Chapter 2 - The Date Inside the Second Medallion

Nobody moved.

Emma stared at the photograph inside Belini’s medallion.

A newborn.

A hospital room.

Her birthday.

And four words that should not have existed.

Tell Luca when she’s ready.

Luca read them again.

Slower.

As if the meaning might change if he gave the words enough time.

It did not.

Emma looked at Belini.

“What does that mean?”

Belini closed the medallion.

Too late.

Emma had already seen fear.

Not surprise.

Fear.

Luca held out his hand.

“Give it to me.”

Belini hesitated.

Then obeyed.

The second medallion was almost identical to Emma’s.

Same gold.

Same oval shape.

Same flower engraving.

Only one difference.

A tiny scratch crossed the hinge.

Luca knew that scratch.

He had been eight years old when Sofia dropped the necklace on the kitchen floor.

His aunt had laughed.

His father had not.

“They were a pair,” Luca said.

Emma turned.

“What?”

“My grandmother had two daughters.”

“Sofia and?”

“My mother.”

Luca looked at the two medallions.

“One went to Sofia.”

“And the other?”

“My mother gave hers back after Sofia disappeared.”

Emma felt cold.

“Why?”

Luca looked toward Belini.

She answered before he could.

“Because the family believed someone had used the necklaces to identify them.”

Emma’s eyes narrowed.

“You know a great deal for someone who said she knew nothing.”

Belini looked tired now.

Not elegant.

Not untouchable.

Just trapped.

“I knew fragments.”

“Then start with the fragment where my birthday is inside your necklace.”

Belini’s gaze dropped.

“I found it six years ago.”

“Where?”

“In my father’s safe.”

Luca’s expression hardened.

“Moretti had Sofia’s medallion?”

Belini looked at him.

“No.”

She pointed toward Emma’s.

“That one.”

Emma instinctively closed her fist around it.

“My mother’s?”

Belini nodded.

The room changed again.

Luca stepped closer.

“How did your father get it?”

“I don’t know.”

“Wrong answer.”

“I truly don’t.”

Belini swallowed.

“He died before I could ask.”

Emma’s voice sharpened.

“You had six years.”

“I was afraid.”

“Of what?”

Belini looked at the photographs.

“Of learning my family helped Sofia disappear.”

Silence.

Marco returned with an old file box.

Dust.

Cracked leather straps.

Twenty-three years of secrets.

He placed it on the table.

“Boss. Sofia file.”

Luca opened it.

Photographs.

Police reports.

Private investigator notes.

Hotel receipts.

One page after another.

Then Emma saw a name.

MARIANNE VOSS.

She froze.

“My mother used Vale.”

Luca looked down.

“Voss?”

Emma nodded slowly.

“Before I was born.”

A second alias.

A life before Emma.

Luca pulled the page free.

Marianne Voss had rented a cabin near Lake George.

Twenty-three years ago.

With another woman.

Sofia Castellano.

Emma’s pulse jumped.

“They were together.”

“Yes,” Luca said.

“For how long?”

Marco checked.

“At least three months.”

Belini whispered, “That’s where they disappeared.”

Emma looked at her.

“You knew?”

“I knew about the cabin.”

“Why?”

“Because my father paid for it.”

Luca turned so slowly the movement became threatening.

“Your father hid my aunt.”

Belini’s voice broke.

“I think he helped her run.”

Nobody spoke.

Then Marco found one more page.

Hospital billing.

Different surname.

Different city.

Same date as Emma’s birth.

Mother listed as:

MARIANNE VOSS.

Emergency contact:

SOFIA CASTELLANO.

Emma stared at the line.

Luca stared too.

The photograph in Belini’s medallion was no coincidence.

Sofia had been there when Emma was born.

Emma’s voice came out quietly.

“Why would your aunt be my mother’s emergency contact?”

Luca looked at the picture.

Then at Emma.

“I think we’ve been asking the wrong question.”

“What question?”

“Not why Sofia knew your mother.”

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His eyes settled on Emma.

“But why Sofia wanted me to know about you.”