Chapter 3 - The Promise Luca Almost Broke|
At seven the following morning, I found Sophia sitting on the edge of her bed with Isabella's damaged pink dress folded across her knees.
She had refused to let me put it away.
During the night, she had woken three times crying for her mother.
Each time, she had asked whether Vanessa would come back with the scissors.
I sat beside her and carefully examined the damaged fabric.
"I think I can finish repairing this today."
Sophia touched one of the pale pink ribbons.
"Will the cuts still show?"
"A little."
She looked disappointed.
I gently lifted her chin.
"Sometimes we can't make something look exactly the way it did before."
"Then it's ruined."
"No, sweetheart."
I pointed to the neat stitches I had already completed.
"Sometimes the marks remind us that something precious was worth saving."
Sophia considered that.
"Mommy used to say broken things deserve kindness."
I smiled sadly.
"Your mother was a very wise woman."
A soft knock interrupted us.
"Princess?"
Luca's voice came through the bedroom door.
Sophia immediately stiffened.
I stood and unlocked it.
Luca entered without his usual commanding presence.
His hair was slightly disheveled, and dark circles had formed beneath his eyes.
He looked at his daughter, then at the dress.
"Can we talk, sweetheart?"
Sophia nodded without meeting his eyes.
Luca knelt in front of her.
"I owe you an apology."
She glanced at him.
"For what?"
"For not listening when you tried to tell me something was wrong."
Sophia's bottom lip trembled.
"Vanessa said you would be disappointed in me."
Luca closed his eyes.
"She was wrong."
"She said Mommy would want me to have a new mom."
"Nobody gets to decide that for you."
Sophia finally looked at him.
"Do you miss Mommy?"
The question seemed to tear through him.
"Every day."
"Then why don't you talk about her anymore?"
Luca remained silent for so long that I wondered whether he could answer.
Finally, he spoke.
"Because talking about her reminded me that I couldn't bring her home."
Sophia's eyes filled with tears.
"I didn't want you to bring her home."
"What do you mean?"
"I just wanted you to remember her with me."
Luca pulled his daughter into his arms.
And for the first time since Isabella's funeral, Sophia cried openly against her father's chest without trying to hide her grief.
I turned toward the window, giving them privacy.
A few minutes later, Luca stood and faced me.
"Claire, I need you to come downstairs."
He looked at Sophia.
"Marco will stay outside your door."
Marco Serrano was Luca's longtime driver and one of the few men in the mansion who treated Sophia with genuine affection.
He had known Isabella for years.
Sophia trusted him.
I followed Luca to his study.
The curtains were drawn.
On the desk lay Isabella's letter, a photograph of her standing in front of a community center, and a folder of financial documents.
Luca pointed to the photograph.
"Do you recognize this building?"
I leaned closer.
"Of course."
The sign above the entrance read SECOND STITCH FOUNDATION — NORTH HALSTED STUDIO.
"Mrs. Moretti took me there several times."
"Why?"
"She funded sewing classes for women rebuilding their lives after domestic abuse."
I remembered Isabella carrying boxes of donated clothing through the studio's front doors.
She never asked anyone to call her generous.
She simply wanted women who had lost everything to have somewhere to begin again.
Luca studied my face.
"Did Isabella ever mention Vanessa?"
I hesitated.
"Once."
"When?"
"About a week before the accident."
"What did she say?"
I looked down.
"She asked me whether I'd ever noticed Vanessa entering the mansion's private office."
Luca stiffened.
"What did you tell her?"
"That I'd seen Vanessa leaving your study late one evening."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because Mrs. Moretti asked me not to."
Luca exhaled sharply.
"She said she was trying to confirm something before confronting anyone."
He walked toward the window.
"I thought I knew everything about my wife."
"Sometimes people hide things because they're afraid of hurting someone they love."
Luca turned back.
"Or because the person they love isn't listening."
I couldn't argue with that.
He picked up the silver key.
"We're going to that studio."
"Both of us?"
"You're the only person in this house who knew Isabella's work there."
Before I could answer, his phone rang.
Vincent DeLuca's name appeared on the screen.
Luca answered.
"Yes?"
Vincent spoke urgently.
"Boss, there's something you need to know."
"What?"
"Someone broke into the North Halsted Studio last night."
Luca slowly raised his eyes toward me.
"Was anything taken?"
Vincent hesitated.
"We don't know yet."
"Who told you about the break-in?"
"Vanessa."
Luca's expression became unreadable.
Then Vincent added something neither of us expected.
"She said you were planning to go there this morning."
Luca hadn't told Vanessa.
He hadn't told Vincent.
He had told only me.
May you like
And suddenly, I realized something terrifying.
Someone had been listening outside his study door.
