Chapter 7 - The Devil’s Bargain
~1,150 words
The piercing glare of the SUV headlights cast long, terrifying shadows across the wet concrete of Pier 42.
I stood frozen behind Luca, the revelation that we shared the same mother echoing in my mind like a cracked bell. Brother. The man who had terrified me, protected me, and captivated me in the span of twelve hours was my blood.
Silas Moretti walked slowly forward, the rain bouncing off his black umbrella. He looked like an aristocratic grandfather, but his eyes were entirely dead.
“I have to admit, Jake,” Silas said, looking down at the bleeding man slouched against the bollard. “You played a remarkably deep game for a common street thief. Digging up twenty-year-old secrets. But you got greedy.”
“Screw you, Silas,” Jake spat, coughing up another wave of blood.
Silas didn't blink. He raised a suppressed pistol and shot Jake once in the chest.
I screamed, covering my mouth. Jake slumped sideways, his eyes going glassy and vacant. The man who had stolen my inheritance and fathered my child was dead.
Luca didn't flinch. He kept his weapon leveled directly at Silas’s head, stepping slightly to ensure I was completely shielded by his body.
“Silas,” Luca said, his voice a low, lethal rumble that vibrated through the damp air. “You have ten seconds to get back in your car and leave my territory, or I drop you right here.”
Silas chuckled, a dry, papery sound. “You won't shoot me, Luca. Because you know if I die, the dead-man switch on my servers releases the audio recordings of your father ordering the hit on your mother. The Castellano syndicate will tear itself apart from the inside. Your capos won't follow a man whose legacy is built on the murder of a beloved matriarch.”
Luca’s jaw locked. The muscles in his neck strained.
“And more importantly,” Silas continued, smiling a cruel, serpentine smile. “You won't shoot me because of what I have in the back of that SUV.”
Silas gestured lazily with his free hand.
The rear door of the lead SUV opened.
A massive enforcer stepped out, dragging a figure into the harsh light.
My heart completely stopped. The air vanished from my lungs.
It was Emma.
She was clutching her stuffed rabbit, sobbing hysterically, her tiny bare feet slipping on the wet pavement.
“Mommy!” Emma shrieked, struggling against the massive man holding her arm.
“No!” I screamed, surging forward. I didn't care about the guns. I didn't care about the mafia. I only cared about my baby.
Luca’s arm shot out, catching me around the waist and hauling me back behind him with terrifying strength. “Hold still, Ava!” he roared, his voice cracking with absolute panic.
“Let her go!” I sobbed, fighting against Luca’s grip. “Silas, she’s a little girl! She has nothing to do with this!”
“She has everything to do with this,” Silas corrected smoothly. “She is a Castellano by blood. The heir to a fractured throne. And she is my insurance policy.”
Silas looked at Luca.
“You see, Luca, I don't want a war,” Silas reasoned, spreading his hands as if he were negotiating a real estate deal. “Wars are expensive. I just want the Castellano shipping routes. All of them. Sign them over to me tonight, and I let your newfound sister and her delightful child walk away.”
“And if I don't?” Luca asked, his voice deathly quiet.
“Then my man puts a bullet in the child’s head, and we have the war you seem to want so badly,” Silas replied without a shred of emotion.
Luca stared at Silas. Then he looked at Emma, who was crying for her mother.
For ten years, Luca Castellano had been the most feared man in Seattle. He was a tactician. A ruthless warlord who never surrendered. He had built an empire on fear and absolute control.
But as he looked at the tiny, innocent girl crying in the rain, the warlord vanished.
Slowly, deliberately, Luca lowered his weapon.
“Luca, no,” I whispered, tears streaming down my face. If he surrendered his empire, Silas would kill us all anyway. It was a mafia rule. No loose ends.
Luca didn't listen to me. He unclipped his extra magazines and let them fall to the concrete. He ejected the round from his chamber.
Then, Luca Castellano dropped his gun.
It hit the wet pavement with a heavy clatter.
Silas smiled, a genuine, victorious grin. “A wise choice, Luca. Very pragmatic.”
“Let the child go to her mother,” Luca demanded, his hands raised in surrender. “Then I will sign whatever you want.”
Silas nodded at his enforcer.
The massive man released Emma’s arm.
Emma didn't hesitate. She ran across the wet concrete as fast as her little legs could carry her, sobbing my name.
I fell to my knees, ignoring the agonizing spike of pain in my injured ankle, and caught her. I wrapped my arms around her so tightly I thought I might break her, burying my face in her wet, strawberry-scented hair.
“I’ve got you, baby. Mommy’s got you,” I wept, rocking her back and forth.
“Touching,” Silas mocked. He pulled a folded legal document from his breast pocket and tossed it onto the concrete near Luca’s feet. “Sign it, Luca.”
Luca knelt down slowly to pick up the paper.
As he did, he looked back at me. His dark eyes were burning with a fierce, unspoken message.
Answer one, open two.
I frowned, confused through my tears.
Then I remembered the bloodstained watch sitting in my pocket. The watch Jake had hidden in Emma’s bag. The watch that proved Silas’s enforcer had been at my mother’s murder.
But Jake had said Silas already had the real locket.
Why would Silas need the Castellano shipping routes if he already had the locket containing the offshore accounts?
Because Silas doesn't have the locket.
The reversal hit me like a bolt of lightning. Jake had lied with his dying breath to manipulate Silas. Jake had never given Silas the real locket, because the real locket wasn't a piece of jewelry.
It was the heavy gold watch.
The micro-engraving wasn't inside the silver Castellano locket. It was carved into the gold casing of the Moretti watch. Jake had figured it out. That’s why he hid the watch in Emma’s bag.
Silas didn't have the money. He was broke. He was bluffing to steal Luca’s physical empire because he couldn't access the digital one.
I looked at Luca. He already knew. He had figured it out the moment Jake died.
Luca wasn't surrendering. He was buying time.
As Luca stood up, pretending to read the contract, a low, mechanical hum echoed through the thick fog rolling off the Puget Sound.
Silas frowned, looking toward the water.
Suddenly, the massive cargo crane looming directly above Silas’s SUVs roared to life.
The crane swung violently to the left. The massive shipping container suspended from its cables slammed directly into the lead SUV, crushing it like a tin can.
Chaos erupted. Silas’s men screamed, diving out of the way as twisted metal and shattered glass exploded across the pier.
May you like
“Get down!” Luca roared, diving backward.
He didn't grab a gun. He grabbed me and Emma, throwing his massive body over us, shielding us from the shower of debris as the world exploded around us.
