Chapter 2 - THE BRACELET
“What she offered me,” Rosa said, her voice steady in the dead silent ballroom, “was this.”
The elderly woman reached into her worn leather purse.
Her arthritis-swollen fingers pulled out something that caught the light of the crystal chandeliers.
A heavy, platinum bracelet crusted with emeralds.
It hit the marble table with a sharp, heavy clink.
Gasps rippled through the thirty wealthy guests.
I stood frozen, the warm apple pie still burning my palms.
Luca stared at the jewelry.
His jaw locked.
I knew that bracelet. It was a Moretti family heirloom. Luca had given it to Vanessa just last week, a welcome gift to the family.
“You gave her my grandmother’s emeralds?” Luca’s voice was dangerously quiet.
Vanessa’s pale face flushed with panic.
“Luca, be reasonable. She showed up smelling of bus fumes! I was protecting our image. I gave her a token of appreciation to leave quietly.”
“A token?” Rosa asked gently. “You told me to take the stones, pawn them, and die in a nursing home where I wouldn’t embarrass the Moretti name.”
Vanessa lunged forward, her red gown swishing.
“You lying old hag! Luca, she’s manipulating you. She’s just a maid!”
“She raised me,” Luca said.
He didn’t yell. He didn’t have to.
The ice in his tone made two armed guards at the door step forward instinctively.
“When my mother died, Rosa stayed awake for five days straight so I wouldn’t have nightmares alone. She is more family than you will ever be.”
He turned to his underboss, Carlo.
“The engagement is off. Call the cars. Send everyone home.”
Chaos erupted.
Vanessa grabbed Luca’s arm, but he shrugged her off with disgust.
“You’re making a mistake!” Vanessa shrieked, her elegant mask completely shattered. “You think she’s a saint? You think she’s just a sweet old housekeeper?”
Luca ignored her, gently taking Rosa’s arm. “Let’s go, Mama. Emma, bring the pie.”
“Wait!” Vanessa screamed.
She pointed a trembling, manicured finger at Rosa’s chest.
Specifically, at the heavy silver rosary dangling outside Rosa’s navy coat.
“Ask her where she got that rosary, Luca! Ask her whose blood is on it!”
Luca stopped.
He looked down at the silver cross.
Rosa’s hand flew to her chest, her eyes wide with sudden, absolute terror.
May you like
Vanessa smiled, a vicious, cornered animal.
“Go ahead, Rosa. Tell him what you’ve been hiding for twenty-six years. Tell him who really opened the door for the men who killed his mother.”
