Chapter 1 – THE DIAMOND ON THE FLOOR

“That child was named Vanessa.”

The words hung in the dining room like a death sentence.

Twenty-four wealthy guests held their breath beneath the crystal chandeliers.

Luca Moretti stared at the twenty-eight-year-old photograph in his hands. Then he looked at the woman he was supposed to marry in three weeks.

“You’re the baby in this picture,” Luca whispered, his voice dangerously calm.

Vanessa’s face was the color of ash.

She took a step back, her crimson silk gown rustling against the marble floor.

“Luca, Arthur is senile. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”

But her voice was shaking.

Arthur Bennett stood his ground, though his seventy-four-year-old hands still clutched the ruined birthday cake.

“I drove your father to that woman’s house in secret for three years,” Arthur said softly. “I waited in the car while he gave her money. While he held that little girl.”

Luca stepped closer to Vanessa.

“Is he my father’s daughter?” Luca demanded, the terrifying authority of a mafia boss returning to his voice. “Are you my sister?”

“No!” Vanessa shouted, genuine panic flashing in her eyes. “No, Luca. We share no blood.”

“Then who are you?”

Vanessa swallowed hard. She looked at the guests. She looked at me, standing frozen by the service doors.

“Your father destroyed my family,” Vanessa whispered, dropping the sweet, loving act completely. “My real father was Carlo Bellini. The man your father had killed twenty-eight years ago to take over the docks.”

The room erupted in gasps.

Carlo Bellini was a legend in the underworld. A rival boss who vanished without a trace, leaving behind a young widow and an infant daughter.

“Your father felt guilty,” Vanessa sneered. “He paid my mother off. He tried to buy his conscience. But when my mother died of a broken heart, I was put into foster care. Your father’s money didn’t save me. It just reminded me of what he stole.”

Luca’s dark eyes narrowed.

“So you orchestrated this entire relationship. You made me fall in love with you.”

“I wanted to take everything from the Morettis,” Vanessa spat. “Just like your father took everything from me. I found the letter in his study after he died. I broke the seal. I knew if you read it, you’d investigate me. I had to get rid of Arthur because he was the only one who recognized my mother’s face!”

She glared at the elderly chauffeur.

“I should have had you thrown in the river, old man.”

Luca moved so fast I didn’t see him step forward.

He didn’t hit her. He simply grabbed her left hand.

In one swift, merciless motion, he pulled the four-carat diamond engagement ring off her finger.

Vanessa gasped.

Luca dropped the ring onto the marble floor.

The sound of the heavy diamond striking the stone echoed like a gunshot.

“Get out of my house,” Luca said softly.

“You can’t do this,” Vanessa hissed. “My father’s loyalists are still in this city. If you throw me out, they will burn your docks to the ground.”

“Let them try,” Luca replied. “Marco.”

His underboss stepped from the shadows.

“Yes, Boss.”

“Escort Miss Bellini to the gate. She leaves with nothing but the clothes on her back.”

As Marco grabbed her arm, Vanessa fought back. She thrashed, her purse swinging wildly.

The clasp broke.

Contents spilled across the floor. Lipstick, a compact mirror, loose cash.

And a small, heavy silver key.

I looked down at the key. It landed right at the tip of my black work shoes.

Vanessa stopped struggling. Her eyes locked onto the key with absolute terror.

“Don’t touch it!” she screamed at me.

But Luca was already bending down. He picked up the silver key, turning it over in his hand.

Engraved on the metal was a small crest.

Not the Bellini crest.

The Collins crest.

My family’s crest.

Luca looked up, his dark eyes locking onto mine.

“Rebecca,” Luca said, his voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. “Why did my fiancée have a key to your mother’s house?”

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