The Silver Bracelet That Changed Everything

A son.

Luca Moretti had a son.

The rain outside intensified, hammering against the mansion's tall windows.

Luca took the photograph back from my trembling hands. He traced the boy's face with his thumb.

"I was told he died," Luca said. The vulnerability in his voice was jarring. "Six years ago. The doctors said his heart stopped during delivery."

"Who told you that?" I asked softly.

"The doctor. And Vanessa." Luca looked up, his eyes hardening into black ice. "She arranged the private clinic for the birth. She handled everything."

I tried to piece it together. "Why would my father be with your son?"

Luca shook his head. "I don't know. But I'm going to find out."

He walked briskly toward his private study, where Marco was holding Vanessa. I hesitated, then followed him. I had to know how my father was involved.

When Luca threw the doors open, Vanessa was pacing by the fireplace. She stopped, crossing her arms defensively.

Luca didn't yell. He walked up to her and dropped the crinkled photograph onto the mahogany desk.

"Where is Leo?"

Vanessa looked at the picture. She sneered. "So you found it."

"Where is my son, Vanessa?"

"Somewhere you'll never find him," she spat. "He was a threat, Luca. You were going to hand the entire family business over to some bastard child instead of the children we were supposed to have!"

"He is my blood," Luca said, his voice deadly quiet.

"He's a mistake!" Vanessa yelled back. "I paid that mechanic to get rid of him right after he was born."

I gasped. I couldn't help it.

Vanessa glared at me. "But your idiot father couldn't even do that right. He took the money, took the boy, and disappeared."

My chest tightened. "My father is a good man. He would never hurt a child."

"No," Vanessa mocked. "He kept him. Raised him in some filthy apartment in the suburbs. Until I found out three weeks ago."

Luca grabbed her shoulders. "Where is he now?"

"Safe," Vanessa smiled cruelly. "With my family. And if you ever want to see him alive, you’re going to sign over the South Side shipping ports to my brothers tonight."

Luca let her go. He looked at Marco. "Lock her in the basement. Put two men on the door."

As Marco hauled a screaming Vanessa out of the room, Luca turned to his desk. He started tearing through drawers.

"Mr. Moretti?" I asked, my voice shaking.

"She brought his coat here," Luca muttered, pulling out folders. "She wouldn't bring the coat if she didn't bring the boy. He was here, Emma. In this house."

He stopped, pulling a folded piece of paper from Vanessa's personal ledger.

He opened it.

It was a child’s drawing. Crayon on cheap printer paper.

It showed a blue ocean, a bright yellow sun, and a tall gray building with a red door.

Luca frowned. "I don't own any property by the water with a red door."

I stepped closer, looking at the drawing. My heart skipped a beat.

"It's not the ocean," I whispered.

Luca looked at me.

"It's Lake Michigan," I pointed to the gray building. "That's the old water treatment plant on 47th street. My father used to take us fishing there. There's an abandoned mechanic's shop right next to it. With a red steel door."

Luca grabbed his keys. "Let's go."

"Me?" I stepped back. "Sir, I'm just a maid."

Luca looked at me, his eyes burning with an intensity that made me shiver.

"Your father saved my son's life, Emma. You're coming with me."

We rushed down the hallway toward the garage.

As we passed the coat closet, my phone buzzed in my apron pocket.

I pulled it out.

A text message from an unknown number.