mother’s feelings for Robert had never been in doubt either. Tani’s keening screams when she’d learned he was dead were burned into Livvy’s heart. It was one of the few times Livvy had seen a display of emotion from her mother.
“This is bullshit. And I don’t want you ever,ever, approaching my mom with these lies.”
“She’s heard it.” Eve’s tone was flat, her gaze hard. “I assure you.”
“Not from you. You don’t go near her.”
Eve’s eyes narrowed, calculation glimmering. “I won’t. So long as you don’t go near my brother.”
Livvy ran her hand over her face. She wouldn’t ask how Eve knew she’d seen Nicholas. The girl had learned she was in town from someone.
When Livvy didn’t agree immediately, Eve squared her shoulders. “I’m prepared to make it worth your while.”
Oh, for fuck’s sake. This was turning into a soap opera. Or a Shakespearean tragedy. “What?”
