Chapter 1: The Girl Who Kept Her Back to the Wall
"Turn around, sweetheart.
You're serving dinner, not guarding a prison."
Vanessa Bellini laughed as I stepped away from the dining table.
Twenty-six guests sat beneath the chandeliers of Luca Moretti's Chicago mansion.
And I was desperately trying to keep anyone from seeing the back of my uniform.
The black fabric was torn from my left shoulder almost to my waist.
Beneath it, a long scrape burned every time I moved.
I had fastened the dress with three safety pins.
One had already come loose.
"Emma, I asked you for more bread."
Vanessa pointed toward the silver basket in my hands.
"Or have you forgotten how to do that, too?"
I leaned forward to serve her.
The movement pulled against my injured shoulder.
Pain shot down my back.
My grip weakened.
The basket tipped, sending two dinner rolls onto the white tablecloth.
Vanessa pushed back her chair.
"For God's sake!
Look what you've done."
I immediately reached for the bread.
"I'm sorry, ma'am."
"Don't touch it.
You've probably got dirt all over your hands."
Then a man's voice cut through the room.
"Emma."
Luca Moretti had put down his fork.
"Stand up."
My stomach tightened.
"Yes, Mr.
Moretti?"
"Turn around."
My heart nearly stopped.
And before I could answer, Vanessa gave an embarrassed laugh.
"She caught her uniform on the kennel gate this afternoon.
Apparently, she can't even feed a dog without destroying her clothes."
Luca slowly looked at his fiancée.
"The kennel?"
"Yes, darling.
She was helping with Bruno."
My hands went cold.
Because Vanessa had just mentioned the one place she'd ordered me never to discuss.
And Bruno wasn't in his kennel anymore.
My name is Emma Collins.
I was twenty-eight, had worked at the Moretti estate for eleven months, and had spent the last four hours pretending there wasn't an ugly scrape across my back.
Normally, I could serve a dining table without anyone noticing me.
Tonight, every movement hurt.
But my rent was due Friday.
My mother had just been discharged from the hospital.
And Vanessa had warned me that if I mentioned what happened that afternoon, I'd be looking for another job by morning.
So I'd cleaned the scrape.
Pinned my torn uniform together.
And gone back to work.
At the head of the table sat Luca Moretti.
Thirty-nine.
Black suit.
White shirt.
A man who remembered the birthdays of employees who'd worked for his family for twenty years, and who rarely asked the same question twice.
Beside him sat Vanessa.
Red silk gown.
Diamond earrings.
A beautiful smile that hadn't left her face since the guests arrived.
Luca pushed back his chair.
"Emma, let me see your shoulder."
"It's nothing, sir."
"Then you won't mind showing me."
Slowly, I turned around.
The dining room went quiet.
The three safety pins had pulled away from the fabric.
A long scrape crossed the back of my shoulder, disappearing beneath the torn material.
There was dried bl00d near my collar.
One of the guests quietly set down his fork.
Luca's expression changed.
"You've been working like this all evening?"
I nodded.
Vanessa sighed.
"For heaven's sake, Luca.
It's a scratch.
She caught herself on the kennel fence."
Luca looked at her.
"The fence?"
"Yes."
"The kennels have wooden gates."
Vanessa's smile faltered.
"Well, there must be something sharp out there."
Luca turned back to me.
"What happened?"
I stared at the floor.
"I fell."
"Against what?"
"The gate."
Vanessa immediately added, "She was trying to get Bruno into his carrier."
Luca stopped moving.
"His carrier?"
Vanessa lifted her wineglass.
"Yes, darling.
I arranged for him to stay somewhere quieter during the wedding preparations."
My stomach dropped.
Luca looked directly at her.
"You moved Bruno?"
"Only temporarily."
"Where?"
"Some boarding place outside the city."
He was silent for several seconds.
Bruno was a fourteen-year-old golden retriever.
He had belonged to Luca's mother.
After her death, he'd spent most afternoons sleeping beside the fireplace in Luca's study.
He was nearly deaf.
His hips were stiff.
And every evening, Luca personally gave him his medication with a little piece of chicken.
He looked back at me.
"Emma, was Bruno hurt this afternoon?"
My eyes immediately filled.
Vanessa set down her glass.
"Oh, for God's sake.
The dog is perfectly fine."
Luca looked at her.
"Then why is Emma crying?"
I couldn't answer.
Not with Vanessa watching me.
Luca studied my face.
Then quietly asked, "Are you afraid of losing your job?"
I nodded.
"You won't."
Vanessa laughed nervously.
"Really, Luca.
Are we going to interrupt our engagement dinner because the maid scratched herself and an old dog went on vacation?"
He ignored her.
"Emma, leave the bread."
"Sir, I still have another two hours."
"You'll be paid for them."
"I need the money."
"And you've earned it."
He called the head housekeeper.
"Mrs.
Carter, help Emma upstairs.
Have Dr.
Harris examine her shoulder."
Vanessa shook her head.
"She doesn't need a doctor."
Luca turned toward her.
"You've spent this entire conversation telling me what Emma needs."
Vanessa stopped smiling.
He looked back at me.
"Go."
I started toward the doorway.
Then I remembered the little blue blanket I'd hidden beneath the pantry sink.
Bruno's blanket.
The one Luca's mother had made for him when he was a puppy.
I had taken it from his empty kennel because I couldn't bear to see it thrown away.
"Mr.
Moretti?"
Luca turned.
"Yes?"
I wanted to tell him everything.
About the van.
The stranger.
The way Bruno had struggled to stand when they pulled him out of his bed.
But Vanessa was staring at me.
And I still had the sound of her voice in my head.
*One word, Emma, and your mother will have to find another way to pay her bills.*
"Nothing, sir."
Luca watched my face.
Then said something I hadn't expected.
"Emma, when Bruno comes home, I want you to take a few days off.
With pay."
My throat tightened.
Because I didn't know whether Bruno was ever coming home.
I left.
And Luca returned to dinner.
He discussed the wedding.
Listened while Vanessa described the flowers she'd ordered for the ceremony.
Even smiled when one of their guests asked whether Bruno would be wearing a bow tie in the wedding photographs.
"Of course," Vanessa answered brightly.
"He's practically family."
Luca looked at her for a moment.
Then raised his glass.
By dessert, she was laughing again.
She thought he'd accepted her explanation.
But at 9:38, Luca quietly excused himself.
He didn't go to the security office.
He went straight to the kennels.
Bruno's bed was empty.
His water bowl was gone.
And someone had removed the framed photograph of Luca's mother that had always hung beside his stall.
But something else caught his attention.
A torn strip of black fabric was caught beneath the metal latch on the rear service gate.
The same material as Emma's uniform.
Luca pulled it free.
Then noticed a dark stain on the concrete beside it.
Bl00d.
He immediately called his head of security.
"Daniel.
Find out who collected Bruno this afternoon."
A pause.
"Miss Bellini arranged a private animal transport, boss."
"Which company?"
"I'm checking."
Luca walked into Bruno's empty kennel.
His mother's old dog had never spent a night away from the estate without Luca knowing exactly where he was.
And now there wasn't even a note identifying the place he'd supposedly been taken.
Luca picked up his phone again.
"Daniel.
Call Bruno's veterinarian."
"Yes, boss."
"Ask whether she authorized him to travel."
Ten minutes later, Daniel called back.
"Boss, Dr.
Patterson says Bruno was supposed to come in tomorrow."
Luca frowned.
"For what?"
"His arthritis medication."
"Anything else?"
A pause.
"She says she specifically advised against putting him in a boarding kennel.
He's too old, and unfamiliar surroundings make him anxious."
Luca looked toward the mansion.
Vanessa had known that.
She'd been sitting beside him when the veterinarian called the previous week.
"Find that transport company."
But Daniel was already speaking to someone on another phone.
His expression changed.
"Boss..."
"What?"
"We found the driver."
"Where's Bruno?"
Daniel hesitated.
"The driver says Miss Bellini didn't book a boarding kennel."
Luca stopped walking.
"Then where did she send him?"
Another pause.
"To an animal shelter in Indiana."
For several seconds, Luca couldn't speak.
Then he asked quietly, "Why?"
Daniel swallowed.
"She signed the surrender paperwork herself."
Luca stared at the empty kennel.
"Surrender?"
"Yes, boss."
"Under whose name?"
"Yours."
Luca's expression hardened.
He walked back toward the house.
"Get my car ready."
Twenty minutes later, I was sitting in his study with my shoulder bandaged.
The doctor had cleaned the scrape and told me to rest.
Luca entered carrying Bruno's blue blanket.
My eyes immediately filled.
He placed it on the desk.
"Emma, what happened at the kennels?"
I stared at my hands.
For several seconds, I couldn't speak.
Then I told him.
Vanessa had come outside with a stranger shortly after four.
The man carried a large dog carrier.
Bruno had been sleeping in his bed.
When the stranger tried to lift him, Bruno whimpered.
I asked where they were taking him.
Vanessa said it was none of my business.
I told her Bruno needed his medication and that Luca hadn't said anything about moving him.
She ordered me to open the rear gate.
I refused.
My voice began trembling.
"She told the man to take him anyway."
Luca sat very still.
"And your shoulder?"
"I tried to get between them.
Vanessa pulled me backward by my uniform."
I swallowed.
"The fabric tore, and I fell against the metal latch."
He looked down at the blanket.
"Did Bruno get into the van?"
I nodded.
"And you couldn't stop them?"
My eyes filled.
"I'm sorry, Mr.
Moretti."
Luca looked at me.
"You tried to protect him."
For several seconds, neither of us spoke.
Then he picked up his phone.
"Daniel.
Tell the shelter I'm coming for Bruno.
And find out who told them I wanted him surrendered."
He stood.
But I caught his sleeve.
"Mr.
Moretti..."
He turned.
"There's something else."
I reached beneath my apron.
And removed a folded piece of paper.
It was the receipt the driver had dropped beside the kennel.
I hadn't understood it when I found it.
But Luca did.
It wasn't a boarding receipt.
It was an authorization for an owner-requested euth@nasia appointment.
Scheduled for the following morning.
Luca went completely still.
He read the paper once.
Then again.
At the bottom was a handwritten note from Vanessa.
*Owner confirms dog is aggressive.
Do not release to staff.*
Luca slowly looked up.
"She told them Bruno was aggressive?"
I nodded.
"She said he'd @ttacked me."
His eyes moved to the bandage beneath my collar.
"Emma, did Bruno bite you?"
I shook my head.
"He's never bitten anyone."
Luca picked up his phone again.
"Daniel.
I'm leaving now."
But before he could finish, Daniel spoke.
"Boss, the shelter just called back."
Luca stopped.
"What did they say?"
Daniel's voice had changed.
"They don't have Bruno anymore."
A long silence followed.
"Where is he?"
"The shelter transferred him to a veterinary clinic an hour ago."
Luca looked at the clock.
10:14 p.m.
"Why?"
Daniel hesitated.
Then answered.
"Because Vanessa called them herself and said you wanted the appointment moved up to tonight."
---
Luca now knows everything — and the clock is running.
Will he make it in time?
May you like
Comment **"BRUNO"** if you want Part 2.
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