Chapter 10 - THE NECKLACE IN THE VELVET BOX
The hallway felt like a vacuum, sucking all the air from my lungs.
I stared at the delicate gold star pendant resting on the cold marble floor.
If you want to know what Luca Moretti’s father really did to your sister, come to the old shipyard alone.
My hands began to shake uncontrollably.
Sarah.
She was vibrant, fierce, and fiercely protective of me. Seven years ago, she had taken a job as a waitress at a high-end club downtown to pay for my college tuition. One rainy Tuesday night, she never came home. The police told us she probably ran off with a boyfriend. I never believed them.
And now, her necklace was sitting on the doorstep of the man I had just sworn my loyalty to.
“Emily?”
I jumped, kicking the small white note under the edge of the hallway rug.
Luca stepped into the foyer, his dark eyes instantly catching the panic on my face.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, his protective instincts flaring. He looked down at the velvet box and the gold necklace.
“Someone left this,” I whispered, my voice cracking.
Luca crouched down and picked up the necklace. He examined the star pendant. He didn’t look confused. He looked deeply, tragically familiar with the jewelry.
“Where did this come from?” Luca asked, his voice dropping into that dangerous, quiet register.
“It belonged to my sister,” I choked out. “She disappeared seven years ago.”
Luca closed his eyes. A heavy, agonizing sigh escaped his lips.
“I know,” Luca said softly.
My heart stopped.
“You know?” I repeated, stepping backward as if he had just struck me. “You knew my sister?”
Luca stood up, looking at me with profound sorrow.
“I didn’t know her, Emily. But I knew about her. I knew who she was when I hired you.”
The beautiful, secure world I had just built shattered into a million jagged pieces.
“You hired me because you knew my sister was missing?” I demanded, tears of betrayal welling in my eyes. “Did your father have something to do with it? Is that why you brought me here? Out of guilt?”
Luca reached out to me. “Emily, please, let me explain—”
“Don’t touch me!” I screamed, swatting his hand away.
The commotion drew Vanessa and Marissa from the living room. They stood in the archway, shocked by the sudden hostility.
“My father didn’t kill your sister, Emily,” Luca said firmly, though his eyes pleaded with me to believe him. “My father spent the last five years of his life trying to find her.”
“Why would the head of the mafia care about a missing waitress?!” I sobbed.
“Because she wasn’t taken by a rival family,” Luca explained, his voice thick with regret. “She was taken by a human trafficking ring operating out of the ports. A ring my father discovered was being run by a corrupt faction of his own syndicate.”
I stared at him, the horror washing over me.
“My father dismantled the ring,” Luca continued. “He killed the men responsible. But he was never able to find out where they sent the girls. When he died, he made me promise to keep searching. I hired you to keep you close, to protect you in case they ever came looking for retaliation.”
“You lied to me,” I whispered, the tears spilling over my cheeks. “You let me believe she just ran away.”
“I couldn’t tell you the truth without exposing the syndicate’s failures. I didn’t want you to live in terror,” Luca pleaded.
I looked down at the rug. The corner of the white note was still visible.
If Luca was telling the truth... then whoever left the note was trying to drive a wedge between us. Or they were the very people who had taken Sarah.
I didn’t expose the note.
“I need to be alone,” I said, turning away from him.
“Emily, please—”
“I said I need to be alone, Luca.”
I walked swiftly to my bedroom in the servant’s wing, locking the door behind me.
I packed a small bag. I put on dark clothes. I slipped the white note into my pocket.
If the people who took my sister were at the old shipyard, I was going to find them. And I wasn’t going to wait for Luca’s permission.
I snuck out the back door, avoiding the security cameras I now knew intimately. I hailed a cab at the end of the block and gave the driver the address.
The old shipyard was a sprawling labyrinth of rusted shipping containers and abandoned warehouses on the edge of the river. It was pitch black, smelling of salt and decay.
I walked into the darkness, gripping a heavy flashlight like a weapon.
“Sarah?” I called out softly.
“She isn’t here, Emily.”
The voice came from the shadows.
A figure stepped into the pale moonlight.
I froze.
It wasn’t a mob boss. It wasn’t a human trafficker.
It was Daniel. Luca’s supposedly loyal head of security.
“Daniel?” I breathed, utterly confused. “What are you doing here?”
Daniel smiled, but it didn’t reach his cold, dead eyes. He pulled a suppressed pistol from his jacket.
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“Tying up a loose end,” Daniel said. “Your sister was a very valuable commodity, Emily. She fetched a high price. But she talked too much. And now, you know too much.”
TITLE: The Heirloom In The Shadows
