Chapter 8 - THE MAID'S FINAL GAMBIT
The red laser dots danced across my chest. I pulled Sophie entirely behind me, shielding her small body with my own. My heart hammered wildly against my ribs.
Dominic stood frozen, his rifle aimed at his father, but he knew if he pulled the trigger, we would all be torn apart by gunfire in seconds.
“Put the gun down, Dominic,” Vincenzo said, his voice calm and patronizing. “You are a businessman, not a soldier. You’ve always lacked the stomach for what’s necessary.”
Isabella wept silently in the snow, her spirit entirely broken. Victoria lay unconscious, bleeding out a few yards away. The Moretti family was destroying itself, exactly as Vincenzo had planned.
But Vincenzo had made one miscalculation.
He hadn't accounted for the maid.
I was forty-two. Divorced. Broke. I had spent my life scrubbing floors, becoming invisible so wealthy people could pretend I didn't exist. I noticed everything. I heard everything.
And earlier today, when I cleaned the grand study, I had found Dominic’s ledger. I knew where the real power of this family was kept.
“Mr. Moretti,” I said loudly, my voice cutting through the crackle of the burning cabin. I wasn't speaking to Dominic. I was looking right at Vincenzo.
Vincenzo raised an eyebrow. “Quiet, housekeeper. The adults are speaking.”
“If your men shoot us,” I said, keeping my hands visible, “the Swiss accounts will be locked forever.”
Vincenzo stopped smiling. The laser dots remained on my chest, but the men in the trees held their fire. “What did you say?”
I took a slow breath. “Before we left the mansion, Dominic had me pack Sophie’s bag. But he also had me pack something else. A small silver drive. The one from the safe behind the oil painting in the study.”
Dominic glanced at me. He looked confused for a fraction of a second, but then his eyes darkened as he caught on. He hadn't asked me to pack a drive. But he knew exactly which drive I was talking about.
“She’s right, Papa,” Dominic lied smoothly, stepping slightly in front of me. “The master encryption keys for the entire syndicate’s laundered funds. Seven billion dollars. It requires a daily biometric ping from me to stay active. If I die tonight, the money burns.”
Vincenzo’s jaw tightened. The absolute control he thought he had was slipping. “You’re bluffing. You wouldn't risk your own empire.”
“It’s not my empire anymore,” Dominic said fiercely. “It’s yours. And you can watch it turn to ash.”
Vincenzo stared at his son. For the first time, I saw genuine hesitation in the old man’s eyes. Money was the only god he prayed to.
“Where is the drive?” Vincenzo demanded.
I slowly reached into the deep pocket of my apron. My hand brushed against the heavy brass piano leg I had retrieved from the music room floor before we left.
“It’s right here,” I said.
I pulled my hand out, but instead of a flash drive, I threw the heavy brass weight directly into the roaring fire of the cabin beside us.
“NO!” Vincenzo screamed.
He instinctively lunged forward toward the flames, his greed completely overriding his tactical sense. The snipers in the trees panicked, distracted by their boss rushing toward the inferno.
“Run!” Dominic roared.
He grabbed Isabella by the arm, hoisting her up. I scooped Sophie into my arms, hauling her fifty-pound weight against my chest, and ran.
We sprinted through the deep snow, diving behind the thick trunk of a fallen oak tree just as the snipers opened fire. Bark and snow exploded above our heads.
Dominic pulled his silver revolver from his ankle holster and fired back into the trees, providing cover fire. “Rebecca, the SUV is parked fifty yards south! Take Isabella and Sophie! Go!”
“I’m not leaving you!” Isabella cried, clinging to him. The years of blackmail and torture fell away; she just wanted her husband.
Dominic pressed his forehead against hers. “Take care of our daughter. I’ll be right behind you.”
I grabbed Isabella’s hand and pulled her. “Come on!”
We scrambled through the heavy snow, dodging blindly through the dark woods. Gunfire echoed behind us, a terrifying percussion in the night.
We reached the SUV. I practically threw Isabella and Sophie into the backseat and climbed into the driver’s seat. I cranked the ignition. The heavy engine roared to life.
I waited. One minute. Two minutes. The gunfire in the woods suddenly stopped.
A terrible, heavy silence fell over the mountain.
Then, a figure stumbled out of the tree line, walking slowly toward the headlights.
It was a man limping, clutching his side.
Isabella screamed.
May you like
The man in the headlights wasn't Dominic. It was Vincenzo. And he was holding Dominic’s silver revolver.
TITLE: "THE THREE BLUE STARS"
