Chapter 5 - The Photograph in Luca's Desk
Three weeks later, my life looked completely different.
Derek was gone.
The hotel opened an employee childcare program.
Luca claimed it had been planned for months.
Nobody believed him.
Jamie especially didn't.
“He made it because of me.”
“Don't get arrogant.”
“What's arrogant?”
“Exactly what you're becoming.”
Jamie now greeted Luca whenever he saw him.
Luca pretended to find this annoying.
He wasn't convincing.
One afternoon, I delivered fresh linens to the executive level.
Luca's office door was open.
“Nora.”
I stopped.
“Yes?”
“Come here.”
My stomach still reacted whenever he used that tone.
I entered.
He held a photograph.
“Do you recognize this man?”
He placed it on the desk.
My breath stopped.
My husband.
Evan Bennett.
Alive.
Smiling.
Standing beside Luca Vescari.
“What is this?”
Luca didn't answer immediately.
“Where did you get that?”
“Your husband worked for me.”
“No.”
“He did.”
“Evan sold commercial insurance.”
“That was his legitimate job.”
I stared at him.
“What was his other job?”
Luca sat down.
“He investigated financial records for my companies.”
“You're lying.”
“I wish I were.”
My hands started shaking.
“Why?”
“Because someone was stealing from me.”
“Salvatore.”
Luca nodded.
“Evan discovered it.”
I couldn't speak.
“He died in a car accident.”
Luca's eyes hardened.
“That wasn't an accident.”
Everything inside me went cold.
“You knew?”
“I suspected.”
“You knew and never told me?”
“I didn't know you existed.”
I stepped backward.
“He worked for you, and because of you—”
“Yes.”
The answer stopped me.
Luca didn't defend himself.
Didn't make excuses.
He simply looked at me.
“His death is connected to my family.”
My eyes burned.
“So Jamie lost his father because of you.”
Luca stood.
“Because of Salvatore.”
“That's not different enough for me.”
I turned toward the door.
“Nora.”
I stopped.
“There is something else.”
I didn't want anything else.
But I turned.
Luca opened the desk drawer.
Inside was an envelope.
My name was written across it.
In Evan's handwriting.
My knees nearly failed.
“What is that?”
“Something your husband gave me two days before he died.”
“Why didn't you give it to me?”
“I didn't know where you were.”
I grabbed the envelope.
My fingers shook as I opened it.
Inside was one page.
Evan's handwriting.
Nora, if you're reading this, I probably failed to come home.
I stopped breathing.
The final line destroyed me.
If anything happens to me, find Luca Vescari. He is dangerous, but he keeps his word.
I looked up.
Luca stood silently across from me.
I finally understood why, on that first night, he had looked at Jamie as though he'd seen a ghost.
“You knew who he was.”
Luca nodded.
“When?”
“The moment you told me his father's name.”
“And you said nothing.”
“I needed proof.”
“Of what?”
Luca looked at the photograph.
May you like
“That Salvatore killed your husband.”
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