Chapter 231

• VALENTINA
• ~•~
• Late afternoon light came through the tall windows in the private study, soft and gold across the desk. I had slipped in during the quiet hour when Gustavo was out and the staff stayed in the kitchens. The file waited in the bottom drawer where I had seen him lock it days before. I copied what I could in ten stolen minutes, pages feeding through the small printer in the corner, then put everything back exactly as it was. Now those copies lay spread across the desk in front of me.