Chapter 2 - The Locked Floor.
Luca crossed the living room in three strides and pulled Emily behind the stone wall beside the fireplace.
"Do not make a sound."
The baby whimpered softly against her shoulder.
Emily pressed her lips to the infant's forehead and rocked him with trembling arms.
The elevator doors opened completely.
No one stepped out.
A polished silver serving cart rolled forward by itself and stopped in the foyer.
On top of it sat a black gift box.
Luca stared at the box from across the room.
"Stay here."
"Don't go near it."
He ignored her and approached from the side.
There were no wires, no movement, and no sound.
A white card rested beneath a ribbon.
Luca read the handwriting and felt his stomach tighten.
WELCOME HOME, LITTLE HEIR.
Emily saw the words from behind him.
"They know he's here."
Luca turned sharply.
"Why did they call him an heir?"
Her face went blank.
"I don't know."
"You came into my home with a child, people followed you, and they just called him an heir."
He stepped closer.
"Do not lie to me now."
Emily's fear suddenly became anger.
"I brought him here because I thought you were the one person they were afraid of."
"That still does not answer my question."
The baby's cough interrupted them.
His tiny body shivered.
Luca looked toward the locked elevator, then back to the infant.
"We deal with his fever first."
He called Dr. Aaron Pierce, a pediatrician who had treated the Cafalli family for years.
The call went directly to voicemail.
Luca tried a second number known only to family members.
This time a man answered.
"Mr. Cafalli?"
The voice was not Dr. Pierce's.
Luca hung up immediately.
He opened a cabinet and removed a medical kit.
Emily watched him prepare a digital thermometer and a clean cloth.
"You know how to do this?"
"I had a younger brother."
Something in his tone ended the question.
The baby's fever was high enough to worry him but not yet at the level that forced them to risk an exposed emergency room.
Luca gave Emily clear instructions to keep the baby lightly dressed and hydrated while he searched for a safe doctor.
Then he noticed the blanket.
One corner had been stitched twice with thick white thread.
"Who repaired this?"
Emily looked down.
"My sister."
"When?"
"Before she died."
Luca's gaze lifted slowly.
Emily had never mentioned a sister.
He picked up a small pair of scissors from the medical kit.
Emily pulled the blanket away.
"No."
"There is something inside that seam."
"It belongs to the baby."
"And someone just broke into my security system looking for the baby."
Emily hesitated.
Then she nodded.
Luca carefully cut three stitches.
A tiny brass key slid into his palm.
Stamped into its head was the letter C.
Under it was a date from twenty-eight years earlier.
Luca's face drained of color.
"Where did your sister get this?"
"I don't know."
"Emily."
"I swear."
He walked to a framed photograph on the shelf and pulled it down.
The picture showed Luca as a child beside his father, Antonio Cafalli.
Around Antonio's neck hung an identical brass key.
Emily stared at the photograph.
"Your father had one?"
"He had this one."
"That makes no sense."
"It makes less sense because it was buried with him."
A hard knock struck the penthouse door.
Luca and Emily froze.
Three more knocks followed.
Then a man's voice came through the door.
"NYPD."
Emily almost sagged with relief.
Luca did not move.
"Mr. Cafalli, New York Police. Open the door."
Luca crossed to the security screen and looked at the hallway camera.
Two uniformed officers stood outside.
The taller one shifted his weight.
His sleeve rose half an inch.
A black scorpion curled around his wrist.
Luca switched off every light in the penthouse.
"Emily."
"Yes?"
"Take the baby."
He moved a painting beside the fireplace and pressed his thumb against a hidden scanner.
May you like
A section of the wall opened into darkness.
"We are leaving this room without using a door."
