Chapter 3 - THE SECRET INSIDE THE STUDY|
Luca turned so quickly that the empty velvet pouch slipped from his fingers.
"What did you say, Benjamin?"
The little boy sat upright beneath his blanket.
His cheeks were still damp, but his eyes had become strangely serious.
"Grandma had two blue books."
Luca walked slowly into the sitting room.
"Buddy, Grandma passed away three years ago."
"I know."
"How do you remember that?"
Benjamin pulled the blanket closer.
"Because she told me not to forget."
I looked from father to son.
For three years, I had worked in this mansion without ever seeing Luca Moretti truly afraid.
Tonight, I was beginning to understand that the things he feared most had nothing to do with rival families.
They were the things he had failed to notice inside his own house.
Luca sat beside Benjamin.
"Tell me what Grandma said."
Benjamin stared at his hands.
"She was playing the piano."
"What piano?"
"The white one in the music room."
Luca nodded slowly.
His mother, Rosa Moretti, had loved that piano more than almost anything else she owned.
After her death, Luca had ordered the music room locked.
He said hearing the instrument reminded him of the last time he had argued with her.
Benjamin continued.
"Grandma had a blue notebook on her lap."
"All right."
"Then a man called her, and she got really upset."
"What man?"
"I don't know."
Benjamin swallowed.
"She said somebody was stealing money that was supposed to help children."
Luca's expression hardened.
"Did she tell you anything else?"
"She said bad people sometimes wear nice clothes."
I felt a chill move down my spine.
Benjamin looked toward the doorway.
"And she said if somebody ever tried to make me disappear, I should remember where the music stopped."
Luca stood.
For several seconds, he simply stared at the empty hallway.
Then he took out his phone.
"Olivia, it's Luca."
I had heard that name before.
Olivia Moretti was his younger sister.
She had not visited the mansion in almost two years.
According to the kitchen staff, the siblings had stopped speaking after a terrible argument about their mother's death.
Luca listened for a moment.
Then he said something that made my stomach twist.
"Somebody tried to take Benjamin tonight."
His voice cracked slightly.
"And I think Mom knew this was coming."
He ended the call and turned toward Mateo.
"My sister is coming."
Mateo nodded.
"What about the police?"
"They're taking the attempted transfer report and preserving the gate footage."
"And Vanessa?"
"She stays away from my son."
"Should I have her removed?"
Luca shook his head.
"Not by force."
He looked toward the ceiling.
"Tell her that my attorneys will contact her, and put security outside Benjamin's rooms."
Mateo left.
I expected Luca to return upstairs.
Instead, he crouched beside Benjamin again.
"Would you like Claire to stay with you tonight?"
Benjamin nodded immediately.
"Please."
"Then she stays."
He looked at me.
"Only if you're willing."
"Of course I am."
Benjamin reached for my hand.
Luca watched us, and something painful crossed his face.
Perhaps he was realizing how often his son had reached for someone else when he needed comfort.
An hour later, Benjamin was asleep in the guest bedroom beside mine.
I had left a small lamp burning and the door open.
When I went downstairs for water, I found Luca standing outside his study.
The door was open.
Inside, papers covered the enormous mahogany desk.
The safe stood exposed behind a painting.
I hesitated.
"Mr. Moretti?"
He turned.
"Claire."
"Is everything all right?"
He gave a humorless laugh.
"No."
I stepped closer.
"Was the blue notebook important?"
"My mother used to keep financial records for a charitable trust."
He rubbed his forehead.
"She believed someone was stealing from it."
"Did she ever find out who?"
"She thought she did."
He looked at the safe.
"I told her she was being paranoid."
His confession surprised me.
Luca Moretti was not a man who often admitted mistakes.
"Why didn't you believe her?"
"Because I was too busy convincing myself that I could control everything."
He opened a drawer and removed an old photograph.
It showed a smiling woman with silver hair sitting beside a younger Benjamin at a white piano.
Rosa Moretti had one arm around her grandson.
In her other hand was a blue leather notebook.
"She died in a car accident," Luca said quietly.
"Three years ago, during a storm on Lake Shore Drive."
"I'm sorry."
"The police said she lost control."
He stared at the photograph.
"Olivia never believed it."
A noise came from the hallway.
We both turned.
Vanessa stood in the doorway wearing a silk robe.
Her eyes moved immediately to the photograph.
"What are you doing down here?"
Luca straightened.
"Looking for something my mother left me."
Vanessa folded her arms.
"Are we seriously going to reopen ancient family drama because a child told a silly story?"
Luca moved toward her.
"Don't call my son a liar again."
She stepped back.
"I never said he was lying."
"You called his story silly."
Vanessa's mouth tightened.
"This is becoming exhausting."
Luca glanced at her phone.
"Who opened the west garage tonight?"
Her face changed.
"What?"
"Someone used your authorization."
"I have no idea."
"Then your security credentials have been compromised."
For the first time, Vanessa looked genuinely uncertain.
Luca continued.
"I have already had them disabled."
"You can't do that."
"I just did."
She stared at him with open hatred.
Then she turned and disappeared down the hallway.
I watched her leave.
"Mr. Moretti, do you really think she knows what happened to your mother?"
"I don't know."
He looked toward the safe.
"But I'm going to find out."
As I turned to leave, something on the desk caught my attention.
It was the bottom corner of Benjamin's placement letter.
A tiny reference number had been printed beneath the signature.
NH-17.
I pointed toward it.
"Does that mean anything?"
Luca examined the number.
His eyes narrowed.
"North Harbor."
"What is North Harbor?"
He looked at his mother's photograph.
"The name of her children's charity."
He slowly turned the letter over.
And written on the back, in pale blue ink, were five words.
THE SECOND COPY IS SAFE.
May you like
Luca touched the handwriting.
Then he whispered, "That's my mother's writing."
