Chapter 4 - THE EMPTY SAFE
The diamonds caught the harsh, fluorescent light of the orphanage bedroom, glittering like ice. I stared at the rosary resting in my palm. I knew this piece of jewelry. Vanessa wore it on Sundays, playing the part of the devout, perfect fiancée for the cameras and Adrian’s traditional family members.
“She was here,” I said, my voice hollow. “She dropped this.”
Adrian took the rosary from my hand. His fingers, usually so steady, gripped the delicate chain until his knuckles turned white.
“Elias’s coat,” he muttered, staring at the worn leather draped over the single bed. “A coat that was supposed to be ash twelve years ago. Found in the room of a son I never knew he had. Alongside my fiancée’s jewelry.”
He turned to me, the grief in his eyes rapidly hardening into something lethal.
“She didn't just find out about Leo,” Adrian said. “She’s known about him. For a long time.”
“The drawing,” I said, pointing to the crumpled paper on the desk. “Leo drew her pointing a gun at Michael. If Vanessa isn't the victim being blackmailed… then what is she doing?”
“She’s cleaning house,” Adrian said, his voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. “Elias was the older brother. The rightful head of the family. If he had a legitimate heir, that boy supersedes me. If I marry Vanessa, and I die… the estate goes to her. Unless Leo exists.”
My stomach churned. “She’s not trying to hide him. She’s trying to get rid of him.”
“We need to get back to the house,” Adrian said, throwing the coat over his arm.
The ride back to the estate was a blur of speed and silence. I clutched the door handle, my shoulder throbbing in time with my racing heart. I was a housekeeper. Twenty-eight years old, trying to pay off my mother’s medical debts. I shouldn't be in the back of a mafia boss’s car, hunting a rogue fiancée. But I couldn't stop seeing Leo’s face. His quiet smile when he finally understood a math problem.
The SUV tore through the wrought-iron gates of the estate, sliding to a halt in front of the marble steps.
We didn't bother with the service entrance this time. Adrian kicked the front doors open. The dinner party had ended. The foyer was empty, the house eerily silent.
“Vanessa!” Adrian roared, his voice echoing off the vaulted ceilings.
Nothing.
He drew a sleek, black handgun from the holster beneath his jacket. My breath hitched. I had known who he was, what his family did, but seeing the weapon made the danger instantly, brutally real.
“Stay behind me,” he ordered.
We moved up the grand staircase. The east wing was dark. We approached the master suite. The door was slightly ajar.
Adrian pushed it open with the barrel of his gun.
The room was destroyed.
Drawers were pulled out, designer clothes thrown violently across the floor. The heavy velvet curtains were torn down. But the most alarming detail was the painting above the fireplace. It had been ripped from the wall, revealing a heavy steel wall safe.
The safe door was swung wide open. Empty.
Adrian lowered his gun, walking slowly toward the safe. He stared inside.
“She ran,” I whispered, stepping over a pile of silk blouses. “She took whatever was in there and ran.”
“No,” Adrian said, his voice strangely flat. “She didn't empty it.”
I moved closer. Tucked into the bottom corner of the empty steel box was a single piece of thick, cream-colored stationary.
Adrian reached in and pulled it out. He read it, his jaw locking so tight I thought his teeth might shatter.
Without a word, he handed it to me.
The handwriting was erratic, terrified. It wasn't the elegant script Vanessa usually used for dinner invitations.
Adrian, I’m so sorry. I didn't know how to tell you. He has him. He has my son. I took the ledger to trade for his life. Don't follow me, or he’ll kill us both. - V
I stared at the paper. “Her son? What is she talking about? Leo is Elias’s son.”
Adrian took the note back, his eyes scanning the room. “A reversal. She’s playing the victim again. She wants me to think Michael kidnapped Leo and forced her to steal my private ledger to get him back.”
“Is it true?” I asked.
“The ledger is gone,” Adrian said grimly. “It contains every offshore account, every bribe, every politician in my pocket. With that book, Michael could dismantle my entire organization by morning.”
“So she took it to save Leo?”
“Or she took it to pay Michael for making Leo disappear permanently, and left this note to frame Michael for the theft and the kidnapping.”
Before I could respond, the silence of the bedroom was shattered.
The landline phone on the bedside table began to ring.
It was a jarring, ancient sound. We both froze. Adrian rarely used the landlines; they were purely decorative.
He walked over to the nightstand and stared at the caller ID display.
The blood completely drained from his face.
He didn't pick it up. He just stared at the glowing green letters.
May you like
I stepped up beside him and looked at the screen.
The name flashing across the digital display was ELIAS MORETTI.
