Chapter 1 – The Woman Who Was Told She Died
The sound of shattering glass echoed through the dining room.
Vanessa stood frozen, the stem of her wine glass still pinched between her trembling fingers. The red wine bled into the white marble like an open wound.
Nobody moved to clean it up.
Luca’s eyes never left his daughter.
“Sophie,” he said, his voice dropping to a terrifyingly calm register. “Who came to see you?”
Sophie pulled the yellow cardigan tighter around her small shoulders. “Auntie Clara.”
The room seemed to lose all its oxygen.
Clara was Catherine’s older sister. Three years ago, when Catherine died in a devastating car accident, Clara had been living in Europe. I knew the story because the staff still whispered about it. We had all been told Clara blamed Luca for the crash and had severed all ties with the Moretti family, refusing to even acknowledge her niece.
“Clara was here?” Luca asked, stepping toward his daughter. “In Chicago?”
Sophie nodded. “She came on Sunday while you were at the docks. She was crying, Daddy. She squeezed me so tight it hurt.”
Luca turned slowly toward Vanessa.
“You told me Clara sent back the invitations to the wedding,” he said. “You told me she wrote a letter saying she wanted nothing to do with us.”
Vanessa swallowed hard. She looked at the thirty-two guests, then at the mafia bosses sitting at the table, all of whom were now watching her with cold, calculating eyes.
“Luca, darling, let’s discuss this in private,” she pleaded, her voice high and breathless.
“We are discussing it now,” Luca said.
Thomas DeLuca, whose hands had finally stopped shaking, leaned forward in his chair.
“I saw her,” Thomas said quietly.
Luca snapped his attention to the old man. “You saw Clara?”
“I was bringing the cake to the garden,” Thomas explained, his voice gaining strength. “I saw a woman in a black coat standing by the side gate. Vanessa’s security men were pushing her back. I couldn’t see her face clearly. But I heard Vanessa yelling.”
“What was she yelling, Thomas?” Luca asked.
Vanessa lunged forward. “Thomas is confused! His mind is going, Luca, you know this!”
“Let him speak!” Luca roared. The sheer force of his voice made the crystal chandeliers rattle.
Thomas looked Vanessa dead in the eye.
“Vanessa told the woman that if she ever came near the property again, she would call the police. And then she said, ‘You mourned her three years ago. Go back to Rome and stay dead to us.’”
Luca’s face went completely pale.
He looked at Vanessa. “You told Clara that Sophie died in the crash with Catherine.”
Vanessa backed away. “She hated you, Luca! She was going to try and take Sophie away! She had European lawyers, she had money. I was protecting our family!”
“She’s Catherine’s sister!” Luca yelled. “She’s my daughter’s blood!”
Sophie tugged on her father’s sleeve. “Daddy?”
Luca immediately knelt down, his anger vanishing as he looked at his little girl. “Yes, sweetheart?”
“Auntie Clara didn’t just hug me,” Sophie whispered. “She left something for you. But Vanessa took it away.”
Luca stood up. He walked toward Vanessa. He didn’t raise his hands. He didn’t touch her. He just looked at her with the cold, dead eyes of a man who ruled the Chicago underworld.
“Where is it?” he asked.
Vanessa’s chest heaved. “I threw it away. It was trash.”
I stepped forward. I couldn’t stop myself.
“No, she didn’t,” I said.
Every eye in the room turned to me. The twenty-five-year-old maid.
“Hannah,” Vanessa hissed, her eyes venomous. “Shut your mouth.”
I looked at Luca. “Mrs. Bellini keeps a small velvet pouch in the lining of her fur coat in the hall closet. I felt it yesterday when I was brushing the collar.”
Luca didn’t say a word. He turned and walked out of the dining room.
Seconds later, he returned.
In his hand was a heavy, silver locket.
He pressed the clasp. The locket popped open.
Luca stared at whatever was inside. His breathing stopped.
He slowly looked up at Vanessa, his face a mask of pure horror.
“Catherine didn’t die in an accident,” he whispered.
TITLE: The Prescription In The Silver Locket
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