Chapter 71

"I have an indiscreet question," said Kendall, packing his arm covered in ointment in a compressive mesh. "Have you taken his pistol yet?

" Already.

"Really? All the pistols? Which one was bigger?

I heard a dish tink under something sharp followed by a giggle and a dry grunt sounding from the kitchen, and finally stopped looking at the cushions I was arranging as an excuse to stay in the main room.

Kendall looked at me with her big brown eyes, in that moment full of malice and shiny like an onyx stone. I looked away, on the edge of the kitchen counter, and caught Tristan choking with trapped laughter, looking at us without the slightest discretion. My father was on his back, his shoulders slightly shrunk, tense. Between the two was Zachary, using a salad plate to support the vegetables he had prepared.

Arriving home late at night, enjoying Zachary's company until the last moment, had not gone unnoticed by the attentive and vigilant looks of Tristan and my fath