Chapter 7 - A MOTHER'S WRATH
The gunshot shattered the heavy crystal chandelier hanging above the desk.
Thousands of glass shards rained down like diamonds, plunging half the room into darkness.
I screamed, throwing myself over my mother and little Leo, shielding them as glass shattered against my back.
Luca didn’t hesitate. In a blur of motion, he vaulted over the mahogany desk, tackling his uncle to the floor. The two massive men crashed into the bookshelves, sending leather-bound volumes tumbling around them.
Marco fought like a cornered animal, punching Luca in the ribs and scrambling to retrieve his dropped pistol.
Through the chaos, I looked up and saw Vanessa.
She wasn’t running for the door. She was calmly walking around the desk toward the Spiderman backpack my mother had dropped. She knew the ledgers were inside.
“No you don’t,” I hissed.
I scrambled to my feet, my shoes crunching on broken glass, and lunged at her.
I tackled Vanessa at the waist. We crashed into the heavy oak side table. The diamond necklace ripped from her throat, scattering jewels across the rug.
Vanessa shrieked in rage. She drove her perfectly manicured nails into my cheek, scratching deeply.
“You insignificant little rat!” Vanessa screamed, kicking me in the stomach with her designer heel. “You ruined everything!”
I gasped for air but refused to let go of her blazer. “You poisoned a defenseless old woman! You took everything from her!”
She reached back and grabbed a heavy bronze bookend from the fallen shelf. She raised it high above her head, aiming straight for my temple.
“Clara, move!”
My mother’s voice cracked like a whip.
I rolled hard to the left just as Vanessa brought the heavy bronze down. It smashed into the floorboards, inches from my head.
Before Vanessa could raise it again, my seventy-four-year-old mother stepped forward, grabbed Vanessa by her perfect, salon-styled hair, and yanked her backward with the strength of a woman who had spent forty years scrubbing floors and lifting patients.
Vanessa shrieked, dropping the bookend and sprawling onto her back.
My mother stood over her, breathing heavily, her eyes blazing with a protective fury I had never seen before.
“I grew up on a farm in Nebraska, you spoiled brat,” Mom said, her voice shaking with rage. “I know how to handle snakes.”
Across the room, a sickening crunch echoed over the thunder outside.
Luca stood up, wiping a streak of blood from his split lip. Marco was unconscious on the floor, his jaw visibly dislocated.
Suddenly, the study doors burst open. Half a dozen armed security guards flooded into the room, their weapons drawn.
“Mr. Moretti!” the captain yelled, taking in the chaotic scene.
“Restrain them,” Luca ordered, his voice terrifyingly calm. He pointed to Marco and Vanessa.
Guards hauled Marco up by his arms. Two others grabbed Vanessa, pinning her arms behind her back as she kicked and spat.
“Luca, you can’t do this!” Vanessa screamed, her perfect facade entirely shattered. “My father will burn this city to the ground! He’ll kill you!”
Luca walked slowly toward her. He stopped inches from her face, his dark eyes devoid of any mercy.
“Your father is already dead, Vanessa,” Luca said softly.
Vanessa froze. The color drained completely from her face.
“What?” she whispered.
“Did you think I was just sitting in my office drinking scotch all evening?” Luca asked, pulling his phone from his pocket. “I knew you were embezzling money three weeks ago. I just needed to know who you were working with. When Paul saw Marco’s men at Oak Street, I made the call.”
Luca showed her the screen of his phone. It was a news alert from a local syndicate site.
Don Bellini’s compound had been raided by Moretti loyalists thirty minutes ago.
“You’re bankrupt,” Luca said coldly. “You have no family, no money, and no allies.”
Vanessa stared at him in absolute horror. Then, desperate, her eyes darted to my mother, then to me, and finally to little Leo, who was clinging to Mom’s leg.
“Wait!” Vanessa cried out, tears streaming down her face. “Luca, please! I’m pregnant! I’m carrying your child! You can’t kill the mother of your heir!”
The room went dead silent.
I looked at Luca, terrified that this final manipulation might work.
Luca stared at Vanessa for a long, agonizing moment. Then, a dark, humorless smile touched his lips.
“That’s a remarkable medical miracle, Vanessa,” Luca said, his voice echoing in the quiet room.
“It’s true!” she sobbed.
“It’s impossible,” Luca replied. He unbuttoned his suit jacket. “I had a severe bout of mumps when I was twelve. It left me completely, irreversibly sterile. I can never have children.”
Vanessa’s mouth opened, but no sound came out. Her ultimate lie, exposed in front of everyone.
“Get her out of my sight,” Luca commanded the guards. “Take them both to the warehouse at the docks. I’ll deal with them in the morning.”
Vanessa screamed, fighting like a wild animal as the guards dragged her out of the study. Marco was carried out behind her, leaving a trail of blood on the Persian rug.
The heavy doors clicked shut.
The storm raged outside, but inside the study, the silence was deafening.
I slowly stood up, wincing at the pain in my ribs. Mom knelt down to hug Leo, burying her face in his curly hair, crying softly in relief.
Luca stood in the center of the ruined room. He looked at the shattered glass, the broken furniture, and finally, at us.
May you like
He walked over to the Spiderman backpack, unzipped it, and pulled out the forged Oak Street deed. He tore it into pieces and let them fall to the floor.
“There is one more thing you need to know about that house, Clara,” Luca said softly, his voice thick with emotion.
