Chapter 7 - THE NECKLACE
My ears rang violently. Dust and smoke billowed through the shattered windows, choking the air in the dining room.
Heavy arms were wrapped tightly around my head, shielding me from the flying glass. I blinked through the haze and realized Luca was lying on top of me, covering my body with his own.
“Are you hurt?” he shouted over the ringing in my ears.
“No!” I coughed, tasting ash. “What happened?”
Carlo Vitale was already on his feet, brushing glass off his tailored suit. He peered out the broken window.
“It seems Richard Bellini had contingency plans,” Carlo said grimly. “Two SUVs just rammed the police barricade outside. Heavily armed men. They’re trying to bust Richard and Vanessa out of the FBI transports.”
Luca cursed in Italian. He rolled off me and pulled a sleek black handgun from a holster hidden beneath his suit jacket.
I gasped. I knew Luca was a powerful man, but seeing the weapon made the reality of his world crash down on me.
“Stay here,” Luca ordered me, his eyes dark and deadly. “Carlo, watch her.”
“Luca, wait!” I grabbed his sleeve. “They’ll kill you!”
He paused, looking down at my hand on his arm. His expression softened for just a fraction of a second. “Nobody kills a Moretti in his own house, Emily. I’ll be right back.”
He disappeared into the smoke-filled hallway.
Gunfire erupted outside. Shouts in English and Italian echoed through the night. I huddled beneath the heavy oak dining table, shaking uncontrollably. Carlo knelt beside me, calmly checking the magazine of his own weapon.
“Don't worry, Emily,” Carlo said, noticing my terror. “Luca has survived much worse than the Bellini family’s desperate mercenaries.”
“Why are they doing this?” I cried. “They’re already caught!”
“Because Richard knows that if he goes to federal prison, the families he owes money to will have him killed before trial,” Carlo explained matter-of-factly. “He is fighting for his life.”
Suddenly, the dining room doors swung open again.
A figure stumbled through the smoke.
It was Vanessa.
Her red dress was torn, her hair wild and covered in dust. She was holding a small, silver pistol, and she pointed it directly at me.
“You,” she hissed, her eyes wide with madness. “You ruined everything!”
Carlo raised his gun, but Vanessa quickly grabbed me by the hair, hauling me up and pressing the barrel of her pistol against my temple.
“Drop it, Vitale!” she screamed. “Drop the gun or I blow her head off!”
Carlo froze. Slowly, he lowered his weapon and placed it on the floor.
“Let her go, Vanessa,” Carlo said calmly. “It’s over. The FBI has the perimeter secured. You cannot escape.”
“I’m not trying to escape,” Vanessa sobbed, her hand shaking against my head. “If I’m going down, I’m taking the little rat who took my life away.”
She dragged me backward toward the broken window. The night air was freezing against my skin.
“You were supposed to be a nobody!” Vanessa screamed in my ear. “You were supposed to clean my toilets and disappear!”
“My grandmother built this family!” I choked out, finding a surge of bravery I didn't know I possessed.
“Your grandmother was a whore!” Vanessa spat.
Suddenly, a red laser dot appeared in the center of Vanessa’s forehead.
A voice cut through the smoke, cold and absolute.
“Drop the gun, Vanessa, or they won't even find enough of you to bury.”
Luca stepped out of the shadows of the garden, outside the broken window. He was flanked by four men in tactical gear. The FBI had secured the lawn.
Vanessa froze. She looked at Luca, her lip trembling.
“Luca, please,” she whimpered. “I loved you.”
“You loved my bank accounts,” he replied flatly.
He didn't lower his weapon.
Vanessa let out a broken sob. Her grip on my hair loosened. She dropped the gun and fell to her knees, weeping hysterically.
Federal agents immediately swarmed through the window, tackling her to the ground and slapping handcuffs on her wrists.
I stood shaking, struggling to breathe.
Luca stepped through the broken window frame, crunching glass beneath his shoes. He walked straight to me and pulled me into his chest.
I buried my face in his jacket, smelling gunpowder and expensive cologne. For the first time all night, I felt completely safe.
When I finally pulled back, something caught on my dress.
I looked down. Vanessa had snagged my collar when she grabbed me. The top button of my shirt had popped open, revealing the simple silver chain I always wore around my neck.
Hanging from the chain was a small, tarnished silver charm. A little cooking pot.
Luca stared at the necklace.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out the dented silver watch Michael had placed on the table earlier.
May you like
Attached to the chain of his father’s watch was an identical silver cooking pot charm.
“Where did you get that?” Luca whispered.
