Chapter 2 - THE GHOST IN THE HOUSE
The silence in the dining room was suffocating.
Forty guests stared at Vanessa, their expensive champagne forgotten.
Luca Moretti didn't raise his voice. He didn't have to. The quiet danger radiating from him was enough to make the air feel thin.
“What did Daniel know, Vanessa?” Luca asked, stepping closer to his fiancée.
Vanessa scrambled backward, her heels scraping loudly against the hardwood floor. She looked desperately at the faces around the table, but nobody moved to help her.
“It was a mistake,” Vanessa sobbed, clutching the fabric of her gown. “I was desperate, Luca. You have to understand.”
“I don't understand anything yet,” Luca said. He turned his dark eyes toward me. “Rachel, what else did Daniel say on that final phone call?”
My hands shook. I gripped the back of the dining chair to keep from collapsing.
“He said he found something at the warehouse,” I whispered, forcing the memory out of the dark corner where I had buried it. “He said he was supposed to fix the HVAC unit in the executive office. But he heard a conversation he wasn't supposed to hear.”
Answer one: Daniel hadn't died in a random workplace accident. He was murdered because he overheard Vanessa’s secret.
“What warehouse, Rachel?” Luca asked sharply.
“The Bellini Import facility,” I said. Vanessa’s family business.
Luca turned back to Vanessa. His jaw was clenched so tight I thought his teeth might shatter.
“My brother Michael ran the logistics for that facility,” Luca stated, his voice devoid of all warmth.
Michael Moretti had died in a car crash two years ago. It was the tragedy that had broken Luca’s heart and secured his position as the head of the syndicate.
Vanessa’s face went completely white. She looked like she was going to be sick.
“You were stealing from the syndicate,” Luca deduced, reading her terror perfectly.
“No!” Vanessa shrieked, panic breaking her sophisticated facade. “No, Luca, I swear! I wasn't stealing money!”
“Then what did Daniel hear?” I demanded, stepping forward, the anger finally burning away my fear. “Why did you let my husband die alone?”
Vanessa looked at me. The malice she usually reserved for me was gone, replaced by pure, naked fear of the man standing beside me.
“Daniel heard me talking to my father,” Vanessa cried, tears ruining her perfect makeup. “My family was going bankrupt, Luca. The imports were failing. We needed the merger with your family to survive. But Michael found out about our debts. He was going to block the marriage.”
Open two: If Michael was going to block the marriage, why did he die in a car crash? And what did Daniel overhear that made Vanessa kill him six months later?
“Michael died before he could tell me,” Luca said, his voice dropping into a deadly whisper.
“Yes,” Vanessa gasped. “But Daniel didn't just overhear us talking about the debt.”
She looked at me, her eyes wide.
“Daniel found the mechanic’s invoice,” Vanessa whispered.
My heart stopped.
“What invoice?” Luca asked.
“The invoice for Michael’s brakes,” Vanessa choked out. “My father paid a mechanic to cut the brake lines on Michael’s car so the wedding would go forward. Daniel found the receipt in the office.”
The entire room erupted into chaos.
Luca’s brother hadn't died in an accident. He had been murdered by Vanessa’s family to secure a mafia merger. And my husband had found the proof.
Luca didn't yell. He didn't pull a weapon.
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He just reached out and grabbed Vanessa by the throat.
TITLE: THE TIE THAT BINDS
