THE MAFIA BOSS WATCHED HIS FIANCÉE TAKE A FORK OUT OF A 76-YEAR-OLD WOMAN'S SHAKING HAND AT HIS ENGAGEMENT DINNER—THEN SHE SAID, “SHE ASKED TO EAT IN THE KITCHEN,” BEFORE HE EVEN ASKED WHY THE OLD WOMAN WAS CRYING OVER A PLATE SHE HADN'T TOUCHED.

The weight of Leo’s words crashed into the small living room like a physical blow.

Agnes sank heavily into her armchair, clutching her chest.

Luca stood up from the sofa. He looked like a man who had just been told his entire life was a lie.

"What he did to my mother," Luca repeated, the words tasting like ash in his mouth.

I immediately went to the kitchen to fetch Agnes a glass of water. My hands were shaking almost as badly as hers.

When I returned, Luca was pacing.

"Vance is alive," Luca said, his voice tight. "He’s in Chicago. And Vanessa knows him."

"Sweetheart," Agnes whispered, taking the glass of water from me. "Your mother’s death... we always thought it was her heart."

"My father ordered an autopsy," Luca said. "But Vance signed the paperwork before it could happen. Said it was against her religious wishes to be cut open. My father was too deep in grief to fight it."

He stopped pacing and looked at Agnes.

"Agnes, you packed her things after she died. Did you ever find anything unusual? Anything out of place?"

Agnes closed her eyes, searching memories that were nearly thirty years old.

"I packed her clothes," she said slowly. "Her jewelry. But..."

She opened her eyes.

"There was one thing missing. Her silver rosary."

Luca frowned. "She was buried with it."

"No," Agnes said. "Your father wanted her buried with it. But we couldn't find it. We put a pearl one in her hands instead. I always assumed she lost the silver one before she died."

Luca looked at Leo, who was quietly watching them from beneath the thick blanket.

"Leo," Luca said gently. "When Vanessa took you to the clinic... did she take anything from you?"

Leo nodded slowly.

He reached a small hand into his pajama pocket.

"She took the shiny necklace you gave me," Leo whispered. "The one you said belonged to grandma."

Luca closed his eyes. "The silver rosary. I gave it to Leo when his father died. I told him it would protect him."

"Where did you find it, Luca?" Agnes asked.

"In my father's safe, after he passed away," Luca said. "I thought he had found it years later."

"Vanessa saw it when she packed my bag for the boarding school," Leo said softly. "She took it. She said little boys shouldn't play with expensive things. She put it in her jewelry box."

Luca’s eyes snapped open.

"Her jewelry box. In her bedroom at the main house."

He turned to me.

"Natalie. You clean her suite."

"Yes, sir," I answered quickly.

"I need you to go back to the main house. Right now. Go to her room. Find that rosary. And look for anything else. Anything that connects her to Dr. Vance."

"Luca, you can't ask the girl to do that," Agnes protested. "If Vanessa comes back—"

"Vanessa won't be allowed past the front gate," Luca said grimly. "My men are already instructed. Natalie, please. I can't leave Leo and Agnes unprotected right now."

"I'll do it," I said.

I grabbed my jacket and ran back up the dark driveway toward the massive, looming mansion.

The house was eerily quiet. The catering staff had left. Only the night guards remained at the perimeter.

I slipped up the grand staircase and hurried down the east wing toward Vanessa’s master suite.

The door was unlocked.

I turned on the small bedside lamp. The room smelled of expensive perfume and discarded ambition. Her closet was half-empty; she had clearly packed in a panic before fleeing.

But her heavy mahogany jewelry box was still sitting on the vanity.

I opened it.

Necklaces, diamond earrings, and gold bracelets gleamed in the low light.

I dug through the velvet compartments.

At the very bottom, hidden beneath a velvet insert, I felt cold metal.

I pulled it out.

It was a heavy, antique silver rosary.

I slipped it into my apron pocket.

But as I pulled the velvet insert completely out, I noticed the bottom of the jewelry box was slightly raised.

A false bottom.

I used my fingernail to pry up the thin piece of wood.

Beneath it was a single, folded piece of yellowed paper.

It wasn't a doctor's note. It was a letter.

I unfolded it carefully, terrified it would crumble.

The handwriting was elegant, looping, and desperately rushed.

Arthur,

You cannot keep increasing the dosage. She is completely lethargic. If Carlo finds out we are medicating her to keep her compliant, he will kill us both. The Bellini family debt is forgiven. Stop the treatments before her heart gives out.

It was signed: Silvio Bellini.

Vanessa’s father.

My breath caught in my throat.

Luca’s mother hadn't died of natural heart failure. She had been intentionally drugged by her own doctor, acting on orders from a rival mafia boss—Vanessa’s father—to keep the Moretti family distracted and weak.

And Vanessa had this letter. She knew.

She was marrying Luca to maintain the cover-up and secure the Moretti fortune before anyone found out.

I had to get this to Luca immediately.

I turned toward the door.

And stopped.

Standing in the doorway, her makeup smeared and her eyes burning with a desperate, venomous fury, was Vanessa.

She wasn't supposed to be here. How did she get past the guards?