Chapter 3 - THE BLOOD ON THE CARPET
The bullet shattered the glass of the antique display cabinet behind Emily.
Shards rained down on the carpet.
Luca twisted Caroline’s wrist with a sickening crunch.
Caroline screamed and dropped the weapon.
Marco instantly kicked the gun across the room and pinned Caroline against the heavy oak desk, securing her arms behind her back.
Luca stepped back, breathing heavily.
He didn't look at Caroline.
He turned immediately to his daughter.
“Sophie. Are you hurt?”
The little girl was trembling, her hands covering her ears, but she shook her head.
“Emily?” Luca asked, his voice rough.
Emily touched her cheek.
A tiny piece of flying glass had grazed her skin, leaving a thin line of blood, but she was otherwise unharmed.
“I'm okay,” she whispered.
Luca turned his attention back to his fiancée.
Caroline was sobbing, struggling against Marco’s iron grip.
“You broke my wrist!”
“I will break your neck if you don't start talking,” Luca said.
He walked over and picked up her dropped designer bag.
He unzipped it and dumped the contents onto the floor.
Passports.
Thick stacks of hundred-dollar bills.
And a heavy, tarnished silver rosary.
Luca stared at the beads.
He picked them up.
“You found it.”
Caroline glared at him, her mascara running down her pale cheeks.
“Isabella hid it inside a hollowed-out book in the library. She kept it as a trophy.”
“She kept it as evidence,” Luca corrected.
He wrapped the rosary around his hand.
“Marcus tried to sell my daughter to a trafficking ring because he owed the Commission money.”
Caroline didn't deny it.
“He was desperate, Luca. You didn't pay him enough.”
“I bought him a house. I paid for his mother’s medical care.”
“It wasn't enough!” Caroline shouted. “We were always just your servants! I wanted what Isabella had. The respect. The fear.”
Luca looked at her with pure disgust.
“So you spent two years building a fake identity. You tracked my routines. You bumped into me at a fundraiser. You played the perfect, grieving friend.”
“And it worked,” Caroline spat. “You put a three-carat ring on my finger. You were going to sign the prenuptial agreement next week.”
Marco pressed her harder against the desk.
“Boss. What do you want to do with her?”
Luca looked at Emily, then at Sophie.
He couldn't handle this in front of them.
“Take her to the basement. Secure her. Don't let anyone else near her.”
“Luca, wait!” Caroline panicked, realizing the reality of her situation. “You can't do this. My men know I'm here. If I don't check in, they have orders!”
Luca froze.
“What orders?”
Caroline smiled, a desperate, bloody grin.
“You think I walked into this house alone? Marcus was a captain. He had loyal men. Men who still hate you.”
The heavy mahogany doors of the study suddenly burst open.
Two of Marco’s guards stumbled in, bleeding from their heads.
Behind them stood three men in tactical gear, holding suppressed submachine guns.
And leading them was Paul Romano.
Marcus’s younger brother.
He had been working as a gate guard for the Moretti estate for three years, hiding in plain sight.
Paul leveled his weapon directly at Luca’s chest.
“Let my sister go, Boss.”
Marco tightened his grip on Caroline.
“Paul. You're making a mistake.”
“The mistake was letting Isabella kill my brother,” Paul sneered.
He looked at Caroline.
“Did you get the rosary?”
“He has it,” Caroline said, nodding toward Luca.
Paul stepped further into the room.
“Give it to me, Luca. And the letters.”
Luca stood tall, completely unbothered by the gun pointed at him.
“You're a dead man, Paul.”
“Maybe. But I’ll take you with me.”
Paul’s eyes darted around the room.
He saw the safe behind the desk.
He saw Marco.
Then, he saw Sophie.
The little girl was still standing by the sofa, clutching her rabbit.
Paul’s expression darkened.
“Marcus was supposed to take the kid six years ago. It’s fitting we finish the job.”
Paul gestured to one of his men.
“Grab the girl.”
Emily didn't think.
She didn't weigh the odds.
She didn't care about the guns.
As the mercenary reached for Sophie, Emily threw herself across the room.
She grabbed a heavy brass lamp from the end table and smashed it directly into the side of the mercenary’s head.
The man grunted and stumbled backward, his gun clattering to the floor.
Emily snatched Sophie into her arms and scrambled backward, shielding the child with her own body.
Paul roared in anger and aimed his weapon at Emily’s back.
“No!” Luca shouted.
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But before Paul could pull the trigger, the lights in the study went completely black.
TITLE: THE DARKNESS IN THE HALLWAY
