THE MAFIA BOSS WATCHED ME SWITCH OFF THE MICROPHONE WHILE HIS TEN-YEAR-OLD SON STOOD CRYING IN FRONT OF THIRTY DINNER GUESTS—THEN HIS FIANCÉE SAID

Luca’s question hung in the air, heavy and absolute.

Thirty wealthy guests sat completely frozen in their chairs.

No one reached for their wine.

No one adjusted their napkins.

They were watching a man who controlled half the real estate in Chicago realize the woman he was about to marry had been tormenting his child.

Vanessa’s red lips parted, but no sound came out.

Her fingers gripped the edge of the mahogany table so tightly her knuckles turned white.

"I don't know what he's talking about," she whispered.

Luca didn't look at her.

He kept his eyes locked on his ten-year-old son.

"Daniel," Luca said softly. "Where did Vanessa stop the recording?"

Daniel wiped his nose with the back of his sleeve.

"Right before Mommy said your name."

"How do you know she was going to say my name?"

The little boy swallowed.

"Because Mommy always said, 'Goodnight Daniel, and tell Daddy I love him.' Every time."

Luca’s jaw tightened.

"But on the new recording... she didn't?"

"No." Daniel’s voice trembled. "Mommy sounded really scared. She said, 'If anything happens to me, you need to know who did it.' And then she said, 'Tell—'"

Daniel stopped.

He looked terrified.

"Tell who, sweetheart?" Luca asked, his voice barely a whisper.

"She said, 'Tell Luca.'"

The dining room went dead silent.

Caroline had never called him Luca in front of their son.

She had always called him Daddy.

If she had used his first name on a recording meant for a six-year-old boy, she hadn't been talking to Daniel at all.

She had been leaving a message for her husband.

A message she knew she might not live long enough to deliver.

Luca slowly stood up.

He let go of Daniel's hand and turned toward the woman sitting at the head of the table.

"Vanessa."

She flinched.

"Luca, the boy is confused. He hasn't heard her voice in months. He's making up a ghost story because he misses her."

Luca didn't raise his voice.

He didn't have to.

"Where is the tablet?"

Vanessa lifted her chin, trying to summon the arrogant confidence she had wielded all evening.

"I threw it away."

My heart pounded against my ribs.

"You threw away the last recording of my dead wife?"

"It was damaged!" Vanessa cried, her voice cracking. "The battery was corroded. The audio was skipping. I threw it in the lake last week because I didn't want Daniel holding onto garbage!"

Luca stared at her.

He didn't believe a word.

And neither did I.

Because as a housemaid, I noticed things other people didn't.

I noticed when the silver needed polishing.

I noticed when the floorboards creaked.

And I had noticed the heavy, rectangular shape weighing down Vanessa's beaded evening clutch when I hung her coat in the hallway three hours ago.

I stood paralyzed.

If I spoke up, Vanessa would destroy me.

She would make sure I was blacklisted from every domestic agency in Chicago.

My mother would lose her home-care aide.

We would be evicted.

But then I looked at Daniel.

He was staring at the floor, his tiny shoulders slumped in defeat, believing he had lost his mother's voice forever.

I took a deep breath.

"Mr. Moretti?"

Luca turned.

Vanessa’s head snapped toward me, her eyes flashing with pure venom.

"Emma, leave the room," Vanessa ordered sharply. "Now."

I didn't move.

I looked directly at the man who had just defended my right to keep my job.

"Sir," I whispered. "Miss Bellini didn't throw the tablet in the lake."

Vanessa stood up so fast her chair scraped loudly against the hardwood floor.

"Shut your mouth!" she screamed.

Luca didn't even look at her.

He stepped toward me.

"Where is it, Emma?"

I pointed toward the velvet chair in the corner of the dining room.

"It's inside her evening bag. I felt the weight of it when I carried it downstairs."

Vanessa lunged toward the chair.

But Luca was faster.

He crossed the room in three long strides, grabbing the beaded clutch before her fingers could brush the fabric.

"Luca, give that to me!" Vanessa demanded, dropping all pretense. "It's my private property!"

He opened the clasp.

He reached inside.

And slowly pulled out a silver iPad Mini with a cracked screen.

Caroline’s tablet.

Daniel gasped. "Mommy's storybook!"

Luca looked at the screen, then at Vanessa.

Her face had drained of all color.

She backed away, bumping into the edge of the dining table.

"You lied to my son," Luca said, his voice completely devoid of emotion.

He didn't wait for her to answer.

He pressed the power button.

The screen glowed faintly in the dim lighting of the dining room.

He tapped the screen once.

Then tapped it again.

He frowned.

"It requires a four-digit passcode."

Vanessa let out a breathless, desperate laugh.

"You see? It's locked. Caroline locked it before she died. Nobody knows the code. I just kept it because... because I was going to get it fixed for him!"

Luca stared at her.

"If you didn't know the code, how did you know what was on the recording?"

Vanessa froze.

She had trapped herself.

Before she could invent another lie, Daniel stepped forward.

His stutter was completely gone.

"I know the code, Daddy."

Luca knelt beside him. "You do?"

The little boy nodded.

"Mommy told me the day before she went to the hospital. She said if I ever needed to find her, I just had to type in the day she became the happiest lady in the world."

Luca closed his eyes.

His hand trembled as he typed four numbers into the screen.

0-6-1-4.

June 14th.

The day Daniel was born.

The tablet unlocked with a soft click.

Luca opened the audio files.

There was only one track sitting in the folder.

It was titled: For Luca. When I am gone.

Luca pressed play.

And for the first time in four years, Caroline Moretti’s voice echoed through the dining room.

But she didn't sound sick.

She sounded absolutely terrified.

"Luca... if you are listening to this, it means I didn't survive the night."

Luca stopped breathing.

"The doctors told you the cancer spread to my heart. They lied to you. My heart is failing because of what they've been putting in my IV."

Several guests gasped.

Vanessa took another step backward, her eyes darting toward the dining room doors.

"I tried to tell the head nurse," Caroline’s voice continued, shaking with tears. "But she is one of them. They are making sure I die so they can force a merger with your syndicate."

Luca looked up.

His eyes locked onto Vanessa.

"I heard them talking outside my door," Caroline whispered through the speaker. "The man paying the doctors... the man who ordered my death... Luca, he left something in my room by mistake."

The recording paused as Caroline took a ragged breath.

"It's a heavy gold lighter. It has a family crest on it. A crest with two crossed swords and a wolf."

The room erupted into shocked whispers.

Because everyone in Chicago knew that crest.

It belonged to the Bellini family.

Vanessa’s family.

Luca stood up, the tablet still playing in his hand.

But before Caroline could finish her sentence, Vanessa reached into her red silk gown.