Chapter 6 - A Letter From a Dead Woman
Nicholas arrived at the hospital shortly after one in the morning.
Emily was sitting upright in bed, wrapped in a heated blanket, her face still pale.
An IV line ran into her arm.
She looked startled when he entered.
“Mr. Grimaldi?”
“Just Nicholas.”
Her eyes filled with embarrassment.
“I'm sorry about your vase.”
Nicholas stopped beside the bed.
“Emily, you nearly died tonight. I don't care about the vase.”
“But Richard said—”
“Richard no longer works for me.”
She stared.
Nicholas pulled a chair closer.
“I owe you an apology. What happened to you was cruel, and it happened under my roof.”
Emily looked down at her hands.
“You weren't there.”
“I should have known who I was trusting.”
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Then Nicholas gently asked about her mother.
Emily's expression changed.
“She worked for your family before I was born. She almost never talked about it.”
“Did she know Isabella?”
Emily nodded.
“She used to tell me about a girl with dark hair who loved old Christmas songs.”
Nicholas swallowed.
Isabella had played the same Christmas record every December.
“Your mother received a letter?”
Emily looked toward the window.
“Six months before she died, a woman mailed her a handwritten note. Mom cried when she read it.”
“Do you still have it?”
“Yes. In my apartment.”
“What did it say?”
Emily took a slow breath.
“Mom wouldn't let me read everything. But I saw one sentence.”
Nicholas waited.
Emily's voice trembled.
The man who took me is coming back for what my father left behind.
Nicholas stared at her.
“My father?”
Emily nodded.
“After that letter arrived, Mom became terrified. She kept saying she had to protect me.”
“From whom?”
Emily closed her eyes.
“That's what I've been trying to find out.”
Nicholas leaned forward.
“Why did you come work at my house?”
She finally met his gaze.
“Because my mother left me instructions.”
“What instructions?”
May you like
Emily whispered the answer.
Get close to Nicholas Grimaldi. He's the only one who can save Isabella.
