Chapter 2 - The Chair Beside Luca

Vanessa sat down.

Not because she wanted to.

Because thirty people were watching Luca Moretti wait for her to do it.

Sophie picked up her fork with both hands.

Her fingers were still shaking.

Luca noticed.

So did I.

He pulled his own chair closer to hers.

“Eat.”

Sophie looked at Vanessa before taking the first bite.

That tiny glance changed Luca more than the rule card had.

He saw it.

The habit.

The fear.

The need to check another adult’s face before doing something as simple as eating dinner.

Vanessa folded her napkin.

“This is humiliating.”

Luca didn’t look at her.

“For who?”

“For me.”

That made him turn.

“You think this is about you?”

Her jaw tightened.

“You invited me into this family.”

“I invited you to love my daughter.”

“I tried.”

Sophie stopped chewing.

Luca immediately lowered his voice.

“No.”

Vanessa leaned forward.

“You have no idea what I have dealt with while you were working.”

I felt Sophie go still beside me.

Luca heard it too.

“What did you deal with?”

Vanessa looked around the table.

“Her moods. Her crying. Her obsession with Sarah.”

Aunt Maria put down her wineglass.

“She misses her mother.”

Vanessa ignored her.

“She compares everything to Sarah. Food. Holidays. Dresses. Flowers.”

Sophie whispered, “I don’t mean to.”

Luca’s chair scraped the floor.

He stood.

“Do not apologize for remembering your mother.”

Sophie looked up at him.

Vanessa laughed once.

“So I’m supposed to live with a dead woman in every room?”

Nobody answered.

Then Luca did.

“Yes.”

The room became silent.

He picked up the torn rule card.

“Sarah is Sophie’s mother.”

He placed the pieces on the table between them.

“That does not change because I marry someone else.”

Vanessa’s face hardened.

“If that’s how you feel, why did you ask me to marry you?”

Luca stared at her.

For the first time all night, he looked less angry than tired.

“Because I thought you understood that.”

She pushed back from the table.

“This is insane.”

Luca looked toward the doorway.

“Marco.”

His head of security appeared almost immediately.

Vanessa’s expression changed.

“You are not throwing me out of my own wedding dinner.”

Luca’s voice remained calm.

“This is not your wedding dinner anymore.”

Sophie dropped her fork.

I heard it hit the plate.

Vanessa stared at him.

“Excuse me?”

“The wedding is postponed.”

A murmur moved through the room.

“Luca.”

“Until I know exactly what happened in my house.”

Vanessa stood.

“You believe a maid and a ten-year-old over me?”

That sentence did it.

Not the rules.

Not the photographs.

That.

Luca stepped around Sophie’s chair and faced Vanessa.

“I believe my daughter about what happened to my daughter.”

Vanessa went pale.

He looked at Marco.

“Escort our guests out. Quietly.”

Then at me.

“Claire.”

“Yes, sir?”

“Stay.”

My stomach tightened.

Vanessa heard it too.

“Of course she stays.”

Luca looked at her.

“What does that mean?”

She smiled at me without warmth.

“It means your maid has been waiting for this.”

I stared at her.

“For what?”

“For me to make one mistake.”

Luca’s eyes narrowed.

“One?”

Vanessa stopped.

I saw it.

The instant she realized she had chosen the wrong word.

Luca saw it too.

“How many were there?”

She said nothing.

Sophie reached for his hand.

He took it without looking away from Vanessa.

Then Aunt Maria spoke from the far end of the table.

“Luca.”

He turned.

She was holding her phone.

“I think you should see something.”

Vanessa’s face changed again.

This time, it wasn’t anger.

It was fear.

Maria unlocked the screen but did not hand it over yet.

“I took pictures during the bridal fitting yesterday.”

Vanessa moved toward her.

“Maria, don’t.”

Luca’s eyes went to Vanessa.

Then back to his sister.

“What is in the pictures?”

Maria swallowed.

“Sophie was wearing a long-sleeved dress.”

“Yes.”

“She wasn’t supposed to.”

Luca frowned.

Maria finally held out the phone.

“Vanessa made her cover her arms.”

Luca took it.

I couldn’t see the picture.

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But I saw his face.

And whatever was on that screen made the room colder than the snow outside.