Chapter 2 - The Woman With the Pearl Bracelet
For one terrible second, nobody moved.
The blonde woman stood between us and the locked door.
Mia pressed herself against my legs.
I could feel her shaking.
The woman appeared to be in her late thirties. Perfect hair. Cream dress. Diamond earrings. She looked as if she belonged at a charity luncheon, not inside the private study of a man whose name made hotel employees lower their voices.
Her pearl bracelet clicked softly as she crossed her arms.
“You're Elena, correct?”
I tightened my grip around Mia.
“Who are you?”
“Camille Moretti.”
The last name made my mouth dry.
“Adrian's cousin.”
She smiled.
“Among other things.”
Mia whispered, “Mommy.”
Camille heard her.
She looked down.
“That child has quite an imagination.”
I didn't answer.
Camille took one step forward.
I moved Mia behind me.
The smile disappeared.
“You're a guest here, Elena. Guests don't go through private documents.”
“We weren't going through anything.”
“Of course not.”
She glanced at the medication schedule.
“Children touch things.”
Mia spoke before I could stop her.
“I saw you put drops in Grandma Lucia's tea.”
Camille's face changed.
Not much.
Just enough.
The muscles around her mouth tightened.
“Did you?”
Mia nodded.
Camille approached her.
I blocked the path.
“Don't.”
Our eyes met.
There are moments when fear becomes too large to carry and turns into something else.
For me, that something was anger.
I had spent years apologizing to landlords, supervisors, bill collectors, and customers who treated cleaning staff like furniture.
But nobody was intimidating my daughter.
Camille seemed amused.
“Do you understand whose house you're standing in?”
“Yes.”
“No, I don't think you do.”
Suddenly the lock moved.
Camille spun around.
The door opened.
Adrian Moretti stood outside.
Two security men were behind him.
His eyes moved from Camille to me.
Then Mia.
“Why was this door locked?”
Camille recovered instantly.
“The child wandered inside. I was explaining boundaries.”
Adrian looked toward the desk.
Then at Mia.
“What happened?”
I wanted to lie.
Every survival instinct I possessed screamed at me to take my daughter and leave.
Mia answered first.
“She put medicine in Grandma's drink.”
Silence.
Adrian slowly turned toward Camille.
Camille laughed.
“Oh, please.”
“What medicine?” Adrian asked.
“I don't know,” Mia said. “Little blue bottle.”
Adrian's face became unreadable.
Camille rolled her eyes.
“She's five.”
“She notices things,” I said.
Camille gave me a look sharp enough to cut.
Adrian asked, “Where?”
“The sunroom,” Mia said.
“What cup?”
“The flower one.”
Adrian turned to one of his men.
“Dante.”
The broad-shouldered security chief moved immediately.
“Get the cup. Nobody touches anything in the sunroom.”
Camille scoffed.
“This is ridiculous.”
“Then you'll have nothing to worry about.”
For the first time, she looked afraid.
It vanished quickly.
“Adrian, your mother has heart medication. I was adding the drops Dr. Vale prescribed.”
“Dr. Vale discontinued those drops three weeks ago.”
Camille stopped breathing for half a second.
Adrian noticed.
So did I.
Lucia appeared at the end of the hallway.
“What is happening?”
Adrian stepped toward her.
“Ma, don't drink anything.”
She frowned.
“Adrian?”
“Not water. Not coffee. Nothing.”
Camille's face hardened.
“You're frightening her.”
“Dante.”
The security chief returned carrying a teacup inside a clear evidence bag.
“Send it to Dr. Patel.”
Camille shook her head.
“You've lost your mind.”
Adrian didn't answer.
“Adrian.”
Still nothing.
Camille reached for his arm.
He stepped away before she touched him.
That seemed to hurt her more than any accusation.
“You'd believe a cleaning woman and a child over family?”
Adrian finally looked at her.
“I believe evidence.”
Camille stared at me.
Hatred replaced every trace of refinement in her expression.
Then she walked away.
I immediately picked up Mia's backpack.
“We're leaving.”
Adrian turned.
“No.”
I froze.
His tone wasn't loud.
It didn't need to be.
“You do not get to tell me no,” I said.
His eyebrows lifted slightly.
Dante looked as if nobody had spoken to Adrian like that in years.
“I didn't mean you're prisoners.”
“That is exactly how it sounded.”
Adrian exhaled.
“Someone followed my mother last night. Your daughter may have just identified someone tampering with her medication. Until I understand what is happening, leaving could put both of you at risk.”
“We were safe before we met your family.”
His expression tightened because he knew I was right.
Lucia moved toward Mia.
“My darling, I am terribly sorry.”
Mia looked up at her.
“Are you sick?”
“I've been feeling sick for several weeks.”
Adrian glanced at his mother.
That was the moment I understood.
Lucia's collapse had not been random.
Someone had been doing this for a while.
“How long?” I asked.
Lucia hesitated.
“Dizziness. Confusion. Weakness. Sometimes I can't remember conversations.”
“Your doctors?”
“They say my heart medication may need adjustment.”
Adrian looked furious.
“Which Camille has been helping manage.”
Lucia lowered herself into a chair.
“She has been very attentive.”
I saw Adrian and Dante exchange a glance.
Camille had access.
Trust.
Privacy.
Exactly what a poisoner needed.
Dr. Patel arrived within an hour.
He was not the Moretti family's regular physician.
Apparently Adrian trusted almost nobody at that point.
Blood was drawn from Lucia.
The teacup was tested.
The first preliminary result came back shortly before sunset.
Dr. Patel entered the library carrying his phone.
His face told us everything before he spoke.
“There is a sedative in the tea.”
Lucia gripped the armrest.
Adrian became perfectly still.
“How much?”
“Enough to cause dizziness and confusion. Combined with your mother's prescribed medication, it could cause fainting.”
“Could it kill her?”
Dr. Patel hesitated.
“With repeated exposure?”
He nodded.
“Yes.”
Mia crawled closer to me.
I held her.
Adrian turned toward Dante.
“Find Camille.”
Dante spoke quietly into his radio.
Several seconds passed.
His expression changed.
“Her room is empty.”
Adrian's voice became colder.
“Check the grounds.”
“She left eleven minutes ago.”
“Who opened the gate?”
Another security man entered.
Nobody spoke.
Adrian looked around the room.
“Who opened the gate?”
The man swallowed.
“Your uncle's authorization was used.”
Lucia went pale.
“Silvio?”
That name changed the atmosphere.
Adrian's uncle.
Lucia's late husband's younger brother.
A man who controlled several Moretti companies.
Adrian walked toward the window.
Outside, the Long Island Sound had turned black beneath the evening sky.
“Where is Silvio now?”
Nobody answered.
His phone rang.
Unknown number.
Adrian answered.
A distorted voice spoke through the speaker.
“You should have left the old woman on the sidewalk.”
Then the line went dead.
I stopped breathing.
Because whoever called wasn't speaking to Adrian.
The next message proved it.
A photograph appeared on his phone.
Our apartment building in Queens.
Taken ten minutes earlier.
Beneath it were five words.
SEND THE WOMAN AND CHILD HOME.
Adrian looked at me.
For the first time since meeting him, I saw something unmistakable in his face.
Fear.
May you like
Not for himself.
For us.
