Chapter 2 - The First Lie
The private clinic looked nothing like a hospital.
There were no crowded hallways.
No buzzing fluorescent lights.
No exhausted families sleeping in plastic chairs.
There was polished stone, muted lamps, and a receptionist who stood the second Alessandro Vitale walked through the door.
I was taken into a surgical room before anyone asked for insurance.
That alone felt more impossible than the crystal buried in my skin.
The doctor introduced himself as Dr. Salvatore Moretti.
He examined the wounds and told me I needed twenty-three stitches.
“Twenty-three.”
I stared at him.
“Is that bad?”
“It is not good.”
“That sounds like doctor language for bad.”
He almost smiled.
Alessandro did not.
He stood near the wall with Leo asleep against his chest.
The boy still held the dinosaur.
I watched Alessandro’s hand move slowly across his son’s hair.
That tenderness looked wrong on him.
Or maybe the terrifying part was what was wrong.
Maybe this was who he actually was when nobody was watching.
Dr. Moretti injected local anesthetic.
The worst pain gradually dulled.
“Your name,” Alessandro said.
I looked over.
“What?”
“I know every employee at Lumina has been screened.”
“But I want to hear it from you.”
“Mara Hale.”
He repeated it.
“Mara.”
The way he said my name made it sound heavier than it had ever been.
“How long have you worked there?”
“Eleven months.”
“Family?”
“None that will matter to you.”
His eyes narrowed.
“That was not what I asked.”
“My parents are dead.”
“My grandmother raised me.”
“She died four years ago.”
“No siblings.”
“No children.”
I looked toward Leo.
“No husband.”
“Boyfriend?”
I almost laughed.
“That is definitely not medically relevant.”
Something very close to approval moved through his eyes.
Then his phone vibrated.
One of his men entered.
Tall.
Broad shouldered.
Forty, maybe.
A thin scar split his eyebrow.
“Sir.”
Alessandro stepped into the hall.
They spoke quietly.
I couldn’t hear everything.
But I heard one name.
Julian.
Then another.
Chloe.
My skin went cold.
Alessandro returned five minutes later.
His face had changed.
“What happened?”
“Nothing you need to deal with tonight.”
“That means something happened.”
He looked at Dr. Moretti.
“Give us a minute.”
The doctor hesitated.
Then he left.
Alessandro lowered Leo into a chair and covered him with his coat.
I waited.
“Chloe did not deliberately drop the tray.”
“I know.”
His eyes sharpened.
“How?”
“I saw Julian looking at the floor strip.”
“I saw your man touch it.”
“And?”
“And Julian looked terrified.”
Alessandro watched me for several seconds.
“You notice too much.”
“It’s what invisible people do.”
That answer seemed to strike him harder than I expected.
He moved closer.
“The screws were removed.”
I felt my heartbeat climb.
“So someone wanted Chloe to trip.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“We do not know.”
I looked toward Leo.
“You think the tray was meant to hit him.”
“I think possibility is enough.”
“And Chloe?”
“Missing.”
I sat upright too fast.
Pain ripped across my shoulders.
“What do you mean missing?”
“She left Lumina before my men could question her.”
“No.”
“You know something?”
“Yes.”
I shook my head.
“Chloe would never leave without her purse.”
Alessandro went perfectly still.
“What?”
“She keeps everything in that purse.”
“Apartment keys.”
“Medication.”
“Her mother’s nursing-home card.”
“She doesn’t even go into the employee bathroom without taking it.”
“Was it gone?”
Alessandro pulled out his phone.
He made one call.
“What color?”
“Blue.”
“Cheap fake leather.”
He relayed the information.
Thirty seconds later, his phone buzzed.
His gaze met mine.
“The purse was still in her locker.”
My mouth went dry.
“She didn’t leave.”
Alessandro’s voice became very quiet.
May you like
“No.”
“She was taken.”
