Chapter 2 - The Sister He Never Knew Existed|
For the first time since I had started working at the Moretti mansion, I saw Luca Moretti look genuinely afraid.
Not angry.
Not suspicious.
Afraid.
His thirteen-year-old daughter had just asked whether the woman he planned to marry was actually her dead mother's sister.
And nobody at that enormous dining table seemed capable of breathing.
Vanessa Bellini stared at Sophia as though the little girl had announced something unforgivable.
"That's enough," Vanessa whispered.
Luca turned toward her.
"Answer my daughter."
"Luca, please."
"Is it true?"
Vanessa looked around the room.
Twenty-six guests watched her beneath the glittering chandeliers. Some were family friends. Others were businessmen, politicians, and people whose names appeared regularly in Chicago society magazines.
I recognized Judge Harrison from the newspapers.
I recognized two of Luca's business partners.
And I recognized the expression on Vanessa's face.
It was the same expression she'd worn when she threatened to fire me for interfering with Sophia.
Except now she had nobody left to threaten.
"Everyone needs to leave," Luca said.
His voice was calm.
That somehow made the order more frightening.
A man near the doorway immediately moved to open the dining room doors.
Chairs scraped against marble.
Guests hurried to collect purses and jackets.
Nobody asked questions.
Nobody dared.
Within three minutes, the enormous dining room was nearly empty.
Only Luca, Sophia, Vanessa, Mrs. Carter, and I remained.
I started toward the kitchen.
"Megan."
I stopped.
Luca was watching me.
"Stay."
Vanessa's head snapped toward him.
"Why does the maid need to hear this?"
"Because my daughter asked her to stay."
Sophia reached for my uninjured hand.
I looked down.
Her fingers were trembling.
I remained beside her chair.
Luca placed the pearl necklace on the table.
"Vanessa, I am going to ask you one more time."
His dark eyes never left her face.
"Was Caroline your sister?"
Vanessa pressed a trembling hand against her mouth.
Finally, she nodded.
"Yes."
Sophia made a tiny sound.
It was almost a gasp.
Luca leaned backward.
For several seconds, he stared at the woman he'd kissed just an hour earlier.
"How long have you known?"
Vanessa closed her eyes.
"Since I was twenty."
"And how old are you now?"
"Thirty-six."
Sixteen years.
She had known for sixteen years.
Luca looked toward the doorway, then back at her.
"You knew before you met me."
"Yes."
"You knew when we started dating."
"Yes."
"You knew when I asked you to marry me."
Vanessa began crying.
"Luca, I wanted to tell you."
"But you didn't."
"My mother made me promise."
"Your mother is alive, Vanessa. Caroline isn't."
The words struck the room like breaking glass.
Vanessa flinched.
I felt Sophia tighten her grip on my hand.
Luca leaned forward.
"Did Caroline know?"
Vanessa hesitated.
"Yes."
Something changed in Luca's expression.
"She knew you existed?"
"Yes."
"And she never mentioned you?"
"She had her reasons."
"Then I want to know every single one."
Vanessa stared at the pearls.
"My mother was seventeen when she became pregnant with Caroline. Her family was wealthy, traditional, and obsessed with appearances. They sent her away to a private maternity home outside Chicago."
Luca said nothing.
"Margaret Bennett worked there as a volunteer. She and her husband couldn't have children. When my mother gave birth, she agreed to let Margaret raise the baby."
"Agreed?" Luca repeated.
Vanessa swallowed.
"That is what my mother told me."
"And the pearls?"
"They belonged to my grandmother. Victoria gave them to Margaret as a thank-you."
Sophia looked confused.
"Grandma Margaret told me Victoria came back."
Vanessa's eyes widened.
Luca noticed immediately.
"When?"
Vanessa shook her head.
"I don't know."
"Sophia?"
The little girl looked at him.
"Grandma said the lady came back when Mommy was little. But Grandma told her she couldn't take Mommy because Mommy was already home."
Luca slowly turned toward Vanessa.
"Is that true?"
Vanessa stared at her hands.
"My mother tried to get Caroline back."
"What happened?"
"Margaret refused."
Luca looked down at the pearls.
He had loved Margaret Bennett.
She had welcomed him into her family when he married Caroline.
She had held Sophia hours after her birth.
Now he was discovering that the family history he'd trusted might have been built on decisions nobody had ever explained.
"Why didn't Caroline tell me?"
Vanessa's voice became almost inaudible.
"Because she thought you would hate her."
Luca frowned.
"For being adopted?"
"No."
Vanessa looked toward Sophia.
"Because of what she discovered about my family."
The room fell silent again.
Luca leaned forward.
"What did she discover?"
Vanessa shook her head.
"Not in front of Sophia."
"Stop using my daughter as an excuse."
"I'm not."
"Then tell me."
Vanessa's eyes moved toward me.
For one strange moment, she looked almost desperate.
Then she whispered, "Caroline found out what my father did for a living."
Luca's expression hardened.
"Your father owned construction companies."
"That was one of his businesses."
Luca remained silent.
Vanessa looked down.
"He also worked for the men your family spent twenty years fighting."
The air seemed to leave the room.
Even I understood what that meant.
The Bellinis and Morettis had been rivals long before I was born.
Their names were whispered in Chicago neighborhoods where people still remembered the old criminal families.
Luca stood.
"Who was your father really?"
Vanessa looked up.
And whispered a name.
"Dominic Bellini."
I saw Luca's hand close around the back of his chair.
May you like
Then Vanessa said something even worse.
"He was the man who ordered the attack that killed Caroline."
