CHAPTER 3: Vivienne’s Diamonds Catch the Rail

Vivienne never raised her voice. That was one of her gifts.
She could slice a person open with a sentence and make the room thank her for using the proper fork. Her diamonds glittered whenever she moved, each stone catching the deck light like a little verdict.
“You are making this dramatic,” she said. “Declan left us a responsibility. Leo needs structure. The company needs certainty.”
“Leo needs sleep,” Maren said.
Gideon’s shadow shifted above them. He did not come down the stairs. He preferred elevation, literal when possible and inherited when not.
“Your grief has made you difficult,” he said.
Maren looked up at him. Rain mist gathered along the rail though the sky was clear, blown from the yacht’s own wake. “My grief made me observant.”
Vivienne’s hand closed over Maren’s wrist.
The grip was elegant and hard.
Leo whimpered against her neck.
Maren could feel every guest pretending not to watch from the salon doors below. Their silence had a shape. It was expensive, polished, and cowardly.
Vivienne leaned closer. “Sign tonight, or the world will learn you are not safe with that child.”
Maren looked down at the woman’s jeweled fingers locked over hers.
“Then the world should keep watching.”