CHAPTER 1: THE MEDALLION
CHAPTER 1: THE MEDALLION
The room felt suddenly smaller.
Matteo DeLuca's dark eyes locked onto the gold medallion hanging around Camryn's neck.
His heartbeat stopped.
Impossible.
The pendant had been buried with Isabella.
He knew because he had placed it into her hands himself before the casket was lowered into the ground.
Yet here it was.
Around the neck of a frightened cleaning maid.
"Where did you get that?" Matteo asked.
His voice was calm.
That was what made it terrifying.
Camryn instinctively covered the pendant.
"My mother gave it to me."
Matteo stepped closer.
Every guard in the room tensed.
"Your mother?"
Camryn nodded.
"I've had it since I was little."
Leo tightened his grip around her neck.
The child refused to let go.
For the first time in years, he wasn't screaming.
He wasn't crying.
He wasn't angry.
He was calm.
As if he had finally found something he had been searching for.
Matteo stared at his son.
Then at Camryn.
Then back at the pendant.
Something wasn't adding up.
"Bring her to my office," he ordered.
The guards moved instantly.
Camryn swallowed hard.
She suddenly realized she might not be leaving this penthouse anytime soon.
An hour later, Camryn sat across from Matteo in a private study lined with books and security monitors.
She explained everything.
Her mother, Diane Jenkins, had raised her alone.
The pendant had always belonged to the family.
At least that's what Diane claimed.
Matteo listened without interruption.
Then he opened a hidden drawer.
Inside was an old photograph.
Camryn's breath caught.
The woman in the picture looked exactly like her mother.
Twenty years younger.
Standing beside Isabella DeLuca.
Smiling.
Arm in arm.
Friends.
No.
More than friends.
Family.
May you like
Matteo's expression darkened.
"What exactly has your mother been hiding?"
