Chapter 2 - The PhotographFor several seconds, nobody moved.
I heard the clock.
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
My heartbeat sounded louder.
“That’s impossible,” I said.
Alessandro stared at me.
“You tell me.”
I snatched the photograph from Emma’s hands.
The woman was young. Maybe twenty-seven. Dark hair. Pale skin. A small scar over her left eyebrow.
I knew that scar.
I had seen it in the only photograph Emma’s father had left behind.
But I had never seen this woman before.
At least, I thought I hadn't.
“Who is she?”
Alessandro’s expression was unreadable.
“Her name was Elena.”
The room tilted.
Emma tugged on my sleeve.
“Mama, she has my eyes.”
I couldn't answer.
Alessandro looked toward Victor.
“Leave us.”
Victor hesitated.
“Sir, the family order…”
“I said leave.”
Victor obeyed.
The door shut.
Silence.
Alessandro looked at me.
“Who is Emma’s father?”
The question hit harder than it should have.
“Daniel.”
“Last name?”
“Reed.”
His eyes narrowed.
“Daniel Reed never married you.”
“No.”
“Where is he?”
“He died.”
“When?”
“Two years ago.”
“How?”
“A car accident.”
Alessandro’s face changed.
“What kind of accident?”
I stared at him.
“Why does that matter?”
“Because Daniel Reed was supposed to be dead.”
My mouth went dry.
“What?”
Alessandro reached toward the desk.
He pulled a folder from underneath several financial documents.
Inside was a photograph of a man.
Daniel.
My Daniel.
Alive.
My fingers began to shake.
“No.”
The photograph showed Daniel entering a building.
The date was printed below it.
Six months after the accident.
“That can’t be him.”
Alessandro watched me carefully.
“Then someone has been pretending to be your dead husband.”
I stared at the picture.
Daniel had been buried.
I had seen the coffin.
I had signed the death certificate.
I had watched the cemetery workers lower it into the ground.
My knees weakened.
Emma walked to Alessandro’s wheelchair.
“Are you sad again?”
He looked down.
“Yes.”
She placed one hand on his knee.
“Don't be.”
Alessandro closed his eyes.
“You make that sound easy.”
“It is.”
“How?”
“Just don't be sad.”
Despite everything, I almost smiled.
Then I noticed something on the photograph.
A small symbol.
A black circle with a white line through the center.
I had seen it before.
On Daniel’s old watch.
On a key he kept hidden.
On an envelope that disappeared the week before his supposed death.
“What's that?”
Alessandro followed my gaze.
His expression turned deadly serious.
“That symbol is why your husband died.”
I looked up.
“What do you mean?”
“Daniel wasn’t a nobody.”
He turned the page.
More photographs.
Daniel meeting men in expensive suits.
Daniel standing outside Moretti shipping warehouses.
Daniel beside Elena.
And one photograph that made my skin crawl.
Daniel was standing beside Alessandro.
Alessandro was younger.
Walking.
“No,” I whispered.
“You knew him.”
“I knew everyone around me.”
“Then why was he at your house?”
Alessandro didn't answer.
Emma suddenly spoke.
“Daddy had the bunny.”
I looked at her.
“What?”
She pointed at the photograph.
“Daddy had a bunny.”
Alessandro went completely still.
I frowned.
“What bunny?”
Emma walked toward the photograph.
She touched Daniel’s hand.
“He had Mr. Rabbit.”
My stomach dropped.
Mr. Rabbit was Emma’s stuffed toy.
She had received him when she was one.
From Daniel.
I looked at Alessandro.
He was staring at the rabbit tucked under Emma’s arm.
“Where did she get that?”
“From her father.”
“Who gave it to him?”
“His mother, I think.”
Alessandro reached forward.
His fingers brushed the worn fabric.
Then he froze.
There was a tiny metal zipper inside the rabbit’s back.
Emma had never noticed it.
Neither had I.
Alessandro opened it.
A small black key fell into his palm.
And beneath it was a folded piece of paper.
He opened the paper.
His face lost all color.
I stepped closer.
“What does it say?”
He looked directly at me.
“It says…”
His voice cracked.
“Do not let Alessandro find the girl.”
May you like
The lights suddenly went out.
A gunshot exploded somewhere downstairs.
