Chapter 2 - THE GOLD POCKET WATCH
The silence in the grand dining room was so absolute that the flickering of the imported candles sounded like crackling fire.
Luca stared at the fifty-thousand-dollar settlement offer. The heavy, cream-colored paper shook slightly in his tattooed hand. His eyes, usually an unreadable ocean of dark brown, flared with a quiet, terrifying violence.
"You offered a seventy-four-year-old widow fifty thousand dollars to lie to my face?" Luca asked, his voice barely above a whisper.
Vanessa’s manicured fingers gripped the edge of the tablecloth. She looked at the thirty wealthy guests staring at her, her perfect socialite facade cracking. "Luca, darling, be reasonable. I was trying to protect you. The property is a liability!"
"Protect me?" Luca stood up, his chair scraping loudly against the marble floor. "By forging my signature and bribing a woman who used to babysit me?"
"She’s hiding something!" Vanessa shrieked, pointing a trembling finger at Mrs. Caruso. "I didn't buy that building for a high-rise, Luca! I bought it because her basement is being used by the Romano family. They’re running illegal shipments right out of her kitchen!"
Gasps echoed around the table. The Romano family was Luca’s biggest rival in Chicago.
I looked at Mrs. Caruso. The old woman looked horrified, clutching her worn brown coat. "That is a lie! My husband built that cellar for curing meats, not for gangsters!"
Luca looked at Vanessa. "If you suspected the Romanos were using her basement, why didn't you tell me? Why hide it and offer her hush money?"
Before Vanessa could invent a lie, a small, sleepy voice drifted from the hallway.
"Emma? Do I smell Mrs. Caruso’s ravioli?"
Everyone turned. Standing in the doorway was Luca’s seven-year-old son, Leo. He was wearing oversized superhero pajamas, rubbing his eyes, and holding a small, intricately carved wooden puzzle box his late mother had given him.
Mrs. Caruso’s face instantly softened. "Oh, my sweet boy."
"Leo, go back to bed," Vanessa snapped, her voice harsh and brittle. "We are handling adult business."
Leo flinched, stepping backward. The wooden puzzle box slipped from his small hands.
It hit the marble floor and shattered into three pieces.
I rushed forward to help him, but as I knelt to gather the wooden shards, my breath caught in my throat.
Tucked inside the hollow center of the child’s toy was a heavy, solid gold pocket watch.
Luca saw it immediately. He pushed past the guests and picked it up, his face draining of color. It was his father’s vintage Patek Philippe—a family heirloom that had gone missing from Luca’s private safe three weeks ago.
"Leo," Luca said, his voice trembling as he looked at his son. "Where did you get this?"
May you like
The little boy looked terrified. He pointed a shaking finger directly at Vanessa.
"I found it in her luggage yesterday," Leo whispered. "She told me if I ever told you, she would send me to military school."
