Chapter 2 - The Six Hours That Changed Everything|
For several seconds, nobody in Luca Moretti's living room dared to breathe.
The rain continued hammering against the windows, and thunder rolled across the Chicago sky.
But the most frightening sound came from Rex, who lay trembling beneath the blankets, struggling to keep his eyes open.
Vanessa stared at her husband as though she couldn't believe he was questioning her.
"Luca, darling, you're making this sound like some kind of conspiracy."
Luca didn't move.
"Answer my question."
His voice was so quiet that I barely recognized it.
Vanessa glanced toward Marco, then toward the security footage still playing on his phone.
"The man is an estate consultant."
"His name?"
"Julian Mercer."
"And why was an estate consultant inside my father's private safe?"
Vanessa swallowed.
"Because I wanted to surprise you."
Luca looked at her without blinking.
"Surprise me?"
"Your father's anniversary is coming up, and I thought we could organize some of his belongings."
A bitter smile crossed Luca's face.
"My father has been dead for two years, Vanessa."
"I know that."
"Then you also know he left strict instructions that nobody was to touch that box."
Vanessa suddenly looked offended.
"I was trying to do something thoughtful for my husband."
I kept one hand against Rex's chest.
His breathing was shallow, and every few seconds a painful shiver passed through his body.
"Mr. Moretti," I whispered, "I think Rex is getting worse."
Luca's expression changed immediately.
He knelt beside me and carefully placed his palm against the dog's head.
"Stay with me, buddy."
Rex barely responded.
That frightened Luca more than anything Vanessa had said.
He turned toward Marco.
"Where's the veterinarian?"
"Three minutes away, boss."
"Have someone open the front gates now."
Vanessa stepped closer.
"Really, Luca, all this drama over a dog is completely unnecessary."
Luca looked up at her.
"Leave the room."
Her mouth fell open.
"Excuse me?"
"I said leave."
For a moment, I thought she might actually challenge him.
Then she noticed the expression in his eyes.
She turned and walked toward the staircase, her heels striking the marble floor like small gunshots.
But just before she disappeared, she looked directly at me.
There was something in that look that made my stomach tighten.
It wasn't embarrassment.
It was hatred.
I had seen Vanessa angry before, especially when the household staff failed to meet her impossible expectations.
But this was different.
She looked at me as though I had destroyed something she had been planning for months.
A few minutes later, Dr. Elena Park hurried into the mansion carrying an emergency medical bag.
She was a respected Chicago veterinarian who had treated Rex since he was a puppy.
One glance at the dog wiped the professional calm from her face.
"How long has he been exposed to the cold?"
"Approximately six hours," Luca answered.
Dr. Park immediately began examining him.
She checked his temperature, breathing, gums, and heart rate.
Then she carefully lifted his wet collar.
Her expression hardened.
"Who did this?"
Luca crouched beside her.
"What did you find?"
She showed him a dark, swollen mark beneath Rex's neck.
"This isn't an injury from ordinary play."
I leaned forward.
The skin beneath the dog's thick fur was badly irritated.
There were small abrasions where the chain had rubbed against him.
Dr. Park examined the metal links.
"He was restrained tightly enough to injure himself while struggling."
Luca closed his eyes.
I could see the muscles working in his jaw.
For three years, I had watched people tremble at the mention of Luca Moretti's name.
I had watched powerful businessmen lower their voices when he entered a room.
I had even seen armed men retreat when he merely lifted his hand.
But I had never seen him look so helpless.
"Is he going to die?" he asked.
Dr. Park hesitated.
"He is severely chilled, exhausted, and dehydrated, but we're going to do everything we can."
She began carefully warming him and preparing him for transport to her emergency clinic.
I stroked Rex's ears while she worked.
His eyes opened briefly.
He looked at Luca.
Then he looked at me.
His tail moved once beneath the blanket.
Luca gently pressed his forehead against Rex's.
"You're not leaving me, old man."
Something inside me broke at those words.
Rex had been the only creature in this enormous mansion who seemed completely untouched by fear.
He loved Luca without caring about his reputation.
He followed the housekeepers through the kitchen, waited beside the gardener during lunch, and greeted every familiar visitor with the same enthusiastic wag.
When my mother died the previous winter, Rex had slept outside my bedroom for three nights.
Nobody had told him I was grieving.
Somehow, he had simply known.
And now someone had deliberately left him chained in a freezing storm.
Dr. Park finally looked toward Luca.
"I need to take him to the clinic for continuous monitoring."
"Whatever he needs," Luca said.
"I'll come with you," I offered.
Luca looked at me.
My uniform was soaked, my hands were muddy, and I was shaking from the cold.
"Claire, you've already done enough."
I shook my head.
"He's frightened, Mr. Moretti."
My voice cracked.
"Please don't make him go with strangers."
Luca studied me for a long moment.
Then he nodded.
"You're coming."
As the veterinary team prepared Rex for transport, Marco approached us.
"Boss, I've identified the man in the footage."
Luca straightened.
"Talk."
"Julian Mercer is a former private investigator."
"Former?"
"His license was revoked after an evidence-tampering investigation."
Luca's eyes narrowed.
"What does he do now?"
"Private recovery work, according to his records."
"Recovery of what?"
Marco hesitated.
"Documents, valuables, and things people don't want found."
The room became silent again.
Luca looked toward the staircase where Vanessa had disappeared.
Then Marco lowered his voice.
"There's something else."
He held out a printed photograph from an older security file.
It showed Mercer standing outside a downtown restaurant beside Vanessa's father, Carlo Bellini.
Luca took the photograph.
His face lost all expression.
I knew the name Bellini.
Everyone who worked inside the Moretti mansion knew it.
Carlo Bellini controlled a powerful network of businesses across Chicago.
For years, his family and the Morettis had maintained an uneasy peace.
Luca's marriage to Vanessa had supposedly ended their rivalry.
But as Luca stared at the photograph, I understood that peace might have been an illusion.
"Marco," he said, "get me every record of Mercer's meetings with the Bellinis."
"Yes, boss."
"And nobody leaves this property without my authorization."
Marco nodded and hurried away.
Dr. Park lifted Rex onto the padded stretcher.
I reached for his collar so it wouldn't catch against the equipment.
That was when I noticed a small brass identification tag beneath the damaged chain.
I had cleaned Rex's collar many times.
But I had never seen this particular engraving before.
On the back of the tag were two sets of initials.
H.C. — L.N.
"Luca?"
He turned toward me.
"What's wrong?"
I held up the tag.
"Do these letters mean anything to you?"
His expression changed the moment he saw them.
"Where did you get that?"
"It was underneath Rex's collar."
Luca took the tag with trembling fingers.
For the first time that evening, I saw something more complicated than anger in his eyes.
I saw recognition.
"My father used to mention those initials."
"What do they stand for?"
He looked toward his father's locked office.
"Hawthorne Court."
Then his voice dropped.
"And Lucia Navarro."
I had never heard either name.
But Luca clearly had.
He closed his hand around the tag.
"Claire, whatever my wife stole from that office, I don't think she understands what she's gotten herself into."
May you like
Outside, another flash of lightning illuminated the garden.
And somewhere upstairs, Vanessa's phone began ringing.
