And for a second I remain silent. I never saw those necklaces on my mom and my aunt. Did they hide them from me? And why does Matteo know things about the people closest to me that I don’t even know?

“This is what I’ll do—I’ll give you this necklace if you give me your word that you’ll stay away from that restaurant,” he says.

I gain an asset needed to find my dad, but I have to give up meeting my aunt. I momentarily break eye contact with him.

“It’s an exceptionally good deal,” Matteo says, like maybe I didn’t hear his offer.

When I don’t answer right away, his look turns to confusion. “Am I missing something?”

“No. You’re right. It’s a good deal,” I say, having a hard time meeting his eyes. So I change the subject. “Why does the apothecary want it, anyway?”

Matteo shakes his head. “Maybe because they’re impossible to get. Maybe she knows they have a secret compartment for poison. Or maybe she just figured out who you were and decided to meddle. It’s hard to know with apothecaries. They’re all secrets and deception, but they’re so deadly and invaluable that no one interferes with them.”

I grunt. “You got the deadly part right,” I say, and Matteo gives me a questioning look, but he doesn’t ask me what I mean. “Okay, so why were you following me?”

“Layla,” he says, but before he can get out another word I react.

“What?” I say in shock, looking around the street like maybe she’s hiding in an alley somewhere. “Layla? That’s not…What?”

“Not here,” he says. “But in London, yes.”

“But I don’t under—” I start.

“I know,” he says, cutting me off. “And I can’t explain right now; if I don’t get to that dinner with my Family, my mom is going to have my head. I was supposed to be there an hour ago.”

“How is Layla here?” I say more insistently. “And why didn’t I know? Does Ash know?”

“No, and that’s the thing,” Matteo says, and his voice sounds like a warning. “You can’t tell Ash.”

I look at him sideways. “What do you mean, I can’t tell Ash? I can’t not tell Ash.”

Matteo holds up his hands, as if to say it’s not his fight. “This is all Layla. It certainly wasn’t my idea,” he says, as though he’s reaffirming that he wants nothing to do with me.

“So where am I supposed to tell Ash I got the necklace if I can’t tell him about you and Layla?” I say.

He exhales and pinches the bridge of his nose. “Tell me you didn’t tell Ash where the restaurant was located.”

“I didn’t,” I say. “I figured it was a Bear Family secret.”