THE EMPTY HOSPITAL BED

“This belonged to my mother,” Luca said, pressing the necklace into Anna’s shaking hands. “She wanted you to have it. I bought it back from the pawnshop Richard sold it to.”

Anna stared at the diamond, breaking down completely. It wasn’t a romantic gesture; it was the restoration of her dignity. An apology for ten years of hell.

“Take her to Lucy,” Luca ordered Marco, who had returned. “Put them up in the penthouse at the Riverside. Full security. They never have to run again.”

As Marco helped Anna to the car, the storm began to break. The heavy rain slowed to a drizzle.

I stood on the pier, shivering in my thin sweater, watching the taillights disappear.

It was over.

Vanessa and Richard were finished. The syndicate would strip their assets by morning. Anna and Lucy were safe, reunited and wealthy enough to start over. And my mother’s murder had finally been solved.

I looked at the silver bracelet I had pried off Vanessa’s wrist during the struggle. I slid it onto my own arm. It fit perfectly.

Luca walked back toward me. His expensive suit was ruined, soaked and stained with grease, but he looked lighter. The suffocating tension that had surrounded him for eleven months was gone.

He stopped in front of me.

“You shouldn’t have thrown that bolt,” he said quietly. “She could have shot you.”

“I’m a maid, Mr. Moretti,” I said, trying to force a smile despite the exhaustion crushing my bones. “I clean up messes.”

He didn’t smile back. He reached out, his warm fingers brushing wet hair out of my eyes.

“You’re not a maid, Emma.”

“I think human resources would disagree.”

“Human resources doesn’t run my life.” He stepped closer. The space between us vanished. “I do.”

He didn’t kiss me. Not then. But the way he looked at me—like I was the only person left on earth—made my breath catch.

Three days later, Saturday arrived.

The day that was supposed to be Luca’s wedding.

The mansion was completely silent. The caterers had been canceled. The flowers had been donated to a local hospital. The guests had been given a polite, vague excuse about a family emergency.

I was in the kitchen, packing my uniform into a duffel bag.

I had my closure. I had my mother’s bracelet. I had enough money saved for a security deposit on a new apartment.

It was time to go.

I zipped the bag and turned around.

Luca was leaning against the doorframe, watching me. He wore a simple gray sweater, looking devastatingly normal.

“Where are you going?” he asked.

“Home,” I said, picking up the bag. “There’s no wedding to clean up after. And I imagine you won’t be needing a full staff for a while.”

He walked into the kitchen, took the bag from my hand, and dropped it on the floor.

Then he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, velvet box. It wasn’t the massive diamond he had bought for Vanessa.