Chapter 2 - THE YELLOW KEY AT TABLE SEVEN
THE MAFIA BOSS'S FIANCÉE ORDERED ME TO SERVE DINNER TO THE MAN I'D SPENT TWO YEARS HIDING FROM—THEN LAUGHED WHEN I DROPPED HIS WINEGLASS. BUT WHEN LUCA SAW MY EX-HUSBAND GRAB MY WRIST, HE RUSHED ACROSS THE RESTAURANT AND PULLED ME BEHIND HIM. WHAT VANESSA ADMITTED NEXT MADE EVERY GUEST QUESTION WHY SHE'D BROUGHT THAT MAN THERE.
“Go ahead, Natalie. He won't bite.”
Vanessa Bellini laughed as she pushed me toward table seven.
Twenty-eight guests were celebrating her engagement to Luca Moretti in the private upstairs dining room of his family's Italian restaurant.
Warm chandeliers.
Dark walnut walls.
White tablecloths.
And a man sitting beside the fireplace who made my blood run cold.
My ex-husband.
Mark Hale.
I hadn't seen him in two years.
Not since the judge granted me a protective order.
“Hello, sweetheart,” he said.
My hands started shaking.
The wineglass slipped from my tray and shattered against the marble floor.
Vanessa stood immediately.
“For heaven's sake! Natalie, you're embarrassing everyone!”
“I'm sorry,” I whispered.
She grabbed my arm.
“Then clean it up.”
I bent down.
But Mark reached beneath the table and caught my wrist.
“Still running away from me?”
I froze.
“Please let go.”
He smiled.
“Come on, Natalie. We used to be married.”
My name is Natalie Brooks.
I'm twenty-eight years old, and I've worked as a housemaid for the Moretti family for nine months.
Before that, I'd spent almost a year moving between my sister's spare bedroom and a small apartment across town.
Mark always seemed to find out where I was.
He'd appear outside my workplace.
Leave flowers on my car.
Tell anyone who would listen that I was an ungrateful wife.
When I finally left him, I took two suitcases and my grandmother's wedding quilt.
Nothing else.
I thought I'd finally found somewhere safe working for the Morettis.
Until tonight.
“Mark,” I whispered, “let go of me.”
His fingers tightened.
Vanessa folded her arms.
“Oh, stop being dramatic, Natalie. He's just trying to talk to you.”
I looked toward the dining room doors.
“Mrs. Bellini, please. I need to leave.”
She stepped in front of me.
“You're not abandoning my engagement dinner because you can't behave around your own husband.”
“Ex-husband,” I whispered.
Vanessa smiled.
“Whatever makes you feel better.”
Then a chair scraped across the floor.
“Take your hand off her.”
Luca Moretti stood at the head of the table.
Thirty-six years old.
Black three-piece suit.
Dark swept-back hair, tattoos visible above his collar and across his hands.
He crossed the room before Mark could answer.
“Now.”
Mark released my wrist.
Luca immediately moved between us.
“Natalie, are you hurt?”
I shook my head.
But I couldn't stop trembling.
His expression changed.
He took one look at my face and gently guided me behind him.
“Hey. You're safe. Look at me.”
My eyes filled.
“I'm sorry about the glass, sir.”
His voice softened.
“Forget the glass.”
Then he turned toward Vanessa.
“Why is she crying?”
Vanessa gave an uncomfortable laugh.
“Darling, Natalie had a little disagreement with her ex. I thought tonight might be a good opportunity for them to make peace.”
Luca stared at her.
“You arranged this?”
“Mark wanted to apologize.”
Luca's jaw tightened.
“You brought her ex-husband here without asking her?”
Vanessa looked irritated.
“Honestly, Luca, she's twenty-eight years old. She needs to stop behaving like a frightened child.”
He turned toward me.
“Natalie, do you want this man here?”
I shook my head.
“There's a protective order, sir.”
The entire table went silent.
Luca's expression hardened.
Then he looked directly at Mark.
“You came here knowing that?”
Mark shifted in his chair.
“Look, Mr. Moretti, Vanessa said everything was taken care of.”
Luca went still.
“Taken care of?”
Vanessa immediately interrupted.
“He means the seating arrangements.”
But Luca wasn't looking at her anymore.
He turned to the restaurant manager.
“Daniel. Escort Mr. Hale out. Make sure Natalie can leave safely, and contact the police about the protective order.”
Mark stood.
“Wait. Vanessa promised me—”
“Not another word to her,” Luca said.
His voice was shaking with anger.
Then he turned back to me.
“Natalie, I'm sorry.”
I stared at him.
“You didn't know.”
“No. But I should have made sure you felt safe working for my family.”
His eyes were wet.
He gently pulled out a chair beside his own.
“Sit here until we get this sorted out.”
Vanessa stepped forward.
“Luca, that's my seat.”
He looked at her.
“Then find another one.”
Nobody spoke.
I sat down.
For the first time that evening, my hands began to steady.
But as Daniel escorted Mark toward the doors, my ex-husband suddenly stopped.
“Natalie didn't tell you everything.”
My stomach dropped.
Luca stood.
“Keep walking.”
Mark shook his head.
“She thinks I found her by accident.”
Vanessa's face went pale.
“Mark, that's enough.”
He looked at her.
“Why? You said he'd understand.”
Luca slowly turned toward his fiancée.
“Understand what?”
Mark reached into his jacket and removed a small brass key with a yellow plastic cover.
I stopped breathing.
Because I recognized it immediately.
It was the spare key to my apartment.
The one I'd reported missing three weeks earlier.
“Where did you get that?” I whispered.
Mark looked toward Vanessa.
“She gave it to me.”
Luca's face changed.
Then Mrs. Carter, the elderly housekeeper, stepped forward.
“Mr. Moretti, Miss Bellini asked me for Natalie's emergency contact information last month.”
Vanessa snapped, “Mrs. Carter, be quiet!”
But Luca raised his hand.
“Let her speak.”
The housekeeper swallowed.
“She told me Natalie was being considered for a promotion and needed a background check.”
I looked at Vanessa.
My heart was pounding.
Because three weeks ago, she'd congratulated me on being selected to help manage the household.
She'd even asked for a copy of my apartment key.
Said she wanted to arrange a surprise housewarming gift.
I'd trusted her.
Luca turned toward Mark.
“What did Vanessa want you to do?”
He hesitated.
Then said something that made my stomach twist.
“She wanted Natalie frightened enough to quit before the wedding.”
Luca slowly faced his fiancée.
“Why?”
Vanessa couldn't answer.
Then Mark added quietly, “Because Natalie recognized someone at this restaurant last month.”
I froze.
Luca looked at me.
“Who did you recognize?”
I remembered the private dinner I'd served four weeks earlier.
Vanessa.
Two businessmen.
And a woman who'd kept her face turned away from me.
I'd thought she looked familiar.
But I'd only seen her once before.
At the courthouse.
Standing beside Mark during our divorce hearing.
My throat tightened.
“Mr. Moretti,” I whispered, “I think Vanessa knows my ex-husband's attorney.”
Luca turned back toward her.
“Vanessa, why were you having dinner with that woman?”
She covered her mouth.
Then Mark spoke again.
“Because she wasn't there as my attorney.”
Nobody moved.
Luca stared at him.
“Then whose attorney was she?”
Mark looked straight at Vanessa.
And suddenly, she began crying.
“Luca, please. I was going to tell you after the wedding.”
His expression went cold.
“Tell me what?”
But Mark had already answered.
“That woman has been helping Vanessa make arrangements for someone to disappear.”
Luca stopped moving.
“Who?”
Mark looked at me.
And what he said next made me grab the edge of the table.
“Natalie wasn't supposed to be the only person leaving Chicago.”
Vanessa backed toward the doorway.
Luca stepped forward.
“Who else, Vanessa?”
She didn't answer.
May you like
And for the first time, I realized the woman who'd spent weeks trying to force me out of this house wasn't simply protecting a secret.
She was trying to make sure there would be nobody left who could recognize the person she planned to bring into Luca Moretti's life after their wedding.
