Page 85 of The Housemaid Is Watching

I want to trust him. I want to trust my husband so badly.

FIFTY-SIX

The police search our house for hours.

When they finish, the house is in shambles. As expected. Neither of us are working today—I’ve taken a personal day, and Enzo is trusting his work to his staff—so we get to cleaning it all up. I’m just hoping we can get it done before the school bus delivers the kids back home. If they walk into this mess, they will panic.

Enzo and I clean together in silence. We’re working on the kitchen now, putting away pots and pans that were thrown on the kitchen floor. It’s almost like unpacking our boxes all over again.

Even though I shouldn’t say it, there’s a question running through my head, and before I can stop myself, I blurt it out. “Enzo, did you tell Suzette that you only married me because I was pregnant?”

His body goes rigid. “What?”

“Did you tell her you knocked me up?”

“No, I did not say that to her.” He rubs his jaw. “Why would you think I would tell her that?”

“Because she knew about it. And I sure didn’t tell her. So how did she know?”

“Ada is eleven. We are married less than twelve years.” He lifts a shoulder. “She did math?”

Maybe. It’s entirely possible I might have mentioned that we were married eleven years. I should have been more careful about what I said around somebody like Suzette. She was surely analyzing every word.

He narrows his eyes at me. “When were you talking to Suzette about this?”

I can’t very well tell him that I snuck into their backyard last night. He would be furious. “This was a while ago. I just started thinking about it.”

“Believe me, Millie, I do not say our business to anyone.” He frowns at the kitchen counter. “They broke three plates. You know that?”

“I told you they were not going to be gentle.”

“This is allowed? They just break things?”

I don’t know what to say. What are we supposed to do? Call the cops on them?

“Do you know if they found anything?” I ask him.

“No. They did not find anything because there is nothing to find.” He clenches his fist in frustration. “They broke a mug too! Is ridiculous!”

“Enzo,” I say, “why don’t you let me finish up in the kitchen? You can go clean up the bedrooms, okay?”

“Fine,” he grumbles.

He stalks off, leaving me alone to clean the kitchen. Good thing, because I’m pretty sure there’s a lot more that they broke in here. There are fewer things to break in the bedrooms.

While I am throwing away the remains of the broken dishes, my phone rings. It’s a 718 number, which means it’s not somebody on the island. I take the call.

“Millie?”

It’s Cecelia’s voice—I recognize it from yesterday. I still can’t get over how different she sounds from the little girl she used to be.

“Hi, Cecelia,” I say. “I… I guess you heard what happened.”

“Yes, I spoke to Enzo this morning. He wasn’t happy.”

“We were just surprised,” I say. “We were hoping it wouldn’t come to this. That they would find another suspect.”

“Oh no,” Cecelia says. “They are laser-focused on Enzo right now.”