Chapter 6 - Camille's Secret
Luca confronted Camille the next morning.
She denied knowing Gideon.
Then she denied entering the west hall.
Finally, she denied ever speaking to Emma about his schedule.
Each denial came too quickly.
Luca placed a photograph on the table.
Gideon stood beside Camille.
Her face lost color.
“Where did you get that?”
“Answer the question.”
She looked away.
“He contacted me.”
“Why?”
“He said he had information about your family.”
“What information?”
Camille hesitated.
“About your father.”
Luca's expression changed.
His father had been dead for years.
“What about him?”
Gideon had claimed that someone inside the Moretti organization had been stealing from old family accounts.
Camille said she had only wanted proof.
“You should have come to me.”
“I was afraid.”
“Of me?”
“Of what you'd do if it were true.”
Luca stared at her.
Then he asked the question that mattered.
“Who told you to contact Gideon?”
Camille looked terrified.
“I don't know.”
“You're lying.”
“I swear.”
She began to cry.
Luca didn't move.
Then Camille whispered:
“Someone called me from a blocked number.”
“What did they say?”
“That if I wanted Luca back, I had to help them.”
Silence.
Luca finally understood.
Camille had not been the architect.
She had been manipulated.
But someone had used her vanity and her feelings to get close to the Moretti family.
And that person knew exactly how to make her believe she was in control.
When Luca returned home, Emma was waiting.
She held the silver coffee pot.
“There was another note.”
He looked at her.
“What did it say?”
Emma handed it over.
The person you trust is not the person you think.
Luca looked at her.
May you like
And for the first time, he wondered whether the warning was about Camille.
Or someone much closer.
