Chapter 3 - DINNER WITH THE WOLF
Vincent Moretti entered the shattered bedroom without waiting for permission.
He moved with the confidence of a man who had spent his entire life entering rooms that belonged to other people.
His charcoal suit was perfectly pressed.
His silver hair was combed away from a face softened by age but not kindness.
He looked at the broken window.
Then he looked at Sophie.
“My poor little bird.”
Sophie moved closer to Emma.
Vincent noticed.
His smile remained in place.
“And who is this?”
“Emma Brooks,” Luca said.
Vincent extended his hand.
Emma looked at the wolf ring.
She did not touch him.
Vincent’s smile widened.
“You have good instincts.”
“So I’ve been told.”
“And poor manners.”
“That too.”
Luca stepped between them.
“Why are you wearing that ring?”
Vincent looked down as though he had forgotten it existed.
“It belonged to your grandfather.”
“Sophie says she recognizes it.”
Vincent turned toward the child.
“You remember this, little bird?”
Sophie did not answer.
He lifted his hands.
His signing was slow but fluent.
You can tell me.
Emma felt Sophie stiffen beside her.
Luca stared at his uncle.
“You know sign language.”
Vincent lowered his hands.
“Your wife taught me.”
Luca’s face hardened.
“My wife taught no one without telling me.”
Vincent shrugged.
“Elena had many secrets.”
The name changed the air in the room.
Sophie looked down.
Emma realized Elena had been Luca’s wife.
The woman who had written the notebook.
The woman who had warned her daughter about the wolf.
Marco stepped closer to Luca.
“The grounds are sealed.”
“No shooter?”
“No one has crossed the perimeter.”
Vincent glanced toward the window.
“Then perhaps one of your guards fired accidentally.”
“Twice?”
“Standards have declined.”
Luca watched him with open suspicion.
Vincent’s smile faded.
“Careful, nephew.”
“Fear can make a man see enemies where there are only family members.”
“And betrayal can make an enemy hide behind the word family.”
No one moved.
Sophie slipped her hand into Emma’s.
Vincent noticed the gesture.
His eyes became cold.
“Dinner is waiting.”
Luca looked toward Marco.
“Move Sophie to the secure wing.”
Sophie shook her head immediately.
Her hands flew.
No.
Mama died in the secure wing.
Luca stopped breathing.
“What did she say?”
Emma looked at Sophie.
The child’s face had gone pale.
Luca stepped closer.
“Emma.”
“She said her mother died in the secure wing.”
Vincent turned away too quickly.
Emma saw it.
So did Luca.
“Elena died in a car accident,” Luca said.
Sophie’s hands moved.
No.
She was hurt before the car.
Luca stared at his daughter.
“Who told you that?”
Sophie touched her own chest.
I saw her.
The corridor seemed to tilt around them.
Luca dropped to one knee.
His gun remained in his hand.
His voice became almost gentle.
“Show me.”
Sophie did not understand.
Emma translated.
Show him what you saw.
Sophie pointed to her throat.
Then she twisted both hands as though gripping an invisible steering wheel.
She closed her eyes.
She let her head fall sideways.
Emma swallowed.
“She saw bruises around Elena’s neck before the crash.”
Luca looked at Vincent.
Vincent’s expression remained smooth.
“She was six years old.”
“She was seven,” Luca said.
Vincent hesitated.
It lasted less than a second.
It was enough.
Luca rose.
“You remember the exact month she died.”
“Everyone remembers tragedy differently.”
“No.”
Luca’s voice became quieter.
“You remember details you should not know.”
A woman’s heels clicked in the hallway.
Isabella appeared behind Vincent.
She looked at the destroyed bedroom with theatrical shock.
“What happened?”
“No one told you?” Emma asked.
Isabella glared at her.
“I was in the dining room.”
“With Vincent?”
“With the family.”
Vincent placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
The wolf ring rested against the green fabric of her dress.
Emma watched Isabella look down at it.
She was not surprised by the symbol.
She recognized it.
Luca saw that too.
“Everyone downstairs,” he ordered.
“Now.”
Dinner was served beneath a chandelier large enough to crush the entire table.
Twelve members of the Moretti family sat in silence.
Sophie remained beside Emma.
Luca sat at the head.
Vincent sat at the opposite end.
Isabella took the chair meant for Luca’s wife.
Emma noticed Sophie would not look at her.
A servant poured wine.
Another placed roasted lamb on each plate.
No one touched the food.
Vincent lifted his glass.
“To Sophie’s safe return.”
Luca did not lift his own.
“Who ordered the vehicle hit?”
Vincent sighed.
“Must we do this during dinner?”
“The man who photographed Sophie carried a threat connected to Elena.”
A murmur moved around the table.
Isabella turned sharply.
“What threat?”
Emma watched her face.
The question sounded genuine.
The fear did not.
Luca placed the photograph on the table.
Vincent read the words.
THE DEBT LIVES.
For the first time, his composure cracked.
His wineglass stopped halfway to his mouth.
Luca leaned forward.
“You recognize it.”
“No.”
“You just reacted.”
“To a threat against a child.”
Sophie touched Emma’s wrist.
Her other hand moved beneath the table.
The woman is lying.
Emma followed Sophie’s gaze.
Isabella had gone pale.
Emma signed back.
About what?
She has Mama’s bracelet.
Emma looked at Isabella’s left wrist.
A narrow gold bracelet rested beneath her sleeve.
A tiny blue stone hung from the clasp.
Sophie’s breathing quickened.
Mama wore it the night she died.
Emma stood.
Every person at the table looked at her.
Isabella frowned.
“What are you doing?”
Emma walked around the table.
She stopped beside Isabella.
“Where did you get that bracelet?”
Isabella pulled her sleeve down.
“It was a gift.”
“From whom?”
“That is none of your business.”
Sophie stood too.
Tears filled her eyes.
Her hands trembled.
Mama.
Isabella looked at Sophie.
She understood.
Emma saw recognition flash across her face.
“You know what she said,” Emma whispered.
Isabella pushed back her chair.
“This is absurd.”
Luca stood.
“Give me the bracelet.”
Isabella looked at Vincent.
It was instinctive.
It lasted only a moment.
But Luca saw it.
Vincent placed his napkin beside his plate.
“Luca, do not humiliate your future wife because a bakery worker has filled your daughter’s head with fantasies.”
Emma’s anger ignited.
“Your daughter remembered her mother’s bracelet.”
“She is confused.”
“She is deaf, not stupid.”
Vincent’s hand struck the table.
The glasses jumped.
“You forget where you are.”
Emma did not flinch.
“No.”
“I’m finally starting to understand exactly where I am.”
Luca extended his hand toward Isabella.
“The bracelet.”
Isabella slowly removed it.
She placed it in Luca’s palm.
His face emptied of emotion.
Inside the clasp, two initials had been engraved.
E.M.
Elena Moretti.
Luca looked at Isabella.
“Where did you get this?”
Her lips trembled.
“Elena gave it to me.”
“When?”
“The night she died.”
A chair scraped against the marble.
Luca’s cousin stood abruptly.
“You told police you hadn’t seen Elena for three days.”
Isabella looked trapped.
Vincent rose.
“This dinner is over.”
Luca drew his gun.
“No one leaves.”
Several guards moved toward the doors.
Vincent’s family members began shouting.
Sophie covered her ears, though she could not hear them.
Emma pulled her close.
Then every light in the mansion went out.
The chandelier vanished.
The room plunged into complete darkness.
A woman screamed.
Three suppressed shots cut through the room.
Glass shattered.
Someone grabbed Sophie’s arm.
Emma held on.
A man whispered beside her.
“Let go, baker.”
Emma drove her elbow backward.
The man grunted.
Sophie was torn from her hands.
Emergency lights flashed red.
Emma saw a masked figure carrying Sophie through a side door.
“Luca!”
She ran after them.
Behind her, Luca fired.
The masked man disappeared into the service corridor.
Emma followed.
The door slammed shut.
By the time Luca reached her, the corridor was empty.
Only Sophie’s silver hearing aid lay on the floor.
Beside it was a message written in blood-red ink.
BRING ELENA’S NOTEBOOK OR THE CHILD DIES.
Luca looked at Emma.
His voice was terrifyingly calm.
“What notebook?”
Emma realized there was no longer any safe lie.
May you like
“The one your wife hid inside Sophie’s bedroom.”
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