Chapter 6 - MIDNIGHT IN THE LIBRARYIt was past midnight. Lucy had finally fallen asleep upstairs in her own bed, exhausted by the emotional turmoil of the evening.
I was downstairs in the master library, helping tidy up the remaining paperwork from the banquet tables, when the heavy oak door creaked open.
Luca walked in. He had removed his suit jacket, his white dress shirt unbuttoned at the collar, looking bone-tired. He poured two fingers of dark bourbon into a crystal glass, swirling the liquor before looking across the room at me.
“You should be resting, Emma,” Luca said quietly, walking over to the fireplace.
“I wanted to make sure everything was in order before I left, Mr. Moretti,” I replied, setting a stack of folders down on the mahogany desk.
“Stop calling me Mr. Moretti,” he sighed, taking a slow sip of his drink. “After tonight... call me Luca.”
I hesitated, nodding slightly. “Okay... Luca.”
He stared into the amber flames of the fireplace for a long moment. “You saved her tonight, you know. Not just by giving her a seat at the table. But by speaking up when everyone else in this room was too terrified to cross Vanessa.”
“I couldn't just stand there and watch her get crushed,” I said softly. “No child deserves to feel like they don't belong.”
Before Luca could answer, the library doors swung open again.
Marcus stood in the doorway, breathless, with a thin, pale woman in a worn wool coat standing timidly behind him.
Her dark hair was streaked with gray, her eyes haunted and exhausted, but the moment she stepped into the light of the library, I gasped.
May you like
It was the exact same woman I had seen outside the service gate six months ago.
Elena’s mother.
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