THE CHEST FULL OF LEAD WEIGHTS

Luca set Leo down slowly.

He didn’t take the paper from the boy’s hand immediately. He just stared at his fiancée.

“The wall behind his bookshelf,” Luca repeated.

It wasn’t a question. It was a death sentence.

The master bedroom safe held jewelry. The office safe held cash and business ledgers.

But the safe hidden in the child’s room held the only things Luca Moretti truly cared about.

“Everybody out,” Luca said.

He didn’t yell. He didn’t raise his voice. But the command was absolute.

The thirty-two guests scrambled out of their chairs. Bankers, lawyers, and politicians didn’t bother saying goodbye. They grabbed their coats and rushed for the front doors, eager to escape the blast radius of a mafia boss’s wrath.

Frank Marino tried to linger near the door, his eyes darting between Vanessa and Luca, but Marco, the head of household security, put a heavy hand on Frank’s shoulder.

“Out, Frank,” Marco said gruffly, shoving the insurance broker into the hallway.

Within two minutes, the dining room was empty, save for Luca, Vanessa, Leo, Marco, and me.

Luca gently took the embossed paper from Leo’s hand.

He read the front page.

It was the official, court-sealed guardianship documentation for Leo. The only legal proof that Luca had custody of his late brother’s son.

“Take him to his room, Emma,” Luca said, not looking away from the document.

I moved immediately. I took Leo’s small, warm hand in mine.

“Come on, sweetie,” I whispered, forcing a smile. “Let’s go see if your glow-in-the-dark stars are still working.”

“Is Uncle Luca mad?” Leo asked quietly as I led him away.

“He’s just working, baby. Everything is okay.”

I walked Leo up the grand staircase, but my mind was racing.

Vanessa hadn’t just stolen silver to pay a debt. She had broken into the most secure safe in the house to steal a child’s legal documents.

Why? You can’t pawn guardianship papers.

I put Leo back into his bed, pulling the thick comforter up to his chin. I sat with him until his breathing evened out and his eyes closed.

Then I walked over to the built-in bookshelf against the far wall.

I pushed the heavy mahogany frame. It swung open silently on hidden hinges.

Behind it was a steel wall safe.

The heavy door was hanging wide open.

I looked inside.

Empty.

No passports. No birth certificates. And missing from the center shelf was the velvet box that held Leo’s mother’s diamond necklace—the one she had been wearing when she died.

I felt sick to my stomach.

I hurried back downstairs to the dining room.

Luca was standing exactly where I left him. Vanessa was sitting in a chair, hugging her knees, looking completely broken.

Marco stood near the door, his arms crossed over his chest.

“The safe in Leo’s room is completely empty, sir,” I reported quietly. “The passports, the cash reserves, and the necklace are gone.”

Luca closed his eyes.

“You were going to use the boy as leverage,” Luca said to Vanessa, his voice hollow. “You stole his guardianship papers so you could blackmail me into paying off the rest of your father’s debts.”

“No!” Vanessa cried. “I didn’t take the papers! I swear! I only took the necklace!”

“Then why was the guardianship document on the floor?” Luca demanded.

“I dropped it when I was grabbing the velvet box!” she wept. “I was panicking! I heard footsteps in the hall and I ran!”

Luca shook his head in disgust. “You are a monster.”

“I was desperate, Luca! Please!”

I looked at Vanessa. She was lying about a lot of things, but panic is hard to fake.

If she was panicked, she was rushing.

I thought back to the man with the silver cases this morning.

“Sir,” I interrupted carefully.

Luca looked at me.

“Mrs. Bellini couldn’t have carried the silver, the rosary, and the contents of the safe out of the house by herself,” I said. “The master chest alone weighs fifty pounds. She needed the man with the cases.”

Luca nodded. “The appraiser.”

“But the man didn’t go upstairs,” I added, piecing the memory together. “I watched him from the kitchen. He never passed the foyer. He stayed by the front door.”

Luca frowned. “Then who brought the silver down to him?”

I looked around the room.

I thought about the lead weights in the chest. A caterer wouldn’t have access to diving weights. A maid wouldn’t know how to bypass the alarm on the chest.

Someone inside the house did this. Someone with full security clearance.

My eyes drifted toward the doorway.

Toward Marco.

The head of household security.

Marco was staring at Vanessa. His face was a mask of professional indifference.

But as he uncrossed his arms, his suit sleeve pulled back just a fraction of an inch.

And in the harsh light of the crystal chandelier, I saw it.

Glinting on Marco’s thick wrist was a distinct, braided silver bracelet.

It was a custom antique piece. Very rare.