Chapter 3 - THE BOY IN THE LAUNDRY ROOM
I stood frozen under the crystal chandelier.
Twenty-eight powerful guests were staring at me.
Luca Moretti took one step toward me.
“Emma. I’m going to ask you one time.”
His voice was calm.
Too calm.
“Where is Leo?”
I looked at Vanessa.
She was glaring at me, her eyes screaming a silent threat. Say nothing and you keep your job. Speak, and I destroy you.
But then I looked at Teresa Romano.
She gave me a tiny, imperceptible nod.
I took a deep breath.
“He’s in the staff quarters, sir.”
Luca’s brow furrowed. “The staff quarters? In the basement?”
“Yes, sir.”
“What is he doing in the basement?”
“He’s hiding, Mr. Moretti.”
Vanessa lunged forward. “She’s lying! Luca, this maid is unstable. I personally watched the driver take Leo to O’Hare airport yesterday morning!”
“He never got in the car, ma’am,” I said quietly.
Luca turned back to me. “Explain.”
“Yesterday morning, I found him crying in the laundry room behind the industrial dryers. He had his backpack.”
Luca’s face hardened. “Why was he crying?”
I hesitated.
“Say it, Emma,” Luca commanded.
“He told me Mrs. Bellini said you were sending him away because he was too loud.”
Vanessa gasped. “That is a fabrication!”
I kept my eyes on Luca. “He said Mrs. Bellini told him that a new wife meant a new family, and there was no room for him anymore. He was terrified, sir. So I hid him in my room.”
Luca stared at me.
For a long time, the only sound in the room was the clinking of ice in a guest’s water glass.
Then Luca looked at Daniel, his head of security.
“Go to Emma’s room. Bring my boy up here.”
Daniel nodded and sprinted out the door.
Vanessa grabbed Luca’s arm. “Luca, listen to me. Leo has behavioral issues. You know this! He needs structure. The Swiss academy is the best in the world. I was trying to help him—”
“By telling him I didn’t want him?”
“He misunderstood!”
“He’s seven years old, Vanessa!” Luca roared.
The shout echoed off the high ceilings. Several guests flinched.
“My brother died in my arms,” Luca said, his voice dropping into a dangerous whisper. “His last words were asking me to protect his son. And you put him in a basement laundry room?”
“I didn’t put him there!” Vanessa cried. “She did!” She pointed a manicured finger at me. “She kidnapped him! This is kidnapping!”
Before anyone could process that accusation, the dining room doors pushed open.
Daniel walked in.
He was holding a small hand.
Leo stepped into the light.
He was wearing wrinkled pajamas.
His dark hair was messy.
And his eyes were red from crying.
He looked at the huge crowd of people.
He shrank behind Daniel’s leg.
Luca didn’t care about his suit. He didn’t care about the bankers or the press.
He dropped to his knees right there on the hardwood floor.
“Leo.”
The boy peeked out.
“Uncle Luca?”
“Come here, buddy.”
Leo ran across the room and threw his arms around Luca’s neck.
Luca buried his face in the boy’s shoulder. He held him so tightly I thought the boy would break.
“I’m sorry,” Leo sobbed into Luca’s neck. “I’m sorry I’m too loud. I’ll be quiet. Please don’t send me away.”
Luca squeezed his eyes shut. A single tear rolled down the mafia boss’s cheek.
“I am never sending you away,” Luca whispered. “This is your house. You are my son.”
Teresa wiped her eyes. Uncle Michael looked at the ceiling.
Vanessa stood there, completely isolated.
Luca finally pulled back.
He looked at Leo’s face.
Then he looked down at Leo’s hands.
The boy was clutching something tightly.
“What do you have there, Leo?” Luca asked softly.
Leo opened his little fist.
A gasp rippled across the room.
It was a heavy, ornate silver rosary.
With a broken clasp.
Vanessa saw it.
She physically stumbled backward, hitting the edge of the dining table.
Luca stared at the rosary.
He didn’t touch it. He just stared at it.
“Leo,” Luca said, his voice suddenly void of all emotion. “Where did you get that?”
“I found it when I was hiding,” Leo sniffled.
“Hiding where?”
“In Vanessa’s closet. In the very back. Before I ran to the laundry room.”
Luca slowly stood up.
He looked at the rosary.
Then he looked at Vanessa.
“My mother was wearing that rosary the night her car was run off the road.”
Vanessa shook her head rapidly. “No. No, it’s a replica. I bought it in Italy.”
“The clasp broke when she was sixteen,” Teresa Romano suddenly spoke up, her voice ringing clear across the room. “I fixed it for her with a piece of copper wire. Let me see it, Leo.”
Leo walked over and handed it to his great-aunt.
Teresa turned the silver beads over.
She found the clasp.
She looked up at Luca.
“It’s copper wire.”
The room erupted into whispers.
Luca stepped toward his fiancée.
“My mother’s car crashed into a ravine ten years ago,” he said. “The police said her jewelry was stolen by scavengers before the ambulance arrived.”
May you like
He stopped inches from Vanessa’s face.
“So how did it get in your closet?”
