Chapter 2 - The Woman Luca Remembered
Chloe grabbed the drawing and whispered:
“Under the blanket.”
Dominic entered carrying the repaired brass cylinder from Elena’s shattered music box.
A tiny red number had been scratched beneath its base.
Chloe saw it before Dominic did.
Someone had hidden something inside the music box.
Dominic stopped in the doorway.
His eyes moved from Chloe to Luca.
Neither spoke.
He held several pieces of the music box in one hand.
“I found something.”
Chloe’s pulse quickened.
“What?”
Dominic crossed the room.
He placed the brass cylinder on the desk beneath Luca’s lamp.
The number was unmistakable.
Chloe looked at Luca.
His face had gone pale.
Dominic noticed.
“You know what this means?”
Luca stared at the cylinder.
Chloe stepped in.
“He’s tired.”
Dominic’s gaze shifted to her.
“I asked him.”
“He doesn’t have to answer you.”
A dangerous silence followed.
Dominic surprised her.
He nodded.
“All right.”
Chloe had expected resistance.
Instead Dominic crouched beside the bed, keeping several feet between himself and Luca.
“I shouldn’t have grabbed you.”
Luca watched him.
Dominic swallowed.
“I was angry about the box.”
No response.
“I thought…”
He stopped.
Chloe studied him.
Dominic Russo looked more uncomfortable apologizing to a six-year-old than he had looked surrounded by armed men.
“I thought losing it meant losing another piece of your mother.”
His voice roughened.
“That wasn’t your fault.”
Luca’s fingers appeared from beneath the blanket.
Dominic noticed the red marks on his wrist again.
Something dark crossed his face.
Not anger.
Shame.
“I hurt you.”
Luca blinked.
“I’m sorry.”
Chloe felt something inside her shift.
It was not forgiveness.
Not even close.
But it was the first crack she had seen in the man’s armor.
Dominic stood.
“I’ll have someone repair the box.”
Luca suddenly shook his head.
Dominic stopped.
The boy pointed at the brass cylinder.
Then toward Chloe.
Dominic looked at her.
“What?”
Chloe considered lying.
Instead she said, “There might be something inside it.”
Dominic’s expression hardened.
“Why?”
She pointed at the scratched number.
“Does 317 mean anything to you?”
Dominic picked up the cylinder.
“No.”
Luca covered his face.
Dominic saw it.
“What does he know?”
“Don’t interrogate him.”
“I’m not interrogating—”
“You sound like you are.”
Dominic closed his mouth.
Chloe almost smiled.
Almost.
He sat in the chair by the window instead.
“Then you ask.”
Chloe turned to Luca.
“Sweetheart, does 317 mean something?”
Luca stared at the blanket.
Nothing.
Chloe waited.
Dominic did too.
Finally Luca whispered, “Mama.”
Dominic froze.
Chloe’s heart pounded.
“What about Mama?”
Luca pointed again at the cylinder.
“Key.”
Dominic stood so fast the chair scraped the floor.
“What key?”
Luca recoiled.
Dominic stopped instantly.
He forced his voice down.
“Sorry.”
Chloe looked at the cylinder.
There was a seam near its center.
She rotated it carefully.
Nothing.
Dominic took it.
His fingers moved over the brass.
He pressed a tiny raised flower.
Click.
A compartment opened.
Inside lay a narrow silver key.
Stamped into the metal were three digits.
Dominic stared at it.
For several seconds, the feared leader of the Russo syndicate seemed incapable of speech.
“Elena.”
He turned the key over.
There were tiny letters engraved beneath the number.
U.S.B.
Chloe frowned.
“A bank?”
“Union Security Bank.”
Dominic looked toward the door.
His entire demeanor changed.
Whatever guilt had softened him vanished beneath professional alertness.
“Carlo.”
The door opened almost immediately.
Carlo had clearly been standing nearby.
Dominic held up the key.
“You know this?”
Carlo’s face changed.
It lasted less than a second.
But Chloe saw it.
So did Dominic.
“You do.”
Carlo shook his head.
“No.”
“Don’t lie to me.”
“I’ve never seen the key.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
Carlo’s jaw tightened.
Dominic walked closer.
“Do you know what 317 means?”
“No.”
Dominic stared at him.
Carlo stared back.
Then Dominic said, “Wake Adrian.”
Carlo’s eyes sharpened.
“Tonight?”
“Now.”
He turned toward Chloe.
“You stay with Luca.”
“That was already the plan.”
Dominic almost reacted to the attitude.
Instead he left.
Carlo followed.
The door shut.
Luca reached for Chloe.
She sat beside him.
“You did good.”
He leaned against her arm.
Within minutes, exhaustion overcame him.
Chloe waited until he slept.
Then she unfolded the drawing again.
Mara.
She needed to know who that was.
At 1:12 a.m., Chloe stepped into the hallway.
The house had become eerily quiet.
Voices came faintly from Dominic’s library downstairs.
She descended only halfway before stopping.
Carlo stood near the library doors.
Another man had arrived.
Tall.
Silver-haired.
Maybe fifty.
He carried a laptop case.
Dominic’s voice came from inside.
“Pull every employee record from the year Elena died.”
The silver-haired man answered.
“Specific name?”
Dominic hesitated.
“Mara.”
Chloe’s breath caught.
He had heard Luca.
Carlo looked toward the staircase.
Chloe ducked behind the railing.
“Last name?” the man asked.
“I don’t know.”
Keyboard clicks.
Then silence.
“Dominic.”
“What?”
“There was a Mara employed here.”
Chloe leaned closer.
“Mara Bellini. Housekeeper. Twenty-seven years old.”
Dominic asked, “Where is she?”
A pause.
“She died.”
Chloe’s stomach dropped.
“When?”
“Three days after Elena.”
Nobody spoke.
Then Dominic said, “How?”
“Car accident.”
Carlo swore quietly.
Dominic’s voice became deadly calm.
“Who signed the incident report?”
More typing.
The silver-haired man stopped.
“Carlo.”
Silence.
Chloe gripped the railing.
Dominic spoke slowly.
“Tell me that isn’t your name.”
Carlo answered.
“I handled estate security.”
“That doesn’t answer me.”
“I filed dozens of reports.”
“My wife falls down the stairs. Three days later a housekeeper who might have witnessed it dies in a car crash. And you signed the report.”
Carlo’s voice rose.
“You think I killed her?”
“I think I’m asking a question.”
Chloe backed away.
She had heard enough.
She returned upstairs.
Luca was still asleep.
At 2:03 a.m., someone knocked softly.
Chloe opened the door.
Dominic stood there alone.
His cheek still carried the faint outline of her hand.
“Mara Bellini is dead.”
“I heard.”
His eyes narrowed.
“You were listening.”
“Yes.”
“You make a habit of ignoring rules?”
“Recently.”
Something almost resembling exhaustion crossed his face.
“I’m going to the bank in the morning.”
“What about Luca?”
“You’re coming.”
Chloe stared.
“Why?”
“Because he trusts you.”
“That doesn’t explain why he needs to go.”
Dominic looked toward his sleeping son.
“When Elena died, Luca stopped speaking.”
He lowered his voice.
“Tonight, he spoke because of you.”
Chloe said nothing.
Dominic continued.
“If my wife left something behind and Luca knows about it, I’m not separating him from the only person he feels safe enough to talk to.”
That answer unsettled her more than an order would have.
“At seven,” he said.
He turned.
“Dominic.”
He looked back.
“You scared him tonight.”
His jaw tightened.
“I know.”
“Knowing isn’t enough.”
“No.”
He looked toward Luca again.
“But it’s a start.”
At 6:45 the next morning, the Russo estate was already moving.
Two black SUVs waited outside.
Carlo was nowhere to be seen.
Instead, the silver-haired man from the night before introduced himself as Adrian Vale.
Dominic’s attorney.
He handed Chloe coffee.
“You’re either extraordinarily brave or catastrophically reckless.”
“People keep telling me that.”
“I suspect both are true.”
Dominic appeared with Luca.
The boy refused to let go of Chloe’s hand.
Dominic did not comment.
They drove downtown under heavy security.
Union Security Bank occupied an old stone building near LaSalle Street.
Dominic presented the key.
A private manager escorted them underground.
Box 317 required two keys.
The manager inserted one.
Dominic inserted Elena’s.
The lock opened.
Inside was a black document case.
Nothing else.
Dominic carried it into a private viewing room.
Luca stood behind Chloe.
Adrian closed the door.
Dominic opened the case.
Inside were photographs.
Bank statements.
A sealed envelope.
And a small digital recorder.
Dominic reached for the envelope first.
His name was written across the front.
D.
He opened it.
The first page contained only one line.
Dominic read it.
His face drained of color.
Chloe stepped closer.
“What?”
He turned the paper.
Elena’s handwriting filled the page.
Dominic read aloud.
“If anything happens to me, do not trust the person who tells you it was an accident.”
Adrian stopped breathing.
Dominic flipped to the next page.
A photograph slid onto the table.
It showed Elena standing beside Mara.
Behind them stood another person.
Carlo Rossi.
May you like
And on the back, Elena had written four words.
“He knows who pushed me.”
