Chapter 10 - The Sapphire Heirloom
The kitchen went dead silent.
David stared at the heavy sapphire necklace, his jaw tightening. He didn't touch it. He just looked at the typed card resting beneath it.
The debt is not fully paid yet.
"What is that?" I whispered, my heart beginning to race all over again.
Daniel leaned over the table, his massive shoulders tensing. "That’s the Matriarch’s Sapphire. The original piece Antonio had custom-made in Italy."
Luca strode into the kitchen, drawn by the sudden silence. He looked at the box on the table. The color drained from his face instantly.
"Where did this come from?" Luca demanded, his voice dropping to a dangerous baritone.
"Left at the front gate," Daniel reported. "No cameras picked up the drop. Blind spot behind the eastern pillar."
Luca reached into the box and carefully picked up the necklace. The dark blue stone caught the morning sunlight, glittering with a cold, heavy beauty.
"This was buried with my father," Luca said softly, his eyes locked on the jewel. "I placed it inside his casket myself before they sealed the vault."
A chill ran down my spine.
"Someone opened the family vault?" David asked, stepping slightly in front of me and Grace.
"Only two people had the keys to the mausoleum," Luca said, his eyes narrowing. "Me. And the estate lawyer, Marcus Vance. But Vance died three years ago."
Luca set the necklace down and picked up the typed card. He studied the ink, rubbing his thumb over the letters.
"This isn't a threat," Luca murmured, looking up at us. "This is a message. Someone is trying to tell us that the embezzlement wasn't the only secret my father took to his grave."
Grace tugged on David's sleeve. She pointed at the wooden box.
Look at the bottom, she signed.
David frowned. He tipped the wooden box slightly. Beneath the black velvet padding, something was lodged in the corner.
He carefully pulled the velvet back.
Hidden beneath the padding was a tiny, folded piece of paper. It looked incredibly old, the edges frayed and yellowed.
David unfolded it.
It was a birth certificate.
"What does it say?" I asked, leaning in.
David’s hands started to shake. He looked at the paper, then at Luca.
"It's a birth certificate issued thirty-two years ago," David said, his voice completely hollow. "For a boy named Leo."
Luca frowned. "Leo? I don't know a Leo. Who are the parents?"
David swallowed hard. He placed the paper on the table and pushed it toward Luca.
"The mother is listed as Maria Rossi," David read quietly. "The father is listed as Antonio Moretti."
The breath was knocked completely out of my lungs.
Luca stared at the paper. He didn't move. He didn't blink. The terrifying realization settled over the room like a heavy winter fog.
Antonio Moretti had a second son. An illegitimate child kept entirely secret from the family, from the syndicate, and from Teresa.
"Maria Rossi," Daniel rumbled, his voice low. "She was a maid here. Long before you, Emily. Thirty-five years ago. She left suddenly. Rumor was she stole money and ran off. We never heard from her again."
"She didn't steal money," Luca said, his voice vibrating with a sudden, rising anger. "My father sent her away. He paid her off to keep the child a secret to protect his marriage and the family name."
Luca looked at the sapphire necklace.
"The vault wasn't robbed by a stranger," Luca realized. "It was opened by someone who had a right to be there. A son reclaiming his mother's stolen legacy."
"But why send it to Emily?" David asked, his protective instincts flaring. "Why leave it for my wife?"
"Because of the note," Daniel said, pointing to the typed card. The debt is not fully paid yet.
Daniel looked at Luca. "Boss, if this Leo knows about the vault, he knows about the embezzlement. He knows about Vanessa. He knows Antonio used syndicate money to protect Grace's trust fund."
Luca’s eyes darkened. "He thinks the money in Grace's trust fund belongs to him. He thinks Antonio stole his inheritance to pay off a mechanic."
My stomach plummeted. Just when we thought we were finally safe, a ghost from the Moretti family's past had risen from the grave, and he was pointing directly at my daughter.
"We give it back," I said instantly, my voice panicked. I grabbed the red folder off the counter and shoved it toward Luca. "Take it. Take the trust fund. Take the money. We don't want it. We just want to be left alone."
"It's an irrevocable trust, Emily," Luca said gently, pushing the folder back toward me. "The money is legally Grace's. If I try to drain it, the federal banking regulators will freeze the accounts and open an investigation. It will expose David's identity."
"Then what do we do?" David asked, his fists clenched. "I am not losing my family again."
Luca picked up the birth certificate. He flipped it over.
On the back, written in fresh black ink, was an address. A location just outside the city limits.
"We don't run," Luca said coldly, pulling his weapon from its holster and checking the magazine. "We go meet my brother."
"I'm coming with you," David said immediately.
"No," I argued, grabbing his arm. "David, you just got back. You can't put yourself in danger again."
David turned to me, placing both hands on my cheeks. His eyes were fierce, burning with a love that had survived thirteen years of darkness.
"Emily, for thirteen years I hid in the shadows while other people dictated the safety of my family," David whispered. "Never again. I am a father. I am a husband. And I am going to end this."
Grace walked up beside David. She looked at his serious face, then at Luca's gun.
She signed, her movements sharp and determined.
I want to go too.
I shook my head instantly. Absolutely not. It's dangerous.
But Grace didn't back down. She pointed at the red folder, then at herself.
He wants my trust fund, Grace signed. He sent it to our house. He is mad at me. If Dad goes, I go.
"She stays here," Luca commanded, looking at Daniel. "Lock down the estate. Nobody gets in or out."
We left the kitchen, the heavy air of dread hanging over us. David held my hand tightly as we walked toward the garage.
We climbed into the black SUV, the sapphire necklace sitting in a box on the center console like a ticking bomb.
Luca drove us toward the address on the back of the birth certificate. It led us away from the city, up a winding mountain road that grew increasingly narrow and isolated. The trees grew thick, blocking out the morning sun, casting long, dark shadows across the windshield.
"The address is for an old, abandoned hunting lodge," Luca said, his eyes scanning the tree line. "My father used to take me there when I was a boy."
We pulled up to a massive set of iron gates. They were rusted open.
At the end of a long gravel driveway stood a large, dark wooden cabin. Smoke curled lazily from the stone chimney.
Someone was home.
Luca parked the SUV. He and David stepped out, both men tense, their eyes scanning the windows. I stayed in the backseat, my heart hammering in my chest.
Luca walked to the heavy oak front door. He didn't knock. He pushed it open.
The cabin was dark, lit only by a fire crackling in the hearth.
Sitting in a leather armchair facing the fire was a man. He had dark hair, broad shoulders, and the unmistakable profile of Antonio Moretti.
The man didn't turn around. He simply swirled a glass of amber liquid in his hand.
"I wondered how long it would take you to find the birth certificate, little brother," the man said. His voice was a perfect, chilling echo of Antonio's.
Luca stepped into the room, his hand hovering near his holster. "Leo."
Leo finally stood up and turned around. He looked exactly like Luca, just slightly older, his eyes harder, his smile colder.
He looked at Luca. Then his eyes drifted to David standing in the doorway.
Leo's smile widened.
"Ah," Leo said smoothly. "The mechanic who wouldn't die. I'm so glad you're here, David. Because we have a lot to discuss about the money you stole from my mother."
Before David could speak, a noise from the back of the cabin made my blood freeze.
It was the sound of a heavy wooden door clicking shut.
And then, a terrified, muffled scream.
David's head snapped around. He recognized the sound instantly.
"Grace," David whispered, absolute horror washing over his face.
I scrambled out of the SUV, staring at the empty backseat.
The door was ajar.
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Grace hadn't stayed at the estate. She had hidden in the trunk of the SUV.
And now, she was inside the cabin with Leo.
