Chapter 4

The digital clock on the wall read 9:15 PM.

Two hours. Ethan was supposed to be on a plane to Switzerland in two hours.

Luca held the tiny boarding pass between his fingers. It was shaking. The man who never lost control was trembling with pure, unadulterated rage.

“You weren’t just sending him to boarding school,” Luca deduced, his voice dropping to a terrifying whisper. “You were handing him over to Victor Thorne tonight.”

“He promised he wouldn’t hurt him!” Vanessa shrieked, backing away until she hit the wall. “He just wanted collateral! My father owes Victor three million dollars, Luca! They were going to kill my family!”

The wealthy guests began murmuring in horror. Several stood up, clearly wanting to flee before the mafia boss unleashed his wrath.

“So you traded my son for your father’s gambling debts.” Luca’s voice was completely hollow.

“I had no choice! Victor said if I brought Ethan out to the ambulance tonight, all my debts would be forgiven!”

I frowned, stepping forward before I could stop myself. “Ambulance?”

Luca looked at me, then back at Vanessa. The realization hit him like a freight train.

He slowly turned his gaze to the untouched chocolate cake with the hidden pecans.

“My God,” Luca breathed.

The entire room gasped in collective horror.

“You didn’t want him to eat the cake to prove a point,” Luca said, stepping toward her, his presence utterly dominant. “You wanted him to go into anaphylactic shock. You wanted his throat to close.”

Vanessa pressed her hands over her face, sobbing hysterically.

“You needed a medical emergency,” Luca continued, piecing the nightmare together. “You needed me panicked. You needed me to call 911. And when the ambulance arrived…”

“Victor’s men were going to be driving it,” I finished quietly, my hands shaking so hard I had to grip the back of a chair.

“They were going to take him,” Luca whispered, looking at his nine-year-old son. “And I would have opened the front door and handed him to them myself.”

“I was going to ride with him!” Vanessa cried. “I was going to make sure he was safe on the plane!”

“You were going to let him suffocate at my dinner table!” Luca roared.

“I had an EpiPen in my purse!” she screamed back. “I wouldn’t have let him die!”

“You wouldn’t have let him die?” Luca laughed, a dark, broken sound. “You were playing God with my son’s life!”

Suddenly, a memory flashed in my mind. The catering staff.

“Mr. Moretti,” I said sharply. “The caterer. The man who insisted on serving the chocolate cake to Ethan.”

Luca turned to me. “What about him, Nora?”

“He wasn’t wearing the standard catering uniform,” I said, my heart racing. “He had on a white shirt, but his sleeves were rolled up. He had a tattoo on his wrist. A black scorpion.”

Marcus, the head of security, cursed loudly. “That’s Thorne’s syndicate mark. He was in the house.”

“He’s still in the house,” I said. “I saw him go down toward the wine cellar ten minutes ago.”

Luca’s eyes darkened. He looked at Marcus. “Lock down the estate. Nobody leaves.”

“Wait,” Ethan said quietly. He reached into his little suit pocket. “The man with the tattoo gave Vanessa a present before dinner. She dropped it in the hallway.”

Ethan opened his small hand.

Resting in his palm was a heavy, solid gold men’s watch.

Luca stared at it. All the anger suddenly drained from his face, replaced by absolute, paralyzing shock.

“Where did you get that?” Luca whispered.

“It fell out of the man’s pocket,” Ethan said. “Is it yours, Daddy?”

“No,” Luca said, his voice breaking. “It belonged to your mother.”

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