Chapter 2 - The Man Who Was Supposed to Be Dead
Vanessa had always believed fear was a useful tool.
She had used it on employees.
She had used it on relatives.
She had used it on people who owed her favors and people who didn't know they were being manipulated.
But that night, for the first time, Vanessa Bellini discovered that fear could turn against its owner.
She stood beside the bedroom window with her phone pressed to her ear.
"She's still alive," Vanessa whispered.
The man on the other end gave a humorless laugh.
"You were supposed to handle that."
"I tried."
"You broke her hand."
"I didn't know she'd found the photograph."
"You should have made sure she couldn't talk."
Vanessa glanced toward her bedroom door.
"I can still fix it."
A pause.
"No."
Her expression tightened.
"What do you mean?"
"Mr. Moretti already suspects something."
She gripped the phone harder.
"How much does he know?"
"Enough to become dangerous."
Vanessa turned toward the mirror.
Her reflection stared back at her in the red silk gown she had worn to dinner.
Luca had looked at her differently tonight.
Not affectionately.
Not suspiciously, either.
Something worse.
He had looked at her as though he were seeing her for the first time.
"Gabriel," she whispered.
The voice went cold.
"Don't say his name."
"He came here."
"I know."
"He wants to stop the wedding."
"Then stop him."
"How?"
"You're marrying Luca in twelve days."
Vanessa swallowed.
"You said the wedding was essential."
"It is."
"Why?"
"Because once you're his wife, the trust transfer becomes automatic."
Vanessa's face went pale.
"Anthony told me the same thing."
"Anthony is a lawyer. I'm telling you what will happen."
She sat on the edge of the bed.
"And Emily?"
"She's a problem."
"I can fire her."
"Too late."
Vanessa looked toward the hall.
"Then what?"
The voice became quiet.
"Make Luca believe she is the one trying to destroy the wedding."
Vanessa frowned.
"How?"
"You know how."
The call ended.
Vanessa stared at the dark phone screen.
Then she smiled.
It was the same smile she had worn during dinner.
The smile of a woman who had never learned that some lies cannot survive daylight.
Across the house, I sat in Luca's study while Daniel arranged a security detail.
I felt ridiculous.
My hand hurt.
My heart hurt more.
I kept replaying Vanessa's voice.
Get down and pick those up, Emily.
It was a command I had heard in different forms for ten months.
Bring this upstairs.
Stay out of that room.
Don't answer unless spoken to.
You're staff.
Don't forget your place.
Usually I obeyed because I needed the job.
That night, I obeyed because I was afraid.
Luca sat across from me.
"Tell me everything you remember about Gabriel."
"I don't know him personally."
"Did he see you?"
"Not at first."
"But?"
"When he came out of the bedroom, he saw me."
Luca leaned forward.
"What did he do?"
"He stopped."
"How long?"
"Maybe five seconds."
"Did he say anything?"
I nodded.
"He asked whether I was Emily Carter."
Luca's expression sharpened.
"He knew your name?"
"Yes."
"How?"
"I don't know."
"What else?"
"He told me to forget what I'd heard."
"What did you say?"
"I said I wouldn't tell anyone."
"Then why did you?"
I looked at my injured hand.
"Because he frightened me."
Luca's gaze softened for only a moment.
"Good."
I stared at him.
"Good?"
"You were afraid."
"That doesn't sound good."
"It kept you alive."
I didn't know what to say.
Then Daniel returned.
"We traced Gabriel's sedan."
"And?"
"It belongs to a shell company registered in Milwaukee."
Luca nodded.
"Expected."
Daniel hesitated.
"We found something else."
He placed a file on the desk.
Luca opened it.
I saw photographs of bank accounts.
Wire transfers.
Trust documents.
Property records.
My eyes widened.
"What is all that?"
"Evidence," Luca said.
"Of what?"
He read silently for several seconds.
"Someone has been moving money from one of my family foundations."
"How much?"
"Forty-two million dollars."
I stared at him.
"Forty-two million?"
Luca nodded.
"Over fourteen months."
"Could Vanessa have done that?"
"Possibly."
"But why?"
He looked at me.
"Because the money isn't being spent."
"Then where is it going?"
"Into companies she claims she doesn't know."
Daniel placed another document on the desk.
"And those companies all connect to Gabriel Bellini."
The room went silent.
Luca's phone rang.
He answered.
"Yes."
His expression changed.
"What do you mean she's gone?"
Daniel's head snapped up.
Luca stood.
"Find her."
He ended the call.
"What happened?" I asked.
"Vanessa left the house."
I frowned.
"It's after eleven."
"She took the rear exit."
"Where would she go?"
Luca didn't answer.
Then his phone rang again.
This time it was Daniel's secondary line.
"Sir."
"What?"
"We found her."
"Where?"
A pause.
"At Saint Catherine's Hospital."
Luca frowned.
"Why?"
"She says she's there because Emily attacked her."
My stomach dropped.
"What?"
Daniel continued.
"She has scratches on her wrist."
Luca looked at me.
I could barely breathe.
"That's impossible."
"I know."
He turned to Daniel.
"Send two men with her."
Daniel nodded.
Luca looked back at me.
"You're coming with me."
I shook my head.
"No."
"Emily."
"Please."
My voice broke.
"I don't want to go anywhere near her."
He understood.
"Then you stay here."
I looked relieved.
"Thank you."
He walked toward the door.
Then stopped.
"Lock the study door behind me."
I nodded.
He left.
For the first time since I had arrived at the mansion, I was alone in a room where nobody was shouting at me.
I should have felt safe.
I didn't.
Because five minutes later, the study door handle moved.
I froze.
Someone tried the lock.
I stepped backward.
The handle stopped.
Then came three soft knocks.
Not Luca.
Not Daniel.
A man's voice came through the door.
"Emily."
My blood turned cold.
I knew that voice.
Gabriel.
"Open the door."
I backed away.
"No."
A pause.
"I'm not here to hurt you."
"Go away."
"You don't understand."
"I understand enough."
His voice became quieter.
"Your hand wasn't the reason Vanessa was angry."
I swallowed.
"What do you mean?"
"The jewelry box."
My heart pounded.
"What about it?"
"You saw a photograph."
"Yes."
"And you think it was about an affair."
I didn't answer.
"It wasn't."
"What was it about?"
Silence.
Then Gabriel said something that made my stomach twist.
"That photograph was taken after I watched Vanessa sign a document that could cost Luca everything."
I walked closer to the door.
"What document?"
"You'll have to ask Luca."
"Why?"
"Because he already has a copy."
I frowned.
"Then why tell me?"
"Because Vanessa doesn't know that."
He stepped away.
I heard footsteps disappearing down the hallway.
I waited several seconds.
Then I opened the door.
No one was there.
But something lay on the floor.
A folded piece of paper.
I picked it up.
Three words had been written across it.
ASK ABOUT THE TRUST.
I read it twice.
Then my phone rang.
It was Luca.
"Emily."
His voice was different.
"Where are you?"
"In the study."
"Stay there."
"What happened?"
"Vanessa wasn't at the hospital."
My stomach dropped.
"Then where was she?"
"We found her car abandoned."
"Where?"
"Near your apartment."
I couldn't breathe.
"Why would she go there?"
"That's what I'm trying to find out."
Then I heard someone shouting in the background.
Luca's voice became urgent.
"Emily, lock the door."
I did.
"Now."
I locked it.
"There's someone in the house."
My blood froze.
"What?"
"Security has lost visual on the west corridor."
I backed away from the door.
"Mr. Moretti?"
"Listen to me."
His voice became calm again.
"You are not alone."
A floorboard creaked outside.
I covered my mouth.
Luca said, "Whatever happens, do not open that door."
Another creak.
Then silence.
I heard the knob turn.
I pressed my back against the wall.
The lock shook once.
Twice.
Then the door opened.
I screamed.
A tall figure stepped inside.
He held both hands up.
"Emily."
It was Gabriel.
I stared at him.
"How did you—"
He closed the door behind him.
"There's no time."
"Get out."
He shook his head.
"They're coming for you."
"Who?"
He looked toward the hall.
"Vanessa."
I stared at him.
"But she isn't here."
Gabriel's expression darkened.
"That's exactly what she wants Luca to think."
He reached into his coat.
I stepped back.
"Don't."
He pulled out a small envelope.
"This belongs to you."
I stared at it.
"My name was written across the front."
I took it with my good hand.
"What is it?"
"Read it."
Inside was a photocopy of an old employment application.
Mine.
But beneath my signature was another name.
My father.
Thomas Carter.
I looked up.
"Why do you have this?"
Gabriel looked at me.
"Because your father didn't die in an accident."
Everything inside me stopped.
My father's death had happened seven years earlier.
A warehouse fire.
One body recovered.
Case closed.
At least that's what I had always believed.
Gabriel lowered his voice.
"Your father worked for the Bellinis."
My fingers trembled.
"He was an accountant."
"He discovered the theft."
"What theft?"
"The money being moved from the Moretti foundations."
I stared at him.
"Seven years ago?"
"Yes."
I couldn't breathe.
"My father was killed because he found it?"
Gabriel didn't answer.
His silence was enough.
Then the study door exploded inward.
Luca's security team rushed inside.
Gabriel immediately stepped back.
Daniel raised his weapon.
"Down!"
Luca appeared behind them.
His eyes went directly to me.
Then to Gabriel.
"Get away from her."
Gabriel lifted his hands.
"Luca."
"Don't say my name."
"Your father knows what happened."
Luca stared at him.
"What did you say?"
Gabriel looked at me.
"Ask him why Thomas Carter was investigating the Bellini accounts."
May you like
Luca's face changed.
And for the first time, I realized the biggest secret in the house might not belong to Vanessa at all.
