Chapter 3 - THE SEVEN STARS
The first attempt to frighten Anna came three days later.
She found an envelope beneath the door of her room.
Inside was a photograph of Sophie playing in the garden.
On the back, someone had written:
LEAVE BEFORE YOUR DAUGHTER LOSES MORE THAN HER STARS.
Anna's hands began shaking.
She immediately found Dante.
He read the message without speaking.
Then he called Henry.
“Get Sophie inside. Quietly.”
Anna looked at him.
“Is she in danger?”
Dante didn't lie.
“Someone wants you frightened.”
“That's not an answer.”
He looked at her.
“Yes. I believe she may be.”
Anna covered her mouth.
Dante stepped closer.
“I've asked an independent security team to review the property. You and Sophie can move to a safe location if you prefer.”
Anna looked up.
“You'd let us leave?”
“Of course.”
She stared at him.
Dante's expression softened.
“Anna, I won't keep you here against your will.”
For a moment, she looked as though she might cry.
Then she whispered, “Daniel used to say that a home should be somewhere you could leave without being punished.”
Dante swallowed.
“He sounds like a good man.”
“He was.”
That evening, Anna brought Dante the wooden box Daniel had left for Sophie.
Inside were seven sheets of star stickers.
Gold.
Blue.
Green.
Orange.
Purple.
Red.
Silver.
Beneath them lay a folded note.
Dante recognized Luca's handwriting immediately.
Big brother, if you're reading this, then Daniel kept his promise.
Dante sat down.
His hands trembled.
The note continued.
Seven stars. Seven places. One truth.
Start where we learned to count the sky.
Dante closed his eyes.
A memory surfaced.
When Luca was a boy, their mother had taken them to the old observatory above the west wing.
She taught them the constellations.
Luca became fascinated with the stars.
He invented games in which colored paper stars represented secret instructions.
Dante looked at Anna.
“The observatory.”
She frowned.
“What?”
“That's where Luca learned about stars.”
The old observatory smelled of dust and cedar.
A brass telescope stood beneath the domed ceiling.
Dante hadn't entered the room in years.
Anna followed him inside.
They searched for nearly an hour.
Then Dante noticed seven small circular marks carved into the telescope's wooden base.
Each was painted a different color.
Gold.
Blue.
Green.
Orange.
Purple.
Red.
Silver.
He touched the gold mark.
A small compartment clicked open.
Inside was a photograph.
Luca stood beside Daniel Cross and a young woman.
Isabella Russo.
Dante stared.
Isabella had told him she first met Luca at a family charity dinner shortly before his death.
But this photograph had been taken nearly a year earlier.
On the back, Luca had written:
Star One: Trust is not the same as loyalty.
Dante turned toward Anna.
“Did Daniel ever mention Isabella?”
Anna shook her head.
“No.”
Dante looked back at the photograph.
His fiancée.
The woman he was supposed to marry in six weeks.
And the man who had supposedly died with his brother.
Something cold settled in his chest.
At dinner, Isabella noticed Dante's silence.
“Darling, you've barely spoken.”
He cut into his steak.
“Long day.”
She smiled.
“We should finalize the wedding invitations.”
“Not tonight.”
Her expression tightened.
“Dante, the wedding is six weeks away.”
“I know.”
She leaned forward.
“Your father would have wanted this marriage.”
Dante looked up.
“My father is dead.”
Isabella blinked.
He continued.
“And I don't remember asking what he would have wanted.”
The room fell silent.
Isabella set down her fork.
“What's gotten into you?”
Dante looked at her.
“Did you know Daniel Cross?”
Her face changed.
Only slightly.
But he noticed.
“Who?”
“Daniel Cross.”
She laughed softly.
“Should I?”
Dante studied her.
“He worked for my family.”
“I don't remember every employee your father hired.”
“Interesting.”
Isabella's smile faded.
“Why?”
Dante reached into his jacket and placed the photograph on the table.
She stared.
The color drained from her face.
“Where did you get that?”
Dante leaned back.
May you like
“That's what I was going to ask you.”
For the first time since their engagement, Isabella Russo had no answer.
