Chapter 2 - The Little Girl Nobody Wanted Seen
THE MAFIA BOSS'S FIANCÉE KNOCKED A BOWL OF BUTTERED PASTA OUT OF MY HAND IN FRONT OF THIRTY GUESTS—THEN CALLED ME A THIEF FOR FEEDING SOMEONE IN THE RESTAURANT'S COATROOM. BUT WHEN LUCA HEARD A LITTLE GIRL CRYING BEHIND THE DOOR, HE RUSHED TOWARD HER. AND WHAT SHE SAID ABOUT HIS FIANCÉE MADE HIM FORGET THE WEDDING ENTIRELY.
“Pick it up, Hannah. Every single piece.”
Vanessa Bellini stood over me in her red satin gown.
Buttered noodles were scattered across the marble floor of the Moretti family's luxury Italian restaurant.
Thirty guests watched from the long dinner table.
I'd been carrying that little bowl to a six-year-old girl waiting alone in the coatroom.
Vanessa had knocked it from my hands.
“Mrs. Bellini, please. She's hungry.”
“Then her parents should have fed her before bringing her here.”
I bent down to collect the broken pieces.
Vanessa leaned closer.
“And Hannah? The next time you steal food from my engagement dinner, you'll be looking for another job.”
My cheeks burned.
I wasn't stealing anything.
I'd asked the chef for a little plain pasta.
He'd made it himself.
My name is Hannah Collins. I'm twenty-six, and I've worked for Luca Moretti's family for almost a year.
Tonight, I'd been sent to help serve his engagement dinner in the private upstairs room of the family's historic Chicago restaurant.
Dark walnut walls.
Burgundy curtains.
Warm chandeliers above a table set for thirty.
Everything looked beautiful.
Except the little girl I'd found in the coatroom forty minutes earlier.
She'd been sitting on a wooden bench in a purple cardigan, holding a stuffed rabbit with one missing ear.
“Are you lost, sweetheart?” I'd asked.
She shook her head.
“I'm waiting.”
“For your mom?”
She looked toward the dining room.
Then whispered, “I'm not supposed to go in there.”
My heart sank.
She couldn't have been older than six.
Her name was Rosie.
And she hadn't eaten since breakfast.
So I'd brought her a glass of water and promised to find her something warm.
That was how I ended up on my knees in front of thirty strangers, picking noodles off the floor.
“Hannah!”
Vanessa snapped her fingers.
“Stop making such a production out of it.”
I reached for the bowl.
A sharp piece of ceramic cut my finger.
I pulled my hand back.
Blood spotted the white napkin beside me.
Vanessa sighed.
“Oh, wonderful. Now you're bleeding on the floor.”
Then a chair scraped backward.
“Hannah?”
Luca Moretti had stood at the head of the table.
Thirty-six years old.
Black three-piece suit.
Dark swept-back hair, tattoos visible along his neck and hands.
He looked at my bleeding finger.
Then at Vanessa.
“What happened?”
Vanessa smiled immediately.
“Darling, Hannah was sneaking food out of the dining room. I told her to stop, and she dropped the bowl.”
Luca frowned.
“Sneaking food?”
“For some child downstairs. Apparently, our restaurant is becoming a daycare.”
He looked at me.
“There's a child downstairs?”
I nodded.
“She's waiting in the coatroom, sir.”
“Alone?”
“Yes.”
His expression changed.
“How long has she been there?”
“Almost an hour.”
Luca put down his glass.
Then he hurried toward me.
“Let me see your hand.”
“It's just a little cut.”
He took the napkin and gently pressed it against my finger.
His eyes were wet with anger.
“You were trying to feed a hungry little girl, and somebody made you feel ashamed of it?”
I couldn't answer.
Vanessa folded her arms.
“Luca, you're making this much bigger than it is.”
He looked at her.
“A child is sitting alone in my restaurant without dinner. That sounds pretty important to me.”
Then we heard it.
A small voice from the hallway.
“Miss Hannah?”
Rosie stood in the doorway.
Her stuffed rabbit was tucked beneath one arm.
Tears were running down her cheeks.
“Did I do something bad?”
My heart broke.
I started toward her.
But Luca was already moving.
He crossed the dining room and knelt in front of her.
“Hey, sweetheart.”
She looked frightened.
“I'm sorry I came out.”
His expression softened.
“You don't need to apologize.”
He gently wiped a tear from her cheek.
“Are you hungry?”
Rosie nodded.
Luca swallowed.
Then looked toward the chef standing near the service doors.
“Marco, would you make this little lady some dinner? Whatever she likes.”
The chef smiled.
“Of course, boss.”
Rosie whispered, “Just noodles, please.”
Luca's eyes filled.
“You can have all the noodles you want.”
Vanessa suddenly stepped forward.
“Luca, darling, she's somebody's child. We should have the manager find whoever brought her.”
He turned.
“Who brought her?”
Vanessa hesitated.
“I believe she's one of the caterer's children.”
Rosie shook her head.
“No, I'm not.”
Vanessa's face tightened.
“Sweetheart, don't interrupt adults.”
Luca looked back at the little girl.
“Rosie, who are you waiting for?”
She pointed toward Vanessa.
The dining room went silent.
Vanessa's smile disappeared.
“Rosie,” she whispered, “we talked about this.”
The little girl lowered her eyes.
Luca slowly stood.
“Vanessa, you know her?”
“Not really.”
But Rosie was already crying again.
“She said I could come upstairs after everybody went home.”
Luca frowned.
“Why would she say that?”
Vanessa laughed nervously.
“Children misunderstand things all the time.”
I watched Rosie clutch her rabbit tighter.
Then she looked up at Luca.
“Are you the man she's marrying?”
He nodded slowly.
“Yes, sweetheart.”
Rosie's bottom lip trembled.
“Then I have to tell you something.”
Vanessa immediately reached for her.
“Rosie, come with me.”
But Luca stepped between them.
“Let her finish.”
The little girl began crying harder.
“Mommy said I wasn't supposed to call her Mommy here.”
Nobody moved.
Luca stared at Vanessa.
“Mommy?”
She covered her mouth.
Rosie pointed directly at her.
“That's my mommy.”
For several seconds, Luca couldn't speak.
Then he turned toward his fiancée.
“Vanessa, you told me you didn't have children.”
Her face had gone completely white.
“Luca, I can explain.”
He looked toward the little girl.
Six years old.
Hungry.
Waiting alone while her mother celebrated an engagement dinner upstairs.
His eyes filled again.
“You let your own daughter sit downstairs like that?”
Vanessa whispered, “It's complicated.”
His voice broke.
“She's six years old! What's complicated about feeding your daughter?”
Rosie caught my hand.
“Miss Hannah?”
I knelt beside her.
“Yes, sweetheart?”
She looked at Vanessa.
Then whispered something that made my stomach drop.
“Mommy said when she marries him, we'll finally get Daddy's house back.”
Luca stopped moving.
He slowly turned toward Vanessa.
“What house?”
She backed away.
“Luca, please. Not in front of everyone.”
But Rosie hadn't finished.
She reached into the pocket of her purple cardigan and pulled out a small brass house key.
“Mommy told me to keep this safe.”
Luca stared at it.
His expression changed.
Because tied around the key was a faded green ribbon.
He recognized it.
I could see that immediately.
He looked toward Vanessa.
Then back at the little girl.
“Rosie, sweetheart, where did you get that key?”
She answered quietly.
“Daddy gave it to me before he went away.”
Luca's hands began trembling.
“What's your daddy's name?”
Vanessa suddenly whispered, “Rosie, don't.”
But the little girl looked straight at Luca.
And told him.
For a moment, he seemed unable to breathe.
Then he turned toward his fiancée.
“Vanessa, that man has been missing for four years.”
She began crying.
Luca looked down at the key again.
May you like
Then asked the question that silenced every person in the restaurant.
“Why does your daughter have the key to my brother's house?”
