Franz continued, the words coming faster now, like they'd been locked up for months and finally broke out. "I think about it. I can't stop thinking about it. I'm the one who benefited the most from their deaths. I got to marry you. I got a family. The twins. This life. This house. None of this would have happened if they hadn't died."
His voice tightened. "I don't want to think they paid the price for my happiness. But I can't stop thinking it. I can't stop wondering if I'm — if this — if any of it would exist without what happened to them."
Arianne stared down at him. His face hidden against her stomach. His shoulders tight enough to snap.
He'd been carrying this. Months. Maybe since the funeral. Maybe since the moment he'd stood in the mausoleum and watched her walk toward the twins.
She hadn't known.
Her throat moved before she spoke. "I made a promise to Alex."
Quiet. Thinner than she meant it to be.
