Chapter 11 - The Trap is Set
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Luca dialed a number, holding the phone to his ear while never breaking eye contact with Nora.
“Marco,” Luca said quietly into the receiver. “Lock down the conservatory. No one leaves. Locate a man in a gray suit named Silas Vance. Do not touch him yet. Just watch him.”
He hung up the phone and looked back at Nora.
“If Vanessa is planning to steal the emerald, she will need to swap it with a fake before the wedding on Saturday,” Luca stated, pacing slowly across the room. “The real emerald is currently kept in the vault room in the south wing. Only she and I have the biometric access to open the safe.”
“She’s going to do it tonight,” Nora said with certainty. “With Vance in the house, she can make the swap and hand the real stone off to him immediately. He walks out the front door with the guests, and the emerald is gone forever.”
Luca stopped pacing. A cold, predatory light gleamed in his eyes.
“Then we give her the opportunity,” Luca said.
He walked back to his desk, pressing an intercom button. “Mrs. Kessler, come to my study immediately.”
A minute later, the housekeeper hurried into the room, looking pale and nervous. When she saw Nora standing there with her bloody hand, she gasped.
“Mr. Moretti, I apologize, I sent her to the kitchen to—”
“Mrs. Kessler,” Luca interrupted smoothly. “I want you to send Nora to clean the vault room in the south wing. Tell her it must be spotless for tomorrow.”
Mrs. Kessler blinked in absolute confusion. “Sir? The vault room? But the staff isn't allowed—”
“Do exactly as I say,” Luca commanded, his voice turning to ice. “And make sure Ms. Bellini overhears you giving the order.”
Mrs. Kessler swallowed hard, nodding frantically. “Yes, sir. Right away.”
As the housekeeper scurried out, Luca turned to Nora.
May you like
“You are going to walk into that vault room,” Luca instructed softly. “And you are going to wait. When she comes for you, play your part.”
Nora’s heart hammered in her throat. She was being used as bait.
