Chapter 5 - The Words She Never Forgot
“Dad threatened to take Mom away from me?”
Luca looked at Mrs. Carter as though he needed her to say she'd misunderstood.
But she shook her head.
“Your mother was recovering from heart surgery that year. Your father controlled where she stayed and who could visit her.”
Vanessa looked down.
“Frank was frightened of losing control of the family.”
Luca gave a bitter laugh.
“He was frightened of losing control of everything.”
Mrs. Carter touched his sleeve.
“When Mia came that afternoon, your mother was upstairs waiting. Your father intercepted her before she reached the staircase.”
“And I helped him.”
“You didn't know who she was.”
“I didn't ask.”
That admission silenced the room.
Luca looked toward the doorway where his sister's childhood measurements remained.
“That's what I can't forgive myself for.”
He started toward the entrance.
I followed far enough to return the child's drawing.
“Mr. Moretti?”
He turned.
“Take this with you.”
He accepted it carefully.
Then looked at my wrist, where Vanessa's fingers had left a faint red mark.
His expression tightened.
“Did she hurt you?”
“I'm all right.”
“That wasn't what I asked.”
I hesitated.
“She grabbed me. But I'm fine.”
He looked back toward the kitchen.
“Claire, you'll receive your full wages. And tomorrow we'll discuss what happened tonight properly.”
For a moment, I couldn't answer.
I'd spent the evening wondering whether I could afford groceries.
Now the man who owned the mansion was treating me as though my dignity mattered.
“Thank you.”
He nodded.
Then stopped again.
“Would you come with Mrs. Carter tomorrow? Mia might be more comfortable seeing someone who isn't part of this family business.”
I thought about what that meant.
I was still a maid.
But I was also the person who had refused to erase Mia's name.
“Yes, sir.”
The next morning, we drove to Oak Park.
Luca had wanted to leave immediately, but Mrs. Carter reminded him that arriving at a stranger's home late at night with security vehicles would frighten her.
For once, he listened without arguing.
We arrived in an ordinary black sedan.
No bodyguards followed us inside.
Mia's alterations shop stood between a bakery and a neighborhood pharmacy.
A faded blue awning hung over the entrance.
Inside, dresses waited on hangers beside a sewing machine.
A small bell sounded when we entered.
The woman behind the counter looked up.
She was young, with dark eyes and brown hair pulled into a loose ponytail.
I recognized Teresa's face immediately.
Not because they looked identical.
Because they had the same gentle expression around their eyes when they were worried.
“Can I help you?”
Then she noticed Luca.
Her face went pale.
“Mrs. Carter?”
The housekeeper stepped forward.
“Mia, sweetheart.”
Mia's gaze moved to Luca's tattooed hands.
Then his face.
Then the drawing he held.
“You shouldn't have brought him.”
Luca stopped several feet away.
“I asked her to.”
“Why?”
“Because I found your name in my mother's kitchen.”
Mia gripped the counter.
For several seconds, she said nothing.
Then she whispered, “The doorway?”
He nodded.
She looked as though she might cry.
“It's still there?”
“Yes.”
“I thought they'd painted over it years ago.”
“Claire wouldn't let them.”
Mia looked at me.
I suddenly felt embarrassed in my plain black uniform.
But she gave me a small, trembling smile.
“Thank you.”
Luca stepped closer.
“Mia, I didn't know you were alive.”
Her smile vanished.
“That isn't what I was told.”
“I know.”
“Vanessa said you already knew.”
“She lied.”
Mia folded her arms.
“Why should I believe you?”
Luca swallowed.
“You shouldn't have to believe me just because I walked in here.”
The answer surprised her.
He continued.
“But I'm asking you to listen.”
Mia looked toward the back room.
“My daughter's at school. I don't want her involved in another argument about this family.”
“She won't be.”
“I've heard promises like that before.”
Luca nodded.
Then he said something I hadn't expected.
“When you came to the house at seventeen, I said something terrible.”
Mia went completely still.
He looked directly at her.
“I remember saying I wouldn't let strangers take advantage of my mother.”
Her eyes filled.
“You remember?”
“Yes.”
“Then you remember me standing outside.”
He shook his head.
“I never saw you. My father told me someone was trying to get money from Mom.”
Mia stared at him.
“Money?”
“He said you were exploiting her grief.”
For a long moment, she couldn't speak.
Then she walked around the counter.
“I was carrying a birthday cake.”
Luca's face changed.
“What?”
“A little lemon cake from the bakery near my apartment. Your mother hadn't been well enough to visit me that year.”
She wiped her cheek.
“I'd saved three weeks to buy a train ticket to Chicago. I wanted to surprise her.”
Mrs. Carter began crying.
Mia continued.
“Your father stopped me at the kitchen entrance. He told me to leave before you found out.”
Luca covered his mouth.
“And then I heard your voice,” Mia whispered.
She looked at him.
“You were so close. I could hear you through the doorway.”
He couldn't answer.
“I'd spent seventeen years imagining what my brother would sound like.”
Her voice broke.
“And the first thing I heard was him calling me a stranger.”
Luca's eyes filled.
“I am so sorry.”
Mia looked away.
“I went home with that cake on my lap.”
Nobody spoke.
Then she opened a drawer beneath the counter.
Inside was a small, faded photograph.
She placed it between us.
It showed Teresa sitting at the old kitchen table with a little girl beside her.
A blue wool coat hung over the chair.
And near the doorway stood a packed brown suitcase.
Mia touched the picture.
“I was five when Grandma Evelyn took this.”
Luca stared at it.
“Who was the man behind Mom?”
Mia turned the photograph toward him.
I saw a tall man standing beside Teresa.
His hand rested on the suitcase.
Luca's face hardened.
“That's Angelo Bellini.”
May you like
He looked up.
“Why was Vanessa's father taking my five-year-old sister away from our house?”
