Chapter 2 - THE SILVER ROSARY
The man who grabbed the pills was built like a heavyweight fighter.
He didn't say a word to me. He didn't even look at my face.
He simply placed the two small white tablets on a pristine napkin, pulled a tiny glass vial from his inner pocket, and squeezed a single drop of clear liquid onto them.
The entire restaurant held its breath.
For three seconds, nothing happened.
Then, right before my eyes, the white powder began to sizzle.
The pills turned a sickening, violent shade of black.
A collective gasp echoed through the dining room.
Marco, my manager, grabbed the edge of the bar to keep from collapsing.
“Arsenic,” the bodyguard said. His voice was completely devoid of emotion, like he was announcing the weather.
My blood turned to ice.
I looked at the black, ruined pills. Then I looked at Maria.
“Oh my God,” I whispered, panic rising in my throat like bile. “I just gave those to you. You swallowed them. You—”
“I didn't swallow anything, Sophie,” Maria interrupted gently.
I froze.
Maria opened her elegant hand.
Resting perfectly in the center of her palm were two different white pills. The real ones.
“I brought my actual medication in my purse,” she said, her voice steady. “The ones in the organizer were left on my nightstand this morning. I suspected they had been tampered with. I needed to be sure.”
I stared at her, completely bewildered. “But… I watched you drink the water.”
“An old woman’s sleight of hand,” Maria smiled softly. “I palmed the fakes and swallowed my own.”
Antonio didn’t smile.
He turned toward his mother, his dark eyes blazing with a fury that made the air in the room feel ten degrees colder.
“You suspected you were being poisoned,” Antonio said, his voice a low, dangerous rumble. “And instead of calling me, you brought the evidence to a public restaurant?”
“If I told you at the house, you would have killed half the staff before dinner,” Maria replied calmly.
“I would have found the rat.”
“You would have caused a panic. And the real traitor would have slipped away.”
Antonio placed his hands flat on the table. He leaned down, bringing his face level with hers.
“Someone in my inner circle tried to murder you, Mama. This isn't a game.”
“I know it isn't,” Maria said. “Which is why I needed an outsider. Someone who wasn't on your payroll. Someone whose background check came back completely clean.”
Antonio stopped. He slowly turned his head to look at me.
“Her?” he asked.
“I have been watching her for three weeks,” Maria said, taking a sip of her water. “She works double shifts. She is studying to be a nurse. She pays her grandmother’s hospital bills on time, every month, in cash. She is desperate, loyal, and entirely unconnected to our world.”
My jaw practically hit the floor.
“You investigated me?” I choked out.
Antonio ignored my question. He was staring at me, calculating, weighing his mother’s words.
“She’s a waitress,” Antonio said dismissively.
“She’s a survivor,” Maria corrected. “And I need a private nurse. Someone to administer my medication, prepare my meals, and live in the estate. Someone I can trust.”
“Absolutely not,” I said, finding my voice. I took a step back, shaking my head frantically. “No. I am not getting involved in whatever this is. I just bring the bread.”
I looked at Marco for help. He immediately looked at the ceiling.
Antonio straightened his posture. He reached into his jacket pocket again.
“I appreciate the offer,” I stammered, pulling off my apron. “But I have a grandmother to take care of. I can’t live in some guarded mansion.”
“Your grandmother is currently residing in Room 412 at St. Jude’s,” Antonio said smoothly.
I stopped dead in my tracks.
“The facility costs eight thousand dollars a month,” he continued, reading my life like a balance sheet. “You are currently three months behind. If you do not pay by Friday, they are moving her to a state-run ward.”
Tears burned the backs of my eyes. It was true. It was my darkest, most terrifying secret, laid bare in the middle of an expensive restaurant.
“How do you know that?” I whispered.
“I know everything that happens in my city, Sophie.”
He took a step toward me.
The sheer physical presence of the man was overwhelming. He smelled of expensive cologne and danger.
“You will move into the estate tonight,” Antonio said. It wasn’t a request. “You will act as my mother’s nurse. You will check every piece of food she eats and every pill she takes. In exchange, your grandmother’s medical debt will disappear. The best doctors in New York will oversee her care.”
“I can’t just disappear from my life,” I argued, my voice trembling.
“Your life is currently a sinking ship,” Antonio said bluntly. “I am offering you a lifeboat.”
He reached out and took my hand.
His touch was surprisingly warm. His calloused fingers brushed against my skin, sending an unexpected jolt of electricity up my arm.
He turned my hand over and placed something heavy and cold into my palm.
I looked down.
It was a tarnished silver rosary.
The beads were scratched, and the cross was slightly bent. It looked old. It looked worn.
“What is this?” I asked.
“We found that on my mother’s nightstand this morning, right next to the poisoned pills,” Antonio said softly.
He leaned in closer.
“It belonged to my father. He died fifteen years ago. Whoever is trying to kill my mother has access to the deepest vaults in my home.”
May you like
His dark eyes locked onto mine, stripping away any illusion of safety I had left.
“Trust no one inside my house, Sophie. Not even me.”
