Chapter Thirty-Two
Gabriel told me the upside to his presence was that people tend to tell the truth. They also tend to be kind, smiling and complimenting my dress despite the glint in their eyes. They don’t dare make a cutting remark in front of him, but they whisper as soon as we move on.
My insides feel wobbly, but I force myself to smile. This was my home, my mother’s home. She wore grace and confidence until her final moments. That’s what I’ll do too.
I won’t give them the satisfaction of breaking in front of them.
Still it’s a relief when Ivan and Candy cross the room to meet us. Ivan looks stern and forbidding in a gray suit. Candy looks like a princess in a pale pink dress that wraps around her breasts and falls in flowing silk. Around her neck is a necklace with a pendant shap
