Chapter 4 - THE GIRL WHO CAME BACK
“Noah knows where she is.”
The words escaped me before I could stop them.
Luca turned toward the photograph.
“What makes you certain?”
“Because whoever left this knew exactly where he lives. And she wanted me to ask him.”
Henry looked at the picture.
His face tightened.
“Olivia, I need you to understand something. The girl in that photograph may be in danger.”
I stared at him.
“You've been saying that all night. But you still haven't told us what happened to her.”
Henry lowered his eyes.
“Because the last time I tried to protect her, I made a terrible mistake.”
For a moment, nobody spoke.
Then Luca said, “Start there.”
Henry leaned against the wooden desk.
“After your father's death, Catherine took the children to St. Agnes. She planned to keep them together until she could arrange permanent homes.”
“Why couldn't they stay with her?” I asked.
“She was already raising you. She had very little money. And people were searching for both children.”
I thought about the long nights my mother had spent sewing clothes for neighbors.
The unopened bills.
The days she'd skipped meals so Noah and I could eat.
She had been carrying a burden I never understood.
“What mistake?” Luca asked.
Henry looked directly at him.
“I trusted Richard Bellini.”
Luca's jaw tightened.
Henry continued.
“Richard told me Marco had left instructions for the children to be moved somewhere safe. He showed me a letter bearing Marco's signature.”
“Was it genuine?”
“No.”
Henry swallowed.
“I realized too late.”
“What happened to the girl?” I demanded.
“She was taken away. Noah remained with Catherine because he'd become sick that morning. Richard's men believed the boy had already been moved.”
I pressed my hand against my stomach.
“And you did nothing?”
Henry's eyes glistened.
“I spent eleven years trying to find her.”
Luca turned away.
I could see the anger in his shoulders.
But he said nothing.
I finally understood why Henry had returned to the mansion with photographs instead of explanations.
He had spent more than a decade living with the consequences of one decision.
When we returned to the apartment, Noah was sitting in the same chair.
He hadn't touched his soup.
He looked at my face.
“Did you find something bad?”
I sat beside him.
“We found a picture of you when you were little.”
He nodded.
“I know.”
My heart began pounding.
“You know?”
Noah looked toward Luca.
“Can he go outside?”
Luca hesitated.
Then he nodded and stepped into the hallway with Anthony.
Henry stayed near the kitchen doorway.
Noah pulled his sleeves over his hands.
“Mom told me if I ever remembered everything, I had to tell you first.”
“Remember what?”
He stared at the watch.
“The girl in the yellow coat.”
“Rose?”
He shook his head.
“That wasn't her name.”
My skin prickled.
“What was it?”
Noah closed his eyes.
“Ellie.”
I took his hand.
“Okay. Tell me about Ellie.”
He spoke slowly.
“We were in a car. A blue car. She was crying because somebody took her bracelet.”
“Who?”
“A man.”
“Do you remember his face?”
Noah shook his head.
“He had a ring. A big gold one. He kept hitting the steering wheel.”
I remembered Richard Bellini's hands at dinner.
The heavy gold signet ring on his right hand.
The same one he'd slammed against the table.
Noah looked at me.
“Ellie told me not to cry. She said we'd see Mom again.”
I swallowed.
“Whose mom?”
He stared at the floor.
“I don't know.”
Then he whispered something that made my chest tighten.
“She said her dad was coming to get us.”
I thought of Marco Moretti.
A man who had been dead for eleven years.
But Noah shook his head when I mentioned him.
“No. Not him.”
“Then who?”
Noah rubbed his forehead.
“I only remember a red truck.”
He reached into the pocket of his sweatshirt.
“I found this in Mom's sewing box too.”
He placed a tiny silver bracelet in my palm.
The metal was tarnished.
A small rose charm hung from one end.
On the inside was an engraving.
E.R. — ALWAYS HOME.
I stared at it.
“Why didn't you show me?”
“Because I thought you'd be mad.”
“Why would I be mad?”
He looked ashamed.
“Mom told me to keep it safe. I forgot where I put it.”
I wrapped my arms around him.
“Oh, Noah.”
He was twenty years old.
But in that moment, he sounded like the frightened little boy I used to comfort during thunderstorms.
“You didn't do anything wrong.”
His shoulders relaxed.
Then he whispered, “Liv, I think Ellie found me.”
I pulled back.
“What?”
He pointed toward the window.
“Three days ago, a woman was standing across the street. She looked at me for a long time.”
“Did she speak to you?”
“No. But she was crying.”
Luca examined the bracelet beneath the kitchen light.
His expression changed when he saw the rose charm.
“My father gave me something like this.”
He reached beneath his shirt and removed a thin chain.
Hanging from it was a small silver medallion.
A rose engraved on one side.
The initials M.V. on the other.
“My mother gave it to me after his funeral,” he said. “She told me it belonged to his family.”
Henry nodded.
“Marco had two made.”
“Two?”
“One for you. One for the child he intended to bring home.”
Luca looked at the bracelet.
“Eleanor.”
Henry hesitated.
“Yes.”
But there was something in his voice.
I heard it.
So did Luca.
“What aren't you telling me?” Luca asked.
Henry looked toward Noah.
Then away.
“Not here.”
“No,” I said firmly. “You don't get to decide that anymore.”
Henry lowered his head.
“You're right.”
He took a slow breath.
“Eleanor was never Marco's biological daughter.”
Luca stared at him.
“Then who was she?”
“She was the child of someone your father owed his life to.”
“Who?”
Henry looked at me.
“Catherine Carter knew the answer.”
I felt suddenly cold.
“My mother?”
“She promised Marco she'd protect the child's identity.”
“Why?”
“Because Eleanor's real father was the man who helped Richard Bellini take control of the Moretti financial empire.”
I shook my head.
“That doesn't make sense. Why would Marco protect his enemy's daughter?”
Henry's voice broke.
“Because her mother was innocent. And because Marco believed no child should pay for her father's crimes.”
Luca looked at the photograph again.
“Who was the father?”
Henry opened his mouth.
Then stopped.
Across the kitchen, Noah had gone completely still.
He was staring at Luca's medallion.
“That's his,” Noah whispered.
Luca turned.
“Whose?”
Noah pointed to the engraved rose.
“The man from the red truck.”
I felt the blood leave my face.
“Noah, are you sure?”
He nodded.
“He wore that around his neck.”
Luca slowly lowered the medallion.
Henry looked terrified.
“That's impossible.”
Noah shook his head.
“I remember him.”
May you like
Then he said something none of us expected.
“HE WASN'T TRYING TO TAKE ELLIE AWAY. HE WAS TRYING TO SAVE HER FROM THE MAN IN THE BLUE CAR.”
