Chapter 13 - THE MAID WHO CAME WITH A SECRET
Dante Moretti had survived betrayal by his fiancée, his father's closest associates, and a woman who had lived under his roof for twenty years.
But nothing prepared him for the expression on Elena Vasquez's face.
She looked guilty.
And terrified.
"Elena," he said quietly.
She stepped backward.
"Dante, please let me explain."
His chest tightened.
"Who sent you here?"
Tears filled her eyes.
"Daniel."
Dante stared.
"Your husband?"
She nodded.
"Before he died."
The chapel was silent except for the distant voices of police officers.
Dante looked at Marco.
"Give us a minute."
Marco hesitated.
Then nodded and led the others away.
Dante turned back to Elena.
"Start talking."
She drew a shaky breath.
"Daniel discovered the financial records before Sophia was born. He knew Victor Costa was stealing from your family."
"Why didn't he come to me?"
"Because he thought your father was involved."
Dante said nothing.
"Daniel had been investigating for months. Then someone broke into our apartment."
Her voice trembled.
"He told me to leave Providence. He gave me the watch and said that if anything happened to him, I should find a way into the Moretti household."
Dante's jaw tightened.
"So you came here to spy on me."
"No."
"Then what?"
"To find out whether you were like your father."
The words struck harder than he expected.
Elena wiped her cheeks.
"I was pregnant, alone, and terrified. I didn't know whom to trust. Daniel said there was evidence hidden somewhere in the mansion."
"The blue room?"
She nodded.
"I didn't know that at first."
Dante stared at her.
"Four years, Elena."
"I know."
"You lived in my house for four years."
"I know."
"You let me believe you were just a woman looking for work."
"I was a woman looking for work!"
Her voice broke.
"I had a baby to feed. I had no family. I was scared every day that the people who killed Daniel would find us."
Dante looked away.
Elena continued.
"I found the cedar box two years ago. I should have opened it. I should have told you. But I was afraid."
"Of me?"
She hesitated.
"At first."
Dante felt something painful settle in his chest.
"And later?"
Elena's eyes filled.
"Later, I was afraid of losing the only home Sophia had ever known."
He looked at her.
She stepped closer.
"I never stole from you. I never gave anyone information. I never meant to hurt you."
Dante remained silent.
Elena's voice softened.
"And somewhere along the way, I stopped seeing you as the man Daniel warned me about."
Dante's eyes lifted.
"What did you see?"
She swallowed.
"A lonely man who didn't know how to let anyone love him."
For a long moment, neither moved.
Then Dante spoke.
"Why didn't you tell me when you started trusting me?"
"Because every day I waited, the truth became harder to say."
He understood that too well.
His father had done the same thing.
But understanding was not the same as forgiveness.
"I need time," Dante said.
Elena nodded.
"I know."
She turned away.
He watched her walk toward the chapel doors.
Then his phone rang.
Marco.
"Boss, we found Victor."
Dante straightened.
"Where?"
"At the private airfield."
"Arrested?"
"Not yet."
"Why?"
Marco hesitated.
"Because he's holding someone hostage."
Dante closed his eyes.
"Who?"
"An elderly woman."
"What woman?"
"Rosa Martinez."
Dante went still.
His father's former housekeeper.
The witness who had signed the confession.
The woman everyone believed had retired to Florida.
"She's alive?"
"Yes."
Dante's heart pounded.
"Get me there."
Marco's voice dropped.
"Boss, there's something else."
"What?"
"Rosa says she has a message from your mother."
Dante stared into the distance.
"Thirty years after her death?"
"Yes."
"What message?"
Marco swallowed.
"She says your mother knew she was going to die."
May you like
A pause.
"And she left something behind for you that Victor has spent thirty years trying to destroy."
