Chapter 4 - THE ENGRAVING
Vanessa yanked desperately at the heavy brass door handle.
"Open this door!" she screamed, abandoning all pretense of elegance. Her red silk gown rustled sharply as she aimed the gun at the thick oak wood, then back at Luca.
"I told you," Luca said, stepping closer to her. "Daniel locked it. And my study is soundproof. You could empty that entire clip, and our guests in the dining room wouldn't hear a thing."
Lauren remained frozen on the sofa, her heart pounding against her ribs. Her knee throbbed, but the physical pain was completely overshadowed by the shock of what Vanessa had just revealed.
Her mother. A payoff. A half-brother.
"You're bluffing," Vanessa hissed, though her hands were shaking harder now. "You wouldn't trap yourself in a room with an armed woman."
"I would when I know the gun isn't loaded," Luca lied effortlessly.
Vanessa hesitated. She glanced at the weapon, a micro-second of doubt flashing in her eyes.
In that singular moment, Luca closed the distance. He grabbed her wrist, twisting it sharply upward. Vanessa shrieked, dropping the gun. It hit the thick Persian rug with a heavy, muffled thud.
Luca kicked the weapon under the nearest bookshelf, then wrenched the silver bracelet from her other hand.
He shoved Vanessa back. She stumbled, collapsing into one of the velvet armchairs, her chest heaving.
"You bastard," she spat.
Luca ignored her. He walked back to the coffee table and held the silver bracelet under the warm glow of the reading lamp.
"Lauren. Come here."
Lauren pushed herself up, ignoring the burning in her injured leg. She limped to Luca’s side.
"Look at the clasp," he instructed gently.
Lauren squinted at the tarnished silver. The vines etched into the metal were beautiful, but right near the lock, there were tiny, deeply engraved letters.
Not initials. A date.
August 14, 1998.
Lauren frowned. "That's my birthday."
"Exactly," Luca said. He looked over his shoulder at Vanessa, who was rubbing her wrist in the chair. "You said Evelyn Mitchell left this behind when she took the payoff twenty years ago."
"She did," Vanessa snapped. "My father kept it in his safe. I found it when he died."
"Lauren is twenty-eight," Luca said. "Twenty years ago, she was eight years old. Why would her mother have a bracelet engraved with a newborn's birth date, if she abandoned Lauren?"
Vanessa scoffed. "Because she was a sentimental whore?"
"Because it wasn't a payoff," a new voice said.
Everyone froze.
The heavy oak doors unlocked with a sharp click. They swung open, revealing Daniel.
But Daniel wasn't alone.
Standing beside the head of security was Hannah.
The pregnant young woman looked terrified, but she was holding something in her hands. A faded, leather-bound journal.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Moretti," Daniel said respectfully. "She insisted on coming down. She said she recognized the name you mentioned earlier."
Luca stepped forward. "Hannah? You shouldn't be out of bed."
Hannah walked slowly into the study, her eyes locking onto Vanessa. The older woman shrank back into the armchair, her arrogance finally slipping.
"When Vanessa locked me in the dressing room today," Hannah said, her voice trembling but clear, "I went through her purse looking for a spare key. I didn't find one. But I found this."
She handed the leather journal to Luca.
"It belonged to her father," Hannah said. "I read the last few pages. Evelyn Mitchell didn't take a payoff, Mr. Moretti."
Lauren felt the room spin. "What... what do you mean?"
Hannah looked at Lauren with deep, profound pity.
"She never got on that train to Pennsylvania, Lauren. Vanessa's father put her name on the ticket to create a paper trail. But Evelyn never left Chicago."
Lauren’s breath caught in her throat. "Then where is she?"
Hannah pointed a shaking finger at Vanessa. "Ask her. Ask her what her father built beneath the Bellini estate twenty years ago."
Vanessa's face went completely pale.
"Shut up," Vanessa whispered. "Shut your mouth right now."
Luca opened the journal to the dog-eared page. He read the handwritten entry.
When he looked up, his eyes were devoid of all mercy.
"Daniel," Luca said softly. "Cancel the engagement dinner. Tell the guests to leave."
May you like
He slowly closed the journal.
"And then, prepare the cars. We are going to the Bellini estate."
