Chapter 5 - The House on Queen Anne
Luca moved first.
Emma caught his sleeve.
“No.”
He looked down at her hand.
“What?”
“I talk to him.”
“Not alone.”
“I didn’t say alone.”
The police officers positioned themselves near the foyer.
Grant stood outside with both hands visible.
No coat.
No umbrella.
He looked exhausted.
When the door opened, his eyes found Emma.
Then Luca.
His face twisted.
“Of course he’s here.”
Emma descended the stairs carefully.
“Why did you increase my life insurance?”
Grant stopped.
His gaze flicked toward the officer.
“What?”
“Ten million dollars.”
“That was financial planning.”
“Delivery before birth.”
Grant’s face changed.
Just slightly.
Emma saw it.
“So you know what I’m talking about.”
“That note isn’t mine.”
“Whose?”
“I don’t know.”
She held up a printed photograph from the garage footage.
“You gave Marcus Venn medication with my name on it.”
Grant stared at the image.
Then at Luca.
“You’ve been investigating me.”
Luca said nothing.
Emma stepped closer.
“Answer me.”
Grant looked at her belly.
Something like grief crossed his face.
“I never wanted you hurt.”
Emma almost broke at the sentence.
Not because she believed him.
Because he had chosen the wrong words.
“Never wanted?”
Grant closed his eyes.
“Emma.”
“What did you do?”
“I made deals.”
“With Marcus?”
“Yes.”
“With Carlo Romano?”
“No.”
“Did you kill him?”
“No.”
The answer came fast.
Maybe true.
“Did Marcus?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did you ask?”
Grant laughed bitterly.
“You think men like Marcus send meeting minutes?”
Luca’s jaw tightened.
Grant pointed at him.
“And men like him don’t get to pretend they’re different.”
Emma turned toward Luca.
He did not defend himself.
That bothered Grant.
“You think he rescued you because he’s some hero?”
“He didn’t know who I was.”
“He knew enough.”
Luca spoke quietly.
“Careful.”
Grant’s face drained.
But anger pushed him forward.
“Tell her.”
Emma looked between them.
“Tell me what?”
Grant smiled without humor.
“Why Carlo knew your initials.”
Luca went still.
Emma’s heart dropped.
“You know.”
“I learned today.”
“Learned what?”
Grant laughed.
“Ask him about your father.”
Emma stared at Luca.
“My father?”
Luca looked at the police officer.
Then Emma.
“Not here.”
“No. Here.”
Marina appeared in the hallway.
She looked frightened.
“Luca.”
He ignored her.
Emma stepped closer.
“My father died when I was eleven.”
“I know.”
“How?”
“Carlo knew him.”
Emma’s mouth went dry.
Her father, David Hart, had worked as an accountant.
At least that was what Emma had always been told.
“What did Carlo have to do with my father?”
Luca said, “David handled books for several waterfront companies.”
Grant interrupted.
“Romano companies.”
Luca’s gaze sharpened.
“Yes.”
Emma felt dizzy.
“My father worked for your family?”
“For legitimate businesses.”
Grant laughed.
“Convenient distinction.”
Luca took one step toward him.
The officer raised a hand.
Emma snapped, “Stop.”
Everyone did.
She looked at Luca.
“What happened to my father?”
“He discovered money being stolen.”
“By whom?”
“Marcus Venn.”
Silence.
Emma stared at the photograph in her hand.
Marcus.
The same man now working with Grant.
“My father died in a car accident.”
Luca’s eyes stayed on hers.
“That’s what police concluded.”
Emma knew before he said anything else.
“You think Marcus killed him.”
“Carlo did.”
The floor seemed unstable.
Emma grabbed the stair railing.
Grant moved toward her.
Luca blocked him instinctively.
Emma pushed Luca’s arm away.
“Don’t.”
He obeyed.
Grant looked almost triumphant.
“You see? His family dragged your father into their world.”
Luca answered.
“My uncle tried to protect David.”
“He failed.”
“Yes.”
That single word destroyed Grant’s argument more effectively than anger could have.
Luca did not excuse it.
Did not rewrite history.
Emma sat on the bottom stair.
Her baby kicked.
She pressed a hand there.
“My mother never told me.”
“Carlo paid for your schooling anonymously after your father died,” Luca said.
Emma looked up.
“What?”
“He felt responsible.”
Grant stared.
Apparently that part was new to him.
Emma’s college tuition had come from a trust her mother said David established before his death.
“He paid for me?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t he contact me?”
“Because he thought distance kept you safe.”
Emma laughed weakly.
“Clearly.”
Luca looked away.
Grant saw an opening.
“Emma, come with me.”
She stared at him.
“Where?”
“I can fix this.”
“You left me on the sidewalk.”
“I was scared.”
“So was I.”
“I made a terrible decision.”
“You made many.”
Grant’s voice cracked.
“I love you.”
That hurt.
Because part of Emma still remembered every version of him she had loved.
The man who stayed awake with her when her mother had surgery.
The man who decorated the nursery himself.
The man who cried at their first ultrasound.
Maybe those moments had been real.
Maybe terrible people were not terrible every minute.
That didn’t make the terrible minutes disappear.
“Did you know Marcus might hurt me?”
Grant’s silence answered.
Emma closed her eyes.
“Did you?”
“I knew he was angry.”
“About what?”
“The ledger.”
“You knew Vanessa took it?”
“I suspected.”
“And you thought she’d given it to me.”
“Yes.”
“So when you handed Vanessa the Maserati…”
Grant looked at the floor.
“You wanted Marcus to follow her.”
“Yes.”
Emma’s chest tightened.
“And when I stayed behind…”
“I thought you were safer with me.”
“You weren’t with me.”
He looked up.
“I panicked.”
“You watched me collapse.”
Grant began crying.
Real tears.
Emma felt nothing.
“I didn’t know Marcus had changed your medication.”
He said it too quickly.
Luca’s head snapped toward him.
Emma froze.
Nobody had told Grant the medication had been altered.
Only that he had been seen holding it.
Luca spoke softly.
“Changed it how, Grant?”
Grant realized his mistake.
He stepped backward.
The police officer moved forward.
“Mr. Pierce, I think we should continue this conversation downtown.”
Grant turned.
He ran.
He made it three steps.
Luca’s man tackled him before the officers reached the porch.
Grant hit the wet concrete.
Emma flinched.
Police handcuffed him.
Grant twisted around.
“Emma!”
She stood in the doorway.
“Marcus will come for you.”
Luca stepped forward.
Grant shouted louder.
“He needs the ledger!”
Police pulled him upright.
“He’ll kill everyone in that house to get it!”
Luca’s expression hardened.
“Take him.”
Grant struggled.
“Emma, listen to me!”
She didn’t move.
Then Grant shouted the sentence that stopped everyone.
“He already has someone inside Luca’s family.”
Marina went pale.
Luca stepped toward Grant.
“Who?”
Grant smiled through blood on his lip.
“You’ll find out tonight.”
The police car drove away.
Nobody spoke.
Then Marina’s phone rang.
She looked at the screen.
Her face emptied.
“It’s Daniel.”
She answered.
No one spoke on the other end.
Only breathing.
May you like
Then a man’s voice said:
“Bring me Carlo’s ledger, or her husband dies.”
