Chapter 2 - The Woman With No Grave.
.Security moved before Luca did.
Two men in dark suits closed the distance, but Luca raised one hand and stopped them.
Sofia clung to Anna's neck so tightly that Anna could feel the child's pulse racing against her skin.
"Please don't take her away," Sofia cried.
Anna stared at Luca.
"I don't know what is happening."
His eyes searched her face with brutal concentration.
"What is your name?"
"Anna Mercer."
Sofia shook her head fiercely.
"No. You're Mama."
Anna's chest tightened.
"Sweetheart, I think you have me confused with someone."
The child drew back just enough to look at her.
"You called me Bluebird when I was scared."
Anna went pale.
The word struck deeper than the song.
A memory flashed behind her eyes of a toddler hiding beneath a kitchen table while thunder shook the windows.
Her own voice whispered, "Come out, Bluebird. Mama's right here."
Anna flinched as if someone had hit her.
Luca saw it.
"Where did you hear that name?"
"I don't know."
"No one outside our house knew it."
His words were quiet, but the room around them had gone silent enough for every nearby guest to hear.
The hotel manager hurried over, terrified by the broken glass and the growing attention.
Luca turned without looking at him.
"Clear the private library. Now."
Five minutes later, Anna sat on a leather sofa with Sofia pressed against her side.
Luca stood by the fireplace while two guards blocked the doors.
Victor entered last, wearing the calm expression of a man arriving to solve a problem.
"Luca, we should get Sofia away from this woman until we know who she is."
Sofia recoiled.
"No!"
Anna instinctively wrapped an arm around her.
That instinct disturbed Luca more than anything else.
"Victor, leave us."
Victor hesitated.
"You may be dealing with a con artist."
"Leave us."
Victor smiled thinly and walked out.
The moment the door closed, Luca approached Anna.
"My wife's name was Elena Moretti."
Anna's fingers tightened around Sofia's hand.
"Was?"
"She died four years ago."
A cold sensation moved down Anna's spine.
Luca continued.
"There was a car crash outside White Plains. Elena was driving. Sofia was in the back seat. The car went through a barrier and burned. Sofia was thrown clear. Elena never came home."
Anna swallowed.
"Then I'm not her."
Luca reached inside his jacket and removed a worn photograph.
The woman in the picture had auburn hair, pale skin, and the same slight curve at the left side of her smile.
Anna stared at herself holding a two-year-old Sofia beside a Christmas tree.
Her lungs stopped working properly.
"Where did you get this?"
Luca's expression broke for the first time.
"From my bedroom."
Anna touched her own face.
"I woke up four years ago in a rehabilitation hospital in Pennsylvania with no identification and no memory before the accident that brought me there."
Luca's jaw tightened.
"What accident?"
"They said I was found near a highway two counties away."
Sofia lifted Anna's left wrist.
"Show Daddy."
A pale crescent-shaped scar crossed the inside of Anna's wrist.
Luca stumbled back one step.
"Elena got that scar cutting a cake knife on our first anniversary."
Anna looked at him, frightened now by the certainty in his face.
May you like
Before either of them could speak again, the lights went out.
A gunshot cracked through the darkness.
