Chapter 1 - THE CLINIC
Luca was already moving before Daniel finished the sentence.
“Which clinic?”
“Riverside Veterinary Emergency in Hammond.”
“Call them back.”
“I did. They said Bruno arrived forty minutes ago.”
“Condition?”
Daniel hesitated.
“Sedated.”
Luca’s face became very still.
“By whom?”
“The shelter veterinarian. They were told he was dangerous.”
Emma stared at him from the chair beside the fireplace.
Her bandaged shoulder throbbed, but she barely felt it anymore.
Dangerous.
Bruno, who once let a toddler pull both ears during a Christmas party and responded by licking frosting from the child’s fingers.
Bruno, who slept through thunderstorms unless Luca was home, because if Luca was home he insisted on sleeping outside his bedroom door.
Bruno, who needed help getting down three steps.
Dangerous.
Luca turned toward Emma.
“You’re staying here.”
She stood.
“No.”
His eyes narrowed.
“Emma.”
“I’m coming.”
“You just had your shoulder cleaned.”
“And Bruno was taken because I couldn’t stop them.”
“That is not your fault.”
“I know.”
The answer surprised both of them.
Emma swallowed.
“But I’m still coming.”
Luca looked at Daniel.
Daniel had worked for the Moretti family for fifteen years and had perfected the ability to look at nothing.
He was currently examining the ceiling.
Luca sighed.
“Fine.”
Emma blinked.
“That was easier than expected.”
“Don’t get used to it.”
They left through the west entrance ten minutes later.
Vanessa saw them.
She was standing near the ballroom doors while the remaining guests collected coats and whispered about the strange end to the evening.
“Luca?”
He did not stop.
“Where are you going?”
“To get Bruno.”
Her expression changed.
Just slightly.
Emma saw it.
Fear.
Not guilt.
Fear.
Vanessa hurried after them.
“It’s after ten.”
“Yes.”
“The clinic can keep him overnight.”
“No.”
“You don’t even know if he should travel.”
Luca stopped.
“Neither did you.”
Vanessa went pale.
He continued.
“You signed my name on surrender paperwork.”
Her lips parted.
“I was trying to help.”
“By scheduling euthanasia?”
Several guests nearby went quiet.
Vanessa looked around.
“Not here.”
Luca almost smiled.
“You keep saying that tonight.”
“Because you’re humiliating me.”
“No.”
His voice stayed calm.
“You did that yourself.”
Then he walked away.
Emma followed.
She did not look back.
The drive to Indiana took forty-three minutes.
Rain streaked across the windows.
Emma sat in the back seat beside Luca because Daniel insisted she should not twist her shoulder getting in and out of the front.
For ten minutes, neither of them spoke.
Then Luca said, “Your mother.”
Emma looked at him.
“What about her?”
“Vanessa threatened her medical bills?”
“Not exactly.”
“What exactly?”
Emma stared at the rain.
“She said people who depend on one paycheck shouldn’t make enemies with people who can influence whether that paycheck keeps coming.”
Luca’s jaw tightened.
“And your mother?”
“She knows Mom’s been sick.”
“How?”
“Staff insurance paperwork, probably.”
“What happened?”
“She had pneumonia. Then complications.”
“Is she home?”
“Yes.”
“Who takes care of her?”
“My sister helps when she can. I handle most things.”
“What does your sister do?”
“Teaches third grade.”
“And you work double shifts.”
“When Mrs. Carter lets me.”
Luca looked toward the front.
“Daniel.”
“Yes, boss?”
“Emma does not work double shifts this month.”
Emma turned.
“Excuse me?”
“With full pay.”
“No.”
Luca looked at her.
“No?”
“I appreciate it. But I don’t want charity.”
“It’s not charity.”
“What is it?”
He thought for a moment.
“Compensation for working injured because my fiancée threatened you.”
Emma opened her mouth.
Then closed it.
Daniel coughed into his fist.
Luca looked at him through the mirror.
“Something funny?”
“Nothing, boss.”
Emma said, “You really don’t like losing arguments.”
“I dislike inefficient ones.”
“That explains your personality.”
Daniel coughed again.
This time it sounded suspiciously like laughter.
Luca looked at Emma.
She looked out the window before he could see her smile.
They arrived at Riverside Veterinary Emergency at 11:12 p.m.
The clinic was small.
Fluorescent lights.
Plastic chairs.
A sleepy receptionist who stood immediately when Luca Moretti walked through the door.
Not because she recognized him.
Because of the look on his face.
“I’m here for Bruno Moretti.”
The receptionist typed.
“Golden retriever?”
“Yes.”
She hesitated.
“Sir, he was transferred here for an owner-authorized euthanasia.”
“I am the owner.”
Her fingers stopped.
“Then we have a problem.”
“Where is he?”
“Treatment room two.”
Luca moved.
The receptionist stepped in front of him.
“Sir, you can’t—”
Daniel showed identification.
“Call your supervising veterinarian.”
Emma touched Luca’s arm.
He looked at her hand.
She removed it immediately.
“Sorry.”
His expression softened.
“Don’t be.”
A veterinarian entered.
Dr. Patel.
Forties.
Scrubs.
Tired eyes.
“We have Bruno stable.”
Luca exhaled for the first time in several minutes.
“What was done?”
“Sedation only.”
“Why?”
“The shelter warned us he had bitten staff.”
Emma said, “He didn’t.”
Dr. Patel looked at her injury.
“That came from him?”
“No.”
“Then who said it did?”
Luca’s face hardened.
“My fiancée.”
Dr. Patel blinked.
There were some sentences no medical training prepared a person to answer.
“I see.”
“Can I see him?”
“Yes.”
Bruno lay on a padded blanket with an IV line in one front leg.
His golden fur had gone pale around the muzzle.
He looked very old.
And very tired.
When Luca entered, Bruno’s eyes opened.
His tail moved once.
Luca stopped.
Everything dangerous in him disappeared.
“Hey, boy.”
Bruno tried to lift his head.
Luca knelt.
“No. Stay.”
Emma stood in the doorway.
Bruno’s eyes found her.
His tail moved again.
Emma started crying.
“I’m sorry.”
Luca looked back.
“Stop apologizing.”
“I should have—”
“You did more than everyone else.”
Bruno gave a small whine.
Emma knelt beside him.
Dr. Patel explained the sedation would wear off within hours.
His bloodwork looked reasonable for his age.
He had arthritis, mild kidney disease and hearing loss.
Nothing requiring euthanasia.
Nothing close.
Luca stroked Bruno’s head.
“Who authorized the appointment?”
The veterinarian brought paperwork.
Vanessa Bellini.
Signed as agent for owner.
Attached copy of Luca’s identification.
Emma frowned.
“How did she get that?”
Luca stared at the photocopy.
“Household files.”
Daniel took photographs.
Then Dr. Patel turned another page.
“There’s something else.”
“What?”
“The shelter intake form included a request that no family representative be contacted.”
Luca looked up.
“Why?”
“It says there was a domestic safety issue.”
Emma stared.
“What does that mean?”
Dr. Patel showed them the note.
Owner is emotionally attached and may attempt to reverse medically necessary decision. Contact only Vanessa Bellini or Anthony Vale.
Luca’s expression changed.
“Anthony Vale?”
Daniel looked at him.
“You know him?”
“Bellini attorney.”
Emma remembered the man from the conservatory story she had once heard from another staff member.
Maybe not.
Different story.
Different house.
But the name sounded wrong in a way she could not explain.
Luca took the paperwork.
“Why would a lawyer be listed for a dog?”
Nobody answered.
At 12:04 a.m., Daniel’s phone rang.
He stepped into the hallway.
When he returned, he looked serious.
“Boss.”
“What?”
“We ran the van plate.”
“And?”
“Registered to Bellini Property Services.”
Luca stared.
Vanessa’s family company.
“That isn’t a boarding transport.”
“No.”
“What does Bellini Property Services do?”
“Foreclosures. commercial cleanouts. private removals.”
Emma felt cold.
“Removals?”
Daniel nodded.
“They clear properties after eviction.”
Luca looked toward Bruno.
“So why were they moving my dog?”
Daniel hesitated.
“They had another pickup scheduled tonight.”
“Where?”
Daniel met Emma’s eyes.
“The Moretti estate.”
“For what?”
“A storage unit.”
Luca frowned.
“We don’t have storage units at the estate.”
Daniel handed him the phone.
The work order showed:
REMOVE CONTENTS — KENNEL SERVICE BUILDING, LOCKER 4.
Client authorization:
Vanessa Bellini.
Emma’s heart jumped.
“The kennel service building has lockers.”
Luca looked at her.
“For what?”
“Old supplies. blankets. medicine. things staff don’t use anymore.”
“Locker four?”
She thought.
Then her face changed.
“That one is locked.”
“By whom?”
“I don’t know.”
“Have you ever seen it open?”
“Once.”
“When?”
“Three months ago.”
“Who opened it?”
Emma swallowed.
“Your mother’s old driver.”
Luca went still.
“My mother’s driver died two years ago.”
Emma stared at him.
“No.”
“What was his name?”
“Mr. Russo.”
“Enzo Russo?”
“Yes.”
Daniel looked at Luca.
Enzo Russo had been Elena Moretti’s driver for twenty-seven years.
Officially, he had died in Naples.
A heart attack.
Luca looked at Emma.
“You saw him three months ago?”
“Yes.”
“You’re certain?”
“He gave me twenty dollars because I helped carry boxes.”
“What boxes?”
“I don’t know.”
“Where did they come from?”
“The kennel locker.”
Bruno stirred.
Luca looked down at him.
Then back at Emma.
“Did Vanessa see him?”
“Yes.”
Emma remembered.
Vanessa arriving suddenly.
Her expression when she saw Enzo.
The argument in Italian she thought Emma could not understand.
Emma’s grandmother had spoken Italian.
Not perfectly.
Enough.
“What did they say?”
Luca asked.
Emma’s pulse quickened.
“I only caught pieces.”
“Tell me.”
“She said, ‘You were supposed to be dead.’”
Silence.
Daniel slowly lowered his phone.
Luca’s face became unreadable.
“And Enzo?”
Emma swallowed.
“He said, ‘So was the dog.’”
Bruno lifted his head weakly.
Luca stared at him.
The old retriever had belonged to his mother.
The kennel locker belonged to a dead driver.
Vanessa wanted both cleared out before the engagement ceremony.
And a man Luca had buried in memory was apparently alive.
He stood.
“Daniel.”
“Yes, boss?”
“Lock down the estate.”
Emma looked at him.
“What are you thinking?”
Luca’s eyes moved to Bruno.
“My mother left something behind.”
May you like
Then he looked at the paperwork listing Anthony Vale.
“And Vanessa knows exactly what it is.”
