"Why wouldn't I come? I haven't done anything shameful that I need to hide." I leaned back, still smiling. "Besides, Dante and I are legally married, so I have nothing to hide. Unlike some people who, no matter how hard they try, will always be the hidden third."
The words landed exactly where I aimed them. Her smile cracked at the edges. Her fingers pressed harder against her throat.
"You—!" she snapped, but I cut her off again.
"Oh, and thank you, by the way," I said, my voice steady. The same tone I'd heard the consigliere use when delivering news that would ruin someone's life. Measured. Almost kind. "For sending me all the evidence of your little affair with Dante. Collecting all that would've been much harder on my own."
I let the silence do its work. One beat. Two. The barista had stopped wiping glasses.
I smiled, this time more dismissively. "So, this coffee's on me."
I placed some cash under my cup, stood up slowly, and rested my hand on my belly. The weight of my daughter pressing against my palm. Real. Alive. The only honest thing left in this entire arrangement.