Chapter 2 - “HER NAME WAS ISABELLA”
Julian did not take his son back immediately.
He simply stared.
“Say her name again.”
Sarah swallowed.
“Bella.”
“My wife’s name was Isabella.”
The baby remained asleep against Sarah’s chest.
She looked down at him.
“Oh my God.”
Seven months earlier, Sarah had briefly worked nights for an outsourced cleaning company at St. Catherine Private Women’s Center.
Isabella had delivered there under heightened privacy.
Sarah never knew her surname.
Only Bella.
Unlike wealthy patients who treated housekeeping staff like furniture, Bella talked to her.
Usually late at night.
She was lonely.
Nervous.
Her husband was constantly being pulled away for “family business.”
One night Sarah entered to empty the trash and found Bella crying beside the bassinet.
Sarah had asked whether she needed a nurse.
Bella shook her head.
“He only sleeps when I sing.”
That was where Sarah learned the lullaby.
And the nickname.
Little Falcon.
Sarah slowly returned the baby.
Julian held him against his chest.
“What else did she tell you?”
The men around him were listening.
Sarah suddenly became cautious.
“Not here.”
Julian’s eyes flicked toward his entourage.
Interesting.
She continued:
“She was scared of someone.”
His jaw tightened.
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“She never gave me a name.”
Julian looked at one of his men.
“Private room.”
Minutes later, Sarah sat inside Bellissimo’s upstairs office.
Julian sat across from her holding his sleeping son.
The baby’s name was Matteo.
Julian said:
“My wife died five months ago.”
Sarah knew.
But she had never connected Isabella Morty with Bella from the hospital.
News photographs showed Isabella in makeup, diamonds, formal gowns.
Nothing like the exhausted woman Sarah remembered in a hospital bed.
“How?”
“Car accident.”
Sarah’s stomach tightened.
She remembered Bella saying something their final night together.
Something Sarah had dismissed as postpartum fear.
“If something happens to me…”
Sarah closed her eyes.
Julian leaned forward.
“What?”
“She said that.”
His expression changed.
“What exactly?”
Sarah forced herself to remember.
Bella had been standing beside Matteo’s bassinet.
She handed Sarah a tiny knitted blanket because she wanted it washed separately after formula spilled on it.
Then:
If something happens to me, people will say Julian’s enemies did it. Don’t believe the first story.
Sarah had laughed nervously.
Bella had not.
Then she said:
The red music box knows more than anyone in that house.
Julian stared.
“What music box?”
“I don’t know.”
“She said it was in Matteo’s nursery.”
Julian stood so abruptly the chair moved backward.
One of his men entered.
“Boss?”
“Call the house.”
Julian turned.
“No.”
He stopped himself.
His face became guarded.
Sarah understood.
If Bella had hidden something and nobody had found it in five months—
calling the house might warn exactly the wrong person.
Julian slowly sat again.
“You never told anyone?”
“I didn’t know she died until weeks later.”
“And even then, I thought I had misunderstood what she meant.”
He studied her.
“Why tell me now?”
Sarah looked at Matteo.
“Because she loved him.”
That answer seemed to hurt.
Then Matteo stirred.
Before he could cry, Sarah instinctively whispered:
“Little Falcon.”
His eyes opened.
He stared at her.
Quiet.
Julian looked between them.
“How much would it take?”
Sarah frowned.
“For what?”
“To work for me.”
Her defenses rose immediately.
“I’m not for sale.”
“That isn’t what I meant.”
“It sounded like it.”
Julian nodded.
Fair.
“My son has had six caregivers in five months.”
“He cries with all of them.”
“Doctors say he’s healthy.”
“I need someone he responds to.”
Sarah almost laughed.
“I have three jobs and a daughter.”
“I can pay more than three jobs.”
There it was.
The temptation.
Stable income.
Health insurance.
Maybe enough to keep Lily.
Then fear followed.
Working for Julian Morty could look disastrous in family court.
“My ex-husband is trying to take custody of my daughter.”
Julian’s expression changed.
“Why?”
“Because I’m poor.”
“That’s not grounds—”
“It’s more complicated.”
Julian nodded.
Then surprised her.
“I won’t interfere with your case.”
Sarah had not asked him to.
“I have attorneys—”
“No.”
He stopped.
“You should have your own attorney.”
“Independent from me.”
Another surprise.
“If you want the job, my household company will offer you a documented position with payroll, benefits, fixed hours, and background screening.”
“No cash.”
“No favor.”
“No deal involving your daughter.”
Sarah stared at him.
He understood the danger before she explained it.
“Why?”
“Because Bella trusted you.”
His voice became quieter.
“And because Matteo hasn’t slept against anyone like that since she died.”
Sarah looked at the baby.
Then thought about Lily’s shoes.
The overdue rent.
Gary’s lawyer.
She said:
“I need to read the contract first.”
For the first time, Julian almost smiled.
“Good.”
Then Sarah remembered something else.
“Mr. Morty?”
“Yes?”
“Bella said one more thing.”
Julian froze.
Sarah whispered:
“She said if the music stopped, it meant someone finally found out what she knew.”
May you like
And Julian’s face told Sarah the music might already have stopped.
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