Chapter 2 - THE KEY TO CATHERINE’S LOCKED ROOM
Luca didn’t blink.
He stared at his fiancée, his dark eyes terrifyingly calm.
“Vanessa,” he said softly. “Who is she?”
Vanessa’s hands trembled against her red silk gown.
“Luca, please. You’re upsetting our guests.”
“I don’t care about the guests.”
He turned his gaze to the woman sitting beside Vanessa’s father.
She was in her late forties, wearing a tailored gray suit. Her smile had completely vanished.
“Stand up,” Luca commanded.
The dining room was dead silent. Even the clinking of silverware had stopped.
The woman slowly stood.
“Mr. Moretti,” she began, her voice tight. “I am merely an estate appraiser. Vanessa hired me to—”
“An appraiser?” Luca interrupted.
He walked slowly toward her.
“My wife’s room has been locked for three years. I have the only key.”
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a heavy brass key, tossing it onto the mahogany table. It landed with a loud clatter.
“So how did you get inside?”
Vanessa rushed forward, grabbing Luca’s arm.
“Darling, I had a copy made! I was only trying to help you. You can’t keep living in a museum. We’re getting married in three weeks!”
Luca didn’t look at her. He kept his eyes on the appraiser.
“What were you hired to appraise?”
The woman swallowed hard. She looked at Vanessa for help, but Vanessa looked away.
“Jewelry, mostly,” the woman whispered. “And some antique furniture.”
Teresa’s voice cut through the room.
“She’s lying, Luca.”
The old woman’s hand tightened around mine. Her fingers felt like ice.
“Mom?” Luca asked, finally turning back.
“She wasn’t looking at jewelry,” Teresa said, her voice shaking but clear. “I heard them whispering in the hallway. Vanessa told her to find the blue velvet box.”
Vanessa gasped. “Teresa, stop it! Your mind is playing tricks on you again!”
Luca’s expression darkened.
“Do not speak to my mother that way.”
He turned back to the appraiser.
“Where is the blue velvet box?”
The woman backed away, bumping into her chair.
“Mr. Moretti, I assure you—”
“Where is it?” Luca’s voice boomed, rattling the crystal glasses on the table.
The appraiser unclasped her purse with trembling hands.
She reached inside and pulled out a small, faded blue velvet box.
My breath caught.
I had seen that box before.
Sophie had drawn a picture of it last week. She told me it was where her mother kept her most precious secrets.
Luca stared at the box.
“Hand it to me.”
The woman placed it on the table and stepped back quickly.
Luca picked it up. He traced the velvet lid with his thumb.
“Catherine’s music box,” he murmured.
He looked at Vanessa.
“Why were you looking for this?”
Vanessa’s eyes filled with tears.
“Luca, she kept old letters in there. Letters from before you were married. I didn’t want you to find them and be hurt.”
Luca’s jaw tightened.
“You thought you had the right to rifle through my dead wife’s belongings to protect my feelings?”
“I love you!” Vanessa cried. “I’m trying to build a future with you!”
Luca slowly opened the box.
There were no letters inside.
No jewelry.
The box was completely empty.
He frowned, looking up at Vanessa.
“Where is the necklace?”
Vanessa blinked, stepping backward. “Necklace? Luca, I swear, it was empty when we found it.”
Teresa suddenly stood up.
Her chair scraped loudly against the floor.
“It wasn’t empty yesterday,” the old woman said, her voice breaking.
Luca walked toward his mother. “How do you know, Mom?”
“Because Sophie brought it to me.”
The entire room went still.
“Sophie opened the locked room?” Luca asked, stunned.
“No,” Teresa whispered, tears spilling down her wrinkled cheeks. “Sophie found the box in Vanessa’s closet.”
Vanessa’s face drained of all color.
“That little brat is lying!” she shrieked.
Luca moved faster than I could track.
He grabbed Vanessa’s wrist, his grip like iron.
“Never call my daughter that again. Do you understand?”
Vanessa whimpered, nodding frantically.
He let go of her and turned back to Teresa.
“Mom. What did Sophie find inside the box?”
Teresa looked at me. Her eyes were terrified.
“Hannah,” she whispered. “Give it to him.”
My heart stopped beating.
Every eye in the room turned toward me.
My hands shook as I reached into the pocket of my black uniform apron.
My fingers brushed against cold silver.
“Hannah?” Luca asked, his voice suddenly very quiet. “What do you have?”
I couldn’t breathe.
I pulled my hand out of my pocket and opened my palm.
Resting there was a heavy silver locket.
Catherine’s locket.
The one she wore in every portrait hanging in the hallway.
Luca stared at it, the color draining from his face.
He took it from my hand, his fingers brushing mine. They were trembling.
He pressed the small clasp on the side.
The locket popped open.
I expected to see a picture of Luca. Or Sophie.
But there wasn’t a picture inside.
There was a tiny, folded piece of paper.
Luca unfolded it carefully.
He read the words written there.
And then, the most powerful man in Chicago dropped to his knees right in front of me.
“Where,” he whispered, staring up at me with haunted eyes, “did you get this?”
I swallowed the lump in my throat.
“Sophie gave it to me, sir. She said her mother wanted me to have it.”
Luca stood up slowly, clutching the paper.
He turned the note so I could see it.
It was written in a hurried, panicked script.
It said: If anything happens to me, find Hannah Collins. She is the only one who knows the truth.
I gasped.
Catherine died three years ago.
I only started working here eleven months ago.
I had never met Luca’s wife.
May you like
But Vanessa was staring at me, her eyes wide with absolute terror.
“You,” Vanessa whispered, pointing a shaking finger at me. “It’s been you all along.”
