Chapter 11
The silence in the master bedroom was absolute.
I stared at the heavy ivory envelope in my hands. The handwriting was elegant, looping cursive. It clearly read:
To Hannah Collins.
“That’s impossible,” I whispered, my voice shaking. I looked up at Luca, who was kneeling beside me, his dark eyes locked onto the letter. “Catherine died three years ago. I only started working here eleven months ago. She couldn’t possibly know my name.”
Luca didn’t speak. He reached out and gently took the envelope from my trembling fingers. He traced his thumb over the red wax seal.
“It’s Catherine’s handwriting,” Luca confirmed softly. He looked at the wax seal. “And it’s her personal stamp. The Moretti crest.”
“But how?” I asked, panic rising in my chest. “How could she write a letter to a housekeeper she never met?”
Luca stared at the envelope for a long moment. Then, he looked at me.
“There’s only one way to find out,” he said, handing the letter back to me. “Open it.”
My hands were shaking so badly I could barely break the wax. I slid my fingernail under the flap and tore it open. Inside was a single piece of heavy, cream-colored stationery.
I unfolded it. The ink was faded, but the words were clear.
I took a deep breath and began to read aloud.
“To the one who stayed,”
I paused, my throat tightening. I looked at Luca. “It doesn’t say my name on the inside. Just the envelope.”
“Keep reading,” Luca urged gently.
I looked back at the paper.
“If you are reading this, then my worst fears have come true. I am gone, and the woman who destroyed my husband’s brother has tried to destroy my family as well. I hid the evidence of Vanessa’s crimes because I knew she would try to silence me. I needed proof that would outlast me.”
“But I also knew she would try to erase me. I knew she would order someone to throw away my chest, my clothes, my memories. She is too arrogant to do the dirty work herself.”
Tears blurred my vision. I blinked them away, forcing myself to continue.
“I left the envelope blank when I sealed this letter. I told Margaret Ellis that if someone ever rescued my belongings—if a housekeeper or a maid defied Vanessa and protected my memory—Margaret was to write that person’s name on the envelope and make sure they found it.”
I gasped, dropping the letter into my lap. “Margaret,” I whispered. “Margaret wrote my name on the envelope. She must have done it when she arrived tonight, before the dinner started.”
Luca smiled, a sad, beautiful expression. “Aunt Maggie knew you were the one to trust. Read the rest, Hannah.”
I picked up the letter again, my voice thick with emotion.
“To the one who stayed: Thank you. Thank you for protecting my daughter’s heart when I could not. Thank you for defying a monster to save a ghost. You have shown more courage in the face of fear than most people do in a lifetime.”
“My husband is a good man. A strong man. But betrayal will harden him. He will close himself off to protect his heart. Do not let him. Remind him that the world is not only full of monsters. Remind him that there are still people who choose kindness, even when it costs them everything.”
“Take care of my family. Take care of my little girl. And please, take care of Luca.”
“With eternal gratitude, Catherine.”
I finished reading and slowly lowered the letter. A tear slipped down my cheek and splashed onto the cream-colored paper.
Catherine hadn’t just left behind evidence to catch her killer. She had left behind a blessing for the people who would heal her family.
I looked up at Luca. He was staring at the floor, his jaw tight, his eyes shining with unshed tears.
“She knew,” Luca whispered, his voice breaking. “She knew what Vanessa was going to do, and she still fought her to the very end.”
“She was a hero, Luca,” I said softly, reaching out to touch his arm. “She saved you. She saved all of us.”
Luca looked at my hand on his arm. Then he looked up at my face. The intensity in his dark eyes made my breath catch.
“You’re a hero too, Hannah,” he murmured.
I shook my head quickly, pulling my hand back. The sudden intimacy of the moment terrified me. I remembered my place. I was a housekeeper. He was a mafia boss. The chasm between our worlds was too wide, too dangerous.
“I’m just an employee,” I said, scrambling to my feet. I smoothed down my apron, suddenly desperate to escape the heavy emotional weight of the room. “I should go. It’s late. You need to sleep, and I need to start laundry in the morning.”
Luca stood up, his towering frame casting a shadow over me. “Hannah, stop.”
“I’m sorry,” I stammered, backing toward the door. “I crossed a line tonight. I spoke out of turn at dinner. I shouldn’t have—"
“You did exactly what needed to be done,” Luca interrupted, stepping closer. “You saved my daughter from a life of misery. You saved me.”
“I have to go,” I whispered, turning toward the hallway.
I walked fast, practically running down the corridor toward the servant’s stairs. My heart was pounding frantically. I had survived the night, but I suddenly felt like I needed to run away before I lost my heart to a man I could never truly have.
I reached the top of the stairs and grabbed the handrail.
But before I could take a step down, a small figure stepped out from the shadows of the landing.
It was Sophie.
She was holding something shiny in her hand.
“Hannah?” Sophie asked, her voice small and sleepy. “Are you leaving?”
“No, sweetheart,” I lied, forcing a smile. “I’m just going to my room.”
Sophie walked up to me. She reached out and grabbed my hand. She pressed the shiny object into my palm and closed my fingers over it.
“Mommy wanted you to have this,” Sophie whispered.
I opened my hand.
Resting in my palm was Catherine’s gold charm bracelet. The one with the tiny silver heart.
I stared at it, completely speechless.
“Don’t go, Hannah,” a deep voice said from behind me.
I turned around.
May you like
Luca was standing at the end of the hallway. He wasn’t looking at me like a boss looks at an employee. He was looking at me like a man who had just found something he thought he’d lost forever.
“Stay,” Luca said quietly.
