Teresa’s loyalty, the very thing that made her precious to my family, was the thing that had painted a target on her.

She was in danger because she was good, and because she was mine, and because Vanessa understood, better than I had, how much that goodness might cost her plans.

I have carried that knowledge with a kind of grief ever since.

Teresa nearly lost everything not despite her decency but because of it, and I had been too comfortable to see the danger she was standing in.

It has changed how I think about loyalty, this whole affair.