I stared at the letter C scratched into the gold.

Claire. Carlo.

The scratching was frantic, desperate. Someone had carved it right before they died.

Heavy, thundering footsteps tore up the stairs.

“Claire!” Luca’s voice boomed through the hallway, rattling the doorframes.

I unlocked the door and pulled it open.

Luca stood there, his gun drawn, breathing heavily. The hallway was empty. Vanessa was gone. The velvet coat lay abandoned on the floor.

“She was here,” I said, handing him the broken emerald necklace.

Luca took it. When he saw the Bellini crest, his expression turned to stone. When he saw the letter C, his eyes darkened with a terrifying realization.

“Sarah didn’t scratch this to mean Carlo,” Luca said quietly, his thumb tracing the jagged line.

“Then what does it mean?”

“It means she knew who ordered the hit.” He looked at me. “She was trying to write Claire. She was trying to point me to you.”

I shook my head, entirely overwhelmed. “I was a teenager when she died. Why would she point to me?”

“Because she knew your father didn’t cut those brakes,” Luca said.

Luca walked past me into Sophie’s room and sat gently on the edge of her bed.

Sophie looked terrified, clutching her knees to her chest. “Dad? Is Vanessa coming back?”

“No, principessa,” Luca said softly, kissing her forehead. “She is never stepping foot in this house again.”

He looked up at me. “Pack her a bag. We are leaving for the safehouse in Michigan. Tonight.”

I nodded, rushing to Sophie’s closet.

As I pulled down a small duffel bag, Sophie tugged on the hem of my apron.

“Claire?”

“Yes, sweetie. We’re going on a trip.”

She reached under her pillow and pulled out a sealed white envelope. The edges were yellowed with age.

“Mom told me to give this to you when I turned twelve,” Sophie whispered. “But I think she wanted you to have it now.”

I took the envelope. My name was written across the front in elegant, looping handwriting.

I broke the wax seal and pulled out a single sheet of heavy stationary.

As I read the first line, the floor seemed to drop out from under me.

“Dearest Claire. If you are reading this, it means I am gone, and you have finally found your way to my daughter. It is time you knew the truth. You are not my housekeeper.”

I looked up at Luca, my hands shaking uncontrollably. I handed him the letter.

He read it silently. His jaw tightened so hard I thought the bone might snap.

He looked at me, then down at Sophie.

“Vanessa didn’t want to marry me for power,” Luca said, his voice completely hollow.

He turned the letter around so I could see the final sentence.

“Vanessa is trying to take Sophie because she knows the child she gave birth to isn’t dead.”

TITLE: The Price of a Family