I couldn’t hear anything.
The world around me had collapsed into a tunnel of ringing silence, and all I could feel was Adrian’s arms locked around me, trying to steady me as the ground beneath me gave way.
“I killed him?” I whispered, the words scraping my throat like gravel.
Catalina didn’t flinch. “You were six. You had no idea what you were holding. Donata planned it all to erase your father without staining her hands.”
My knees gave out completely. Adrian caught me and lowered me gently onto the couch, never letting go. My chest heaved. My hands trembled. I couldn’t breathe.
Six years old. A child. Oblivious. Trusting.
Used.
“No,” I murmured. “That can’t be true. Donata said she found him shot… She cried in front of me.”
“She rehearsed that grief like a script,” Catalina said q
