Chapter 2 - THE BLUE COAT
The study was so quiet I could hear the grandfather clock ticking in the hall.
“Before your relationship ever began.”
Luca didn’t yell.
He didn’t slam his fist on the desk.
He just slowly disconnected the call with the photographer and placed the phone down.
“Mr. Moretti?” I whispered.
He looked at me. His dark eyes were completely unreadable, but the tension in his jaw told me everything.
“You said there was a man in the room, Sophie. Wearing my shirt.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Did you see his face?”
“No. His back was to the door. But he was about your height. Dark hair.” I hesitated. “And there was something else.”
Luca stood up, walking slowly around the heavy mahogany desk. “Tell me.”
“When I picked up your cufflink, I bumped against the closet door. It wasn’t closed all the way.” I swallowed hard, the memory making my chest tight. “There was a child’s coat inside.”
Luca froze. “A child’s coat?”
“A little boy’s. Navy blue wool, with wooden toggles. It looked worn. Loved.” I touched my apron. “Vanessa doesn’t have children. And no one at the dinner tonight brought a child.”
Luca’s silence was heavier than any shout.
He walked to the window, staring out at the rain-soaked driveway. The engagement dinner was still happening downstairs. His fiancée was mingling with twenty-six powerful guests, wearing a red silk dress, pretending she hadn’t just orchestrated a massive lie in his own home.
“Where is the coat now?” he asked quietly.
“I don’t know. When Vanessa grabbed me, she kicked the closet door shut.”
Luca turned back to me. His eyes dropped to the bandage behind my ear. The sight of it seemed to do something to him. The cold mafia boss vanished for a fraction of a second, replaced by a man who realized someone under his protection had been hurt.
“Does it still burn?” he asked.
The sudden softness in his voice caught me off guard. “A little.”
“You’re going to go home, Sophie. You will lock your doors. Tomorrow, you will not serve breakfast.”
Panic spiked in my chest. “Sir, I need the job—”
“You’re not fired.” He stepped closer, his presence commanding the space. “Tomorrow, when Vanessa goes to her bridal fitting at noon, you are going to go into her suite. Not to clean. To find that blue coat.”
I stared at him. “You want me to search her room?”
“She hurt you because you saw something you weren’t supposed to. The photographs were one thing. But Vanessa hates children. She wouldn’t allow a child’s coat in her room unless it belonged to someone she is using.”
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a heavy iron key. He placed it in my palm. His fingers lingered for a second—warm, calloused, steady.
“This opens her private cedar chest. Find out who she’s hiding.”
I closed my fingers around the key.
But as I stepped out into the hallway to leave, I heard a floorboard creak.
I spun around.
Standing in the shadows at the end of the corridor was Vanessa.
May you like
Her red dress dragged silently on the carpet. She wasn’t looking at Luca’s study. She was staring directly at my apron pocket, where the shape of the iron key pressed against the thin fabric.
And she was holding a pair of fabric scissors.
