Chapter 1 - THE ENVELOPE WITH MY DEAD MOTHER'S NAME
The black envelope sat between Matteo Moretti and me like a threat neither of us wanted to touch.
"Sit down, Tessa."
I looked at the empty chair.
Then at the two men flanking him.
Then at the envelope.
"How do you know my name?"
Matteo leaned back.
"You're wearing a name tag."
I glanced down.
My apron was blank.
I had forgotten my name tag in the employee locker.
Matteo noticed.
For the first time, his expression changed.
Almost amusement.
"Sit."
"I'm working."
He looked toward the manager standing near the bar.
"Your manager can survive without you for five minutes."
I remained standing.
Matteo's smile disappeared.
"Please."
That single word surprised me more than his insults.
I pulled out the chair.
The thinner man beside him reached for the envelope, but Matteo stopped him with one raised finger.
"This isn't your business, Carlo."
Carlo withdrew his hand immediately.
Matteo pushed the envelope toward me.
"Open it."
I hesitated.
Then broke the seal.
Inside was a photograph.
My mother.
Three years younger than the woman I remembered.
Smiling beneath the bright Florence sunlight.
Beside her stood an elderly Italian gentleman wearing a dark suit.
I recognized him instantly.
Professor Lorenzo Bellini.
My former linguistics mentor.
The man who had helped me obtain my scholarship.
My hands began trembling.
"Where did you get this?"
Matteo didn't answer.
I turned the photograph over.
A sentence was written in my mother's handwriting.
For Tessa, when the truth becomes more important than fear.
My stomach dropped.
My mother had been dead for three years.
I hadn't seen her handwriting since the funeral.
"What is this?"
Matteo studied me.
"Your mother knew my grandfather."
I looked toward the photograph.
"The man beside her isn't your grandfather."
"No."
His voice lowered.
"That's Professor Bellini."
I swallowed.
"Then what are you talking about?"
Matteo leaned forward.
"Your mother worked for my grandfather before you were born."
The room seemed to tilt.
"My mother was a public-school librarian."
"Later."
I shook my head.
"No."
"She lived in Sicily for almost four years."
I stared at him.
Mom had told me she studied abroad briefly.
She never mentioned working for a criminal family.
Matteo continued.
"She was an extraordinary translator."
My fingers tightened around the photograph.
"Why would your grandfather need a translator?"
He hesitated.
"Because some of the people he worked with spoke dialects his associates didn't understand."
My heart began pounding.
Matteo looked directly into my eyes.
"And some conversations were never supposed to be recorded."
I stood abruptly.
"I don't know what game you're playing, but my mother is dead. Leave her out of this."
Carlo shifted.
The bodyguard straightened.
Matteo raised his hand.
Both men stopped.
Then he spoke softly.
"I'm not playing a game."
He removed a second photograph.
My mother stood beside a black car.
A young girl held her hand.
Dark curls.
A yellow dress.
A small silver bracelet.
Me.
I couldn't have been older than five.
But I had no memory of that place.
Or the man standing behind us.
Matteo's grandfather.
I stared at the photograph.
Then slowly looked up.
"What do you want from me?"
Matteo's voice changed.
For the first time, he sounded genuinely afraid.
"Your mother left something behind."
"What?"
"A recording."
I shook my head.
"I don't have any recording."
Matteo leaned closer.
"Then tell me why a man was searching your apartment yesterday."
My blood turned cold.
"Someone was in my apartment?"
He nodded.
"Your landlord reported a broken lock."
I gripped the edge of the table.
My mother's jewelry box.
Her notebooks.
The letters she'd written during chemotherapy.
Everything I had left of her.
Matteo watched my face.
Then whispered the sentence that made the entire ballroom seem to disappear.
"Your mother didn't die because of cancer alone, Tessa."
I stopped breathing.
He slid a hospital document toward me.
Across the top was my mother's name.
Evelyn Carter.
Below it was a handwritten warning.
DO NOT RELEASE TO FAMILY.
I stared at the signature.
Professor Lorenzo Bellini.
Matteo lowered his voice.
And said:
"Your mother discovered who was poisoning my grandfather."
I couldn't move.
May you like
Then he added the secret that changed everything.
"Three days before she died, she told Professor Bellini that the person responsible was someone I trusted with my life."
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