Chapter 7 - THE PHOTOGRAPH VANESSA GAVE HIM
The photograph looked like a warning.
But when I examined it more closely, I noticed something printed along the bottom edge.
Bellini Events.
Family Giving Day.
A date from three weeks earlier.
Mark hadn't necessarily taken the picture himself.
Someone had given him a professionally printed photograph from a school fundraiser.
That didn't make what he'd done less frightening.
It made the question of who supplied it even more important.
The officer documented the photograph and explained that the police would investigate whether Mark had entered my apartment unlawfully.
She also advised me to arrange a lock change through my landlord.
Sarah helped me pack enough clothes for several nights.
I left my grandmother's quilt with her until the apartment could be secured.
For the first time in years, I didn't feel embarrassed about asking for help.
That evening, I returned to the Moretti restaurant.
Luca was waiting in the smaller dining room with Rebecca and a woman wearing a gray jacket.
I recognized her instantly.
The woman from the courthouse.
Margaret Vale.
She stood when I entered.
“Natalie Brooks?”
I nodded.
Margaret looked uncomfortable.
“I remember seeing you at the courthouse. I didn't understand who you were when Vanessa mentioned her employee.”
“You turned away from me when I served your dinner last month.”
Margaret lowered her eyes.
“Vanessa told me you'd had a difficult divorce. She said you didn't want anyone from that period of your life approaching you.”
I stared at her.
“That wasn't her decision to make.”
“No,” Margaret said. “It wasn't.”
Luca pulled out a chair for me.
“Natalie found this at her apartment.”
I placed the photograph on the table.
Rebecca immediately recognized it.
“That's from Lucy's school fundraiser.”
Margaret examined the printed credit.
“Vanessa's company sponsored that event.”
Rebecca looked sick.
“Mark wasn't there.”
“No,” I said. “But he had the photograph.”
Vanessa stood by the window.
She'd been waiting with Margaret.
When she saw the picture, she closed her eyes.
“I gave Mark a copy.”
Rebecca turned toward her.
“Why?”
“Because he asked how Lucy was doing.”
“You knew I'd stopped speaking to him.”
Vanessa's voice rose.
“He's your brother, Rebecca!”
“And Natalie is his ex-wife,” Luca answered. “You knew there was a protective order.”
Vanessa looked at me.
“I didn't tell him to go into your apartment.”
“You gave him the key.”
She had no answer.
I placed my hands flat against the table.
“Did you know he'd been there?”
Vanessa swallowed.
“He told me he'd checked whether you were home.”
The admission chilled me.
“And you didn't think to warn me?”
“I thought he'd leave you alone once you decided to quit.”
I looked at her.
For nine months, I'd polished her silver, cleaned her rooms, prepared her clothing, and treated her with respect.
She had watched me work while knowing someone dangerous had access to my home.
“You didn't want me to quit,” I said quietly. “You wanted me scared enough to disappear.”
Vanessa started crying.
“I didn't think he'd hurt you.”
“You didn't care enough to find out.”
Margaret stepped forward.
“Vanessa, I need to say something.”
Vanessa shook her head.
“Please don't.”
Margaret looked at Rebecca.
“When I agreed to help you, I understood the arrangement would be temporary. You'd complete job training, Lucy would stay somewhere safe, and you would remain her primary caregiver.”
Rebecca nodded.
“Exactly.”
“I never agreed to prepare a permanent guardianship transfer.”
Luca stared at Vanessa.
“Permanent?”
Margaret continued.
“Vanessa asked whether Lucy could be enrolled in a private school under another household's emergency authority. I explained that doing so would not give her custody.”
Rebecca gripped the table.
“She told me you wanted Lucy to live here.”
“I wanted her to have a chance,” Vanessa whispered.
Margaret turned toward Luca.
“And Vanessa told me she intended to introduce me to you after the wedding as an independent adviser.”
“Were you independent?” he asked.
“I represented Rebecca. Vanessa paid certain expenses, but I repeatedly told her I couldn't make decisions for both parties.”
“Did you know she was trying to remove Natalie?”
“No.”
Luca looked at Vanessa.
“Why hide the relationship?”
“Because you would've asked questions before I was ready.”
He gave a bitter laugh.
“That's exactly what you should've wanted.”
Margaret opened her handbag and removed the dinner reservation card from their earlier meeting.
Two men's names appeared beneath Vanessa's.
Alan Bellini.
Thomas Reed.
I remembered serving them wine.
Margaret explained that Alan was Vanessa's uncle, involved in the restaurant's renovation financing.
Thomas Reed worked for the employment agency arranging Rebecca's Milwaukee placement.
The dinner hadn't been a casual meeting.
It had brought together the people Vanessa needed to move Rebecca away, establish Lucy in the Moretti household, and keep the arrangement financially supported.
Luca looked toward the window.
“Was there even a job?”
“Yes,” Margaret said. “But Rebecca had never been given the complete terms.”
Rebecca's voice shook.
“Vanessa, you told me I'd be gone six weeks.”
Vanessa remained silent.
“You told me Lucy would be waiting when I got back.”
Finally, Vanessa whispered, “I thought you'd see how much better her life could be here.”
Rebecca stood.
“She already had a life. With me.”
Luca moved beside her.
“You're not losing your daughter.”
Vanessa looked at him with sudden anger.
“You don't understand what you're risking.”
“What am I risking?”
She wiped her cheeks.
“My family guaranteed the financing for the restaurant renovation. Your contractors are expecting the next payment.”
Luca frowned.
“What's that got to do with Lucy?”
Vanessa straightened.
“Everything.”
Her voice became frighteningly calm.
“Cancel our wedding, and my father's company withdraws its guarantee. No final payment. No finished kitchen. No grand reopening.”
May you like
She looked toward the employees working beyond the glass doors.
“Go ahead, Luca. Choose Natalie and Rebecca over me. Then explain to your staff why they might not have jobs next month.”
