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 click of the heavy bedroom door closing echoed in the quiet suite.

I backed away, instinctively clutching the yellowed letter against my chest.

"How did you get in here?" I asked, trying to keep my voice steady. "The guards..."

Vanessa let out a dry, humorless laugh.

"The guards work for whoever pays them the most, Natalie. And despite Luca's little tantrum tonight, I am still holding the checkbook to the Bellini accounts."

She stepped closer, the heavy brass candlestick glinting in the dim light of the bedside lamp.

"Put the letter down," she commanded.

"No."

She tilted her head, her eyes narrowing into cold slits.

"You’re a brave girl for someone who lives paycheck to paycheck."

She casually tapped the candlestick against the edge of the mahogany vanity.

"I know all about you, Natalie. I read the staff files. Your mother lives in that rundown apartment complex on the South Side. Needs expensive insulin every month. Can barely walk up the stairs."

My blood ran cold.

"Leave my mother out of this."

"I would love to," Vanessa smiled sweetly. "But unfortunately, if you walk out of this room with that letter, I’ll have to make a phone call. And accidents happen in those old buildings all the time. Faulty gas lines. Electrical fires. It would be a tragedy."

I stared at her, horrified.

She wasn't just a snobby socialite. She was a monster.

"You killed Luca's mother," I whispered.

"I didn't kill anyone," Vanessa snapped, her facade cracking for a second. "I was a child when she died. My father did what he had to do to protect our family's assets. Dr. Vance was greedy. He gave her too much. It was an accident."

"An accident?" I spat. "You're hiding the doctor who did it! You locked a six-year-old boy in a clinic to keep him quiet!"

"Leo is a brat who asks too many questions!" Vanessa stepped forward, raising the candlestick slightly. "And Agnes was getting suspicious. She recognized the bracelet."

I frowned. "What bracelet?"

Vanessa’s hand flew to her wrist instinctively, but she stopped herself.

She took a deep breath, composing herself.

"It doesn't matter. What matters is that you are going to put that letter back in the box, and you are going to walk out of this room, go downstairs, and tell Luca that you found nothing."

"He won't believe me."

"Make him believe you," Vanessa said coldly. "Or I make the phone call. Your mother’s life for this piece of paper. Choose."

My hands shook violently.

I thought of my mother, sitting in her small armchair, waiting for me to come home.

I slowly lowered the letter.

Vanessa smiled triumphantly.

She reached out and snatched the paper from my fingers.

"Smart girl."

She shoved the letter into her coat pocket.

"Now. Go downstairs. Tell him my room was clean. And pack your bags. You're fired."

I didn't say a word. I turned and walked toward the door.

As I opened it, Vanessa called out to me.

"And Natalie?"

I stopped.

"If you ever breathe a word of this to Luca, there won't be a corner of this city where you or your mother can hide."

I walked down the grand staircase, my chest tight with a suffocating guilt.

When I reached the front door, Luca was just walking in.

He had carried Leo back up to the main house. Agnes was right behind them, holding the boy’s hand.

Luca looked at me, his eyes full of desperate hope.

"Did you find anything?" he asked. "The rosary? A letter? Anything?"

I looked at Luca. I looked at little Leo, clutching his teddy bear.

Then I thought of the gas line in my mother's apartment.

"No, sir," I lied, my voice breaking. "Her jewelry box was empty. She must have taken everything when she left."

Luca’s shoulders slumped. The hope vanished from his eyes, replaced by a dark, dangerous exhaustion.

"I see," he said quietly.

He didn't believe me. I could tell. He was a mafia boss; he could smell a lie from a mile away.

But he didn't push it. He just looked at me with deep disappointment.

"Thank you, Natalie. You can go home for the night."

I nodded, unable to meet his eyes, and hurried out the door.

But as I passed Agnes, the old woman reached out and gently grabbed my arm.

"Natalie, wait," she whispered.

She pulled me close, pretending to hug me goodnight.

But as she hugged me, I felt her trembling hand slip something small and hard into the pocket of my apron.

"I saw her wrist tonight," Agnes whispered directly into my ear, her voice barely audible. "When she took my fork. She was wearing it. The gold bracelet with the emerald clasp. It belonged to Luca's mother. I know she stole it from the body."

I pulled back, looking at Agnes in shock.

Agnes gave me a sad, knowing smile.

"Vanessa thinks I'm just a confused old woman," Agnes whispered. "But I hid something of hers, too. Use the key, Natalie. Before it's too late."