Chapter 2 - THE SILVER BRACELET
The heavy iron gates of the Romano estate didn’t just close.
They locked with a sound that echoed all the way up to the second-floor guest wing.
A deep, metallic thud.
Final.
Absolute.
I sat on the edge of the large velvet bed, my hands trembling in my lap. Dr. Bennett had left five minutes ago, leaving behind a bottle of painkillers and strict orders not to lift anything heavier than a dinner plate for three weeks.
I hadn’t touched the pills.
My heart was beating too fast, hammering against my bruised ribs with a sharp, rhythmic ache.
Downstairs, the house was too quiet.
I knew what a lockdown meant. I had worked here long enough to hear the whispers in the kitchen. When Luca Romano locked the gates, nobody left until he had answers.
And the answer he was looking for was sitting right here, wrapped in an elastic bandage, holding a secret that could get me killed.
The doorknob turned.
I flinched, pulling my arms around my stomach.
Luca stepped into the room.
He didn’t bring Marco. He didn’t bring the doctor. He came alone, shutting the heavy mahogany door behind him with a quiet click. He stood there for a moment, his dark eyes scanning my face, my posture, the way I was shrinking into the expensive bedding.
He had taken off his jacket. His sleeves were rolled up to his forearms, revealing the faint edge of a scar on his left wrist.
He didn’t look like the ruthless boss of the city’s most feared family.
He looked like a man who had just dismantled a lie and was trying to figure out what to do with the pieces.
“Marco pulled the security footage,” Luca said.
His voice was terrifyingly soft.
I stopped breathing.
“He found the moment you got on the service elevator this morning,” Luca continued, walking slowly toward the center of the room. “At 6:23 AM. He also found out who disabled the cameras right before that.”
I stared at the carpet. My throat was so tight I couldn't swallow.
“Anthony,” I whispered.
“Yes.” Luca stopped three feet away from me. “Anthony disabled them. But that isn’t what bothers me, Anna. What bothers me is who walked into that elevator with you.”
He stepped closer.
The air in the room suddenly felt incredibly heavy.
“My brother,” Luca said. “Leo.”
I squeezed my eyes shut.
Leo Romano. The black sheep. The brother who had supposedly been exiled to Europe three years ago after a disastrous falling out with Luca. The brother who wasn't supposed to be within a thousand miles of this house.
“Look at me, Anna.”
I slowly raised my head.
Luca’s expression was unreadable, but his eyes were entirely focused. He wasn’t angry. He was calculating.
“Did my brother do this to you?” he asked.
The question hung in the air.
If I said yes, Luca would unleash hell on Leo. He would protect me. That was the code he lived by. But it would be a lie. A lie that would destroy the one chance I had to fix this.
“No,” I said.
My voice shook, but the word was clear.
“No. Leo didn’t hurt me.”
Luca’s brow furrowed. Just a fraction. “Then who did?”
“Anthony’s men.”
Luca went completely still.
He didn’t shout. He didn’t curse. But the temperature in the room seemed to drop ten degrees.
“Explain,” he said softly.
“I was carrying linens down to the laundry room,” I said, forcing the words out before my panic could stop them. “The service elevator stopped on the third floor. Leo got in. He looked… he looked terrible, Mr. Romano. He was pale. He was shaking. He told me to keep quiet.”
“And then?”
“And then the doors opened in the basement. Anthony was waiting there with two men I’ve never seen before. They grabbed Leo.” A tear spilled over my lashes, hot and fast. “I tried to run back into the elevator. One of them caught me. He threw me against the metal railing. That’s how my ribs got bruised.”
Luca let out a slow, controlled breath.
“Why didn’t you come to me immediately?”
“Because Anthony leaned down while I was on the floor,” I whispered, swiping at my cheek. “He told me if I said a word, he would make sure my little sister’s medical bills never got paid again. He knows about her, Mr. Romano. He knows everything about the staff.”
Luca closed his eyes for a second. When he opened them, the calculation was gone. Only a cold, absolute resolve remained.
“Anthony is handled,” Luca said quietly.
I blinked. “Handled?”
“He is currently sitting in a chair in the soundproof basement. He isn't going anywhere.” Luca crouched down so he was at eye level with me. It was a remarkably intimate gesture for a man of his status. “But Anthony swears he didn’t touch Leo. He swears he was only trying to escort Leo off the property to protect me.”
“He’s lying.”
“I know he is,” Luca said gently. “Which brings me to my next question. Where did Leo go? Because he isn’t on the estate anymore.”
I hesitated.
This was it. The point of no return.
“Anna,” Luca said, his voice dropping to a low, comforting rumble. “You are safe here. I swear it on my father’s grave. No one will ever threaten your family again. But you have to tell me what my brother said to you.”
I reached into the pocket of my uniform apron.
My fingers brushed against cold metal.
I pulled it out and held it out to him.
It was a heavy, tarnished silver bracelet. A man’s bracelet. The kind with a thick chain and a solid ID plate in the center.
Luca’s breath hitched.
He took it from my palm, his fingers brushing against mine. His skin was warm.
“Leo slipped it into my apron while the men were grabbing him,” I whispered. “He told me to keep it safe. He told me not to trust Anthony.”
Luca stared at the bracelet. I watched his thumb run over the deep scratches on the silver.
Then, he turned it over.
There was an engraving on the back.
Luca read it, and for the first time all night, I saw the Mafia boss completely lose his composure. The color drained from his face. His jaw went slack.
“Answer one question for me, Anna,” Luca said, his voice suddenly sounding hollow, desperate.
“Yes, sir?”
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He looked up at me, his eyes wide with a terror I didn't understand.
“Why does my brother have a bracelet with the name of a dead girl on it?”
