Chapter 2 - THE BRACELET IN THE EVENING BAG
Luca’s voice didn’t echo in the grand dining room.
It didn’t need to.
The absolute silence from the thirty guests made his words sound like a gunshot.
“Why did you try to remove my daughter from her own home?”
Vanessa stepped back.
Her red silk gown suddenly looked less like royalty and more like a target.
“Luca, be reasonable,” she whispered, glancing at the wealthy guests. “We can discuss this in private.”
“We are discussing it now.”
Emily stood frozen, still clutching the tiny onesie.
I stood slightly behind her, close enough to catch her if the stress became too much. I noticed something nobody else did.
Vanessa’s hands were shaking.
Not with fear. With panic.
She was gripping her expensive silver evening bag so tightly her knuckles were white.
“The property management company made a mistake,” Vanessa lied smoothly. “I only asked them to appraise the neighborhood. They must have drafted that notice by accident.”
Emily shook her head.
“The men who came weren’t appraisers.”
Luca’s eyes darkened. “Who were they?”
“They wore dark suits. And they knew my mother’s name.” Emily’s voice trembled. “They said if I didn’t hand over the key to her locked cabinet, they would come back when I was alone.”
Luca’s jaw clenched.
He turned to his lead security guard, Marco, who was already reaching for his earpiece.
“Lock down the Maple Street house,” Luca ordered. “Now.”
Vanessa swallowed hard. “Luca, she’s pregnant and emotional. She’s misunderstanding—”
“Mrs. Bellini,” I said.
The words left my mouth before I could stop them.
Luca turned to me.
Vanessa’s eyes flashed with pure venom. “You are a maid, Claire. Shut your mouth.”
“What is it, Claire?” Luca asked. His tone was surprisingly gentle.
I pointed at Vanessa’s hands.
“If it was just a mistake with the property company, why are you trying to hide what’s in your purse?”
Vanessa flinched.
Luca didn’t ask twice.
He extended his hand. “Give it to me.”
“It’s just my lipstick,” she stammered.
“Give it to me, Vanessa.”
She slowly unclasped the silver bag.
Luca reached inside.
He didn’t pull out a phone, or documents, or keys.
He pulled out a heavy, intricately woven gold bracelet.
Emily gasped.
Her hand flew to her mouth.
“That’s Mom’s,” she whispered.
Luca stared at the gold mesh. His breathing stopped.
I knew about that bracelet. Emily had worn it the day I first met her, telling me her father had it custom-made in Italy for her mother’s tenth anniversary. It was supposed to be in a safe deposit box.
“How did you get this?” Luca’s voice was barely a whisper, yet it terrified me more than if he had yelled.
Vanessa took another step back. “I… I found it.”
“Where?”
“In the master bedroom. Here. In the mansion.”
Emily stepped forward, her maternal instinct replacing her fear.
“You’re lying. I locked that bracelet inside Mom’s cabinet in the basement three weeks ago.”
The room spun.
If the bracelet was in the cabinet three weeks ago, and Vanessa had it now…
“You already broke into the cabinet,” Luca said, the realization hitting him like a physical blow.
Vanessa shook her head rapidly. “No! I swear, Luca, I haven’t been to that house!”
“Then who opened it?” Luca demanded.
Vanessa looked terrified. Not of Luca. Of someone else.
“I can’t tell you,” she whispered.
Luca signaled Marco. “Call the police. Have her escorted off my property.”
“Wait!” Vanessa screamed.
She looked frantically around the room, finally locking eyes with Luca.
“If you throw me out, he’ll kill me.”
Luca stepped closer. “Who?”
Vanessa’s gaze flickered to the head of the dining table.
May you like
To Luca’s oldest friend and underboss, a man who had bounced Emily on his knee as a child.
“Ask Marcus,” she cried. “He’s the one who gave me the bracelet.”
