That was all it took. Charles straightened immediately and gestured them inside. "Please. Come in."
They sat in the living room, Cyril choosing a chair slightly farther back, instinctively placing himself where a Beta should be. Claudia's gaze lifted almost immediately to the large portrait dominating the far wall. Ingrid's portrait.
The painting was stunning.
Claudia smiled softly. "She really was beautiful."
"Yes," Charles said. His gaze remained firmly on the floor. "Yes, she was." He had commissioned the portrait himself, chosen the colors, the frame, the lighting. And yet he had never once stood before it long enough to truly look. If he did, he feared he would remember her voice too clearly.
Claudia glanced sideways at Cyril, her brow furrowing. "Is it me," she said slowly, "or does she look like someone we know?"
