Chapter 5: The Photograph in the Envelope
I had always thought fear would feel like panic.
Like screaming.
Like running.
Like your body immediately knowing it needed to escape.
But standing in Aurelia with Leo Moretti asleep against my shoulder while six armed-looking men watched the entrance, fear felt strangely quiet.
It felt like noticing every tiny detail.
The ice melting in my untouched water glass.
The soft music playing from the speakers.
The reflection of the chandelier in Luca’s watch.
The fact that the stranger near the door had stopped breathing when he saw me.
Luca noticed too.
Of course he did.
Men like him probably noticed everything.
“Who are you?”” Luca asked.
The stranger looked at him.
Not afraid.
That was the first thing I noticed.
Everyone else was afraid of Luca.
This man wasn’t.
“I was going to ask her the same thing.””
His eyes moved back to me.
Leo shifted in my arms.
Still asleep.
Still trusting.
I hated that.
I hated that a child could be so peaceful while every adult around him was becoming dangerous.
Luca stepped between us.
“Leave.””
The stranger smiled slightly.
“That’s interesting.””
“What is?””
“You don’t usually protect strangers.””
The room went colder.
I looked at Luca.
He didn’t react.
But I saw his hand tighten.
The stranger reached inside his coat.
Every person near Luca moved instantly.
I almost screamed.
Then the man pulled out an envelope.
Not a weapon.
An envelope.
He held it out.
“For her.””
Luca didn’t take it.
“Put it down.””
“It’s not for you.””
“I said put it down.””
The stranger looked at me.
“Avery, right?””
My grip tightened around Leo.
“How do you know my name?””
No answer.
Instead, he placed the envelope on the nearest table.
Then he walked backward.
The strangest part was that Luca let him leave.
Nobody stopped him.
Nobody followed.
The doors closed.
And suddenly I was left with a question I didn’t want answered.
“What is happening?””
Nobody spoke.
Luca stared at the envelope.
Then at my necklace.
Then at Leo.
Finally, he looked at me.
“You need to go home.””
I almost laughed.
“Excuse me?””
“You heard me.””
“You brought me into some kind of mystery and now you’re telling me to go home?””
“I’m telling you to stay away.””
The words hurt more than they should have.
Maybe because five minutes earlier, I thought he trusted me.
Maybe because Leo was still holding my shirt.
“He likes me,” I said quietly.
Luca’s expression changed.
Only slightly.
But enough.
“I know.””
“Then why are you acting like I’m the problem?””
“Because you don’t understand what you just walked into.””
I looked around.
At the men.
The silence.
The envelope.
The fear.
“You’re right.””
I nodded.
“I don’t.””
I carefully placed Leo back into Luca’s arms.
The baby woke slightly.
His eyes opened.
The second he realized I was moving away, his tiny hand grabbed mine.
My heart cracked.
I looked at Luca.
“See?””
His face softened.
Only for his son.
Not for me.
“That’s exactly why.””
“What does that mean?””
“It means my son doesn’t attach himself to people.””
I frowned.
“He’s ten months old.””
“No.””
The certainty in his voice stopped me.
“He lost his mother six months ago.””
The words landed harder than expected.
I looked at Leo.
Suddenly the clinginess made sense.
The desperation.
The way he held onto warmth.
“Oh.””
Luca looked away.
“She was the only person he trusted.””
For the first time, I saw something behind the rumors.
Not the crime.
Not the power.
The loss.
“I’m sorry.””
He nodded once.
Then his phone rang.
He answered immediately.
“What?””
A pause.
His face changed.
“Where?””
Another pause.
“No. Don’t touch anything.””
He looked at me.
And I knew before he spoke that whatever was happening had something to do with me.
“What is it?””
Luca ended the call.
“The man who brought the envelope.””
“What about him?””
“He’s gone.””
I swallowed.
“Okay.””
“No.””
His eyes locked onto mine.
“Not gone.””
A cold feeling moved through me.
“What do you mean?””
“He was found outside.””
Silence.
“And?””
Luca’s voice lowered.
“He had a photograph of you.””
My skin went cold.
“A photograph?””
“Yes.””
“From where?””
He didn’t answer.
That was the answer.
I stepped back.
“No.””
Luca looked at me carefully.
“Avery.””
“No.””
I shook my head.
“My life is boring. That’s the whole point. I work.
I pay bills. I go home. Nobody takes pictures of me.””
Luca reached into the envelope.
Slowly.
Carefully.
He pulled something out.
A photograph.
Then he handed it to me.
My fingers shook as I took it.
It was me.
Standing outside my apartment building.
Three weeks earlier.
Wearing the same jacket I was wearing that night.
On the back, written in black ink, were six words.
*She doesn’t know who she is.*
I looked up.
“What does that mean?””
Luca didn’t answer immediately.
And somehow that scared me more.
Because Luca Moretti looked afraid.
Not for himself.
For me.
“Avery,” he said quietly.
“Yes?””
“Who was your grandmother?””
I stared at him.
“My grandmother was Eleanor Hayes.””
The color drained from his face.
“That’s impossible.””
My stomach tightened.
“Why?””
He looked at the photograph again.
Then at my necklace.
Then at Leo.
May you like
And when he spoke, his voice was almost a whisper.
“Because Eleanor Hayes died twenty-eight years ago.””
