Chapter 9 – The Velvet Box

I stared at the black velvet box resting in my palm.

It was old, the fabric worn white at the corners. It didn’t belong to Vanessa. She only liked new, shiny things.

My heart did a strange flutter. Was it a ring? Had Luca bought this for me? No, that was ridiculous. We had just survived a war; he hadn’t had time to go jewelry shopping.

I popped the hinge open.

There was no ring inside. Instead, resting on the white satin cushion, was a small, silver key.

It wasn’t a house key. It looked like a key to a safety deposit box or a private locker. Beneath the key was a tiny, folded piece of paper with handwriting that made my blood freeze all over again.

It was my mother’s handwriting.

If they come for me, use this.

I dropped the box onto the folding table.

Why did Luca have a secret note from my dead mother in his jacket pocket? He had told me he only discovered who I was three weeks ago. He said he only investigated my mother after his wife died.

But this note was old. The paper was yellowed.

“Emily?”

I spun around. Luca was standing in the doorway, holding two mugs of coffee. He saw the open velvet box on the table. He stopped walking.

“Where did you get that?” I asked, my voice tight.

Luca set the coffee down. He didn’t look guilty, but he looked deeply, profoundly exhausted.

“I didn’t want you to find that yet,” he said quietly. “You’ve been through enough tonight.”

“Luca, that is my mother’s handwriting. You told me you didn’t know her.”

“I didn’t,” Luca said, stepping into the room. “But my father did.”

He picked up the silver key. “When my father died ten years ago, he left this in his private safe. It belongs to a locker at the central train station. I never knew what was inside it, because I never had the other half of the combination.”

“What combination?”

“The one your mother gave to your sister.”

I stared at him, utterly lost. “Maya? Maya doesn’t know anything about this. She was in middle school when our parents died.”

Luca’s eyes darkened with a heavy sorrow. “Emily, why do you think Vanessa kidnapped Maya? It wasn’t to leverage you. It was because Maya went to Vanessa first.”