Chapter 9 - THE SEAT AT THE HEAD OF THE TABLE
Luca and I bolted from the study, taking the grand mahogany stairs two at a time. The scream hadn’t just been a nightmare. It was raw, waking terror. We reached the second-floor landing just as Uncle Michael came limping out of his guest suite, looking frantic. “It’s Leo’s room!” Michael shouted, pointing down the hall. “The door is jammed!” Luca didn’t hesitate. He sprinted down the corridor and slammed his shoulder into the heavy oak door of the child’s suite. The door rattled but held firm. Someone had jammed a chair under the handle from the inside. “Leo!” Luca roared, backing up. “Stay back from the door!” With a massive, brutal kick, Luca shattered the wood around the deadbolt. The door flew open, the chair inside splintering across the floor. We rushed into the room. The window leading out to the balcony was wide open, rain blowing the curtains wildly into the room. Standing by the open window, drenched in rain, was Vanessa Bellini. Her red satin dress was soaked and ruined. Her hair was plastered to her face in wild, frantic strands. And she had little Leo gripped tightly by the arm, trying to drag him out onto the slippery balcony toward the fire escape. Leo was crying, fighting against her grip with all his strength. “Let him go!” Luca bellowed, drawing a sleek black pistol from his shoulder holster in a blur of motion. He aimed it directly at Vanessa’s chest. Vanessa froze, her eyes wide with manic desperation. She pulled Leo in front of her, using the six-year-old boy as a human shield. “Don’t take another step, Luca!” Vanessa screamed over the sound of the rain. “I swear to God, I’ll drop him over the railing!” My heart stopped. The balcony was three stories above the stone courtyard. “Vanessa, you’re out of your mind,” Luca said, his voice dropping to a terrifying, deadly calm. “Put the gun down!” she shrieked. “You ruined my father! The police arrested him twenty minutes ago! My bank accounts are frozen! I have nothing left!” “So you try to kidnap a child?” Luca asked, keeping the gun perfectly steady. “He’s my leverage!” Vanessa cried. “You love this little bastard so much? Fine. You wire ten million dollars to my offshore account, and you get him back. If you call the cops, he goes over the edge.” Leo was sobbing, looking at me with terrified, pleading eyes. “Emma,” Leo whimpered. I couldn’t stand it. I stepped around Luca, ignoring the gun. “Emma, stop,” Luca warned quietly. “Vanessa,” I said, walking slowly toward the open window. “Look at me.” Vanessa glared at me, her grip on Leo’s arm tightening. “Stay back, you pathetic little maid!” “You don’t want to do this, Vanessa,” I said, keeping my voice soft and steady. “You’re angry. You’re scared. But you aren’t a murderer. If you drop that boy, you won’t just go to prison for fraud. You will go to maximum security for the rest of your life. Is ten million dollars worth dying in a cage?” Vanessa’s breathing was erratic. She looked down at the sheer drop over the balcony railing. She looked at the crying boy in her hands. The manic energy in her eyes began to falter, replaced by the crushing reality of what she was doing. “I have nothing,” Vanessa sobbed, the fight slowly draining out of her. “You have a choice,” I said, taking one more step. “Let him go. Walk away. Luca won’t shoot you if you let him go.” I looked back at Luca. He didn’t lower the gun, but he gave a single, curt nod. Vanessa stared at me for a long time. Slowly, her fingers uncurled from Leo’s arm. The second she let go, I lunged forward, grabbing Leo by the waist and yanking him back into the safety of the bedroom. I wrapped my arms around him, shielding his body with my own as he buried his face in my neck, crying uncontrollably. Vanessa stood on the balcony, looking empty and ruined. She didn’t try to run. She just collapsed onto her knees in the rain. Daniel and two security guards rushed into the room a second later, weapons drawn. “Secure her,” Luca ordered coldly. “Call the police. Tell them we have an attempted kidnapping.” The guards dragged a weeping Vanessa away. Luca holstered his weapon and immediately dropped to his knees beside me and Leo. He wrapped his large arms around both of us, pulling us into a tight, fierce embrace. “I’ve got you, buddy,” Luca whispered, kissing the top of Leo’s head. “I’ve got you. You’re safe.” Leo hiccuped, clinging to Luca’s shirt. “She was scary, Uncle Luca.” “I know,” Luca said softly. “But the scary people are gone now. They are never coming back.” Luca looked up at me over Leo’s head. The gratitude and love in his eyes took my breath away. “You saved him again,” Luca whispered. “We saved him,” I replied, resting my head against his shoulder. * Three weeks later. The Chicago autumn air was crisp and cool. The massive dining room in Luca Moretti’s mansion was bright with afternoon sunlight. The long mahogany table was set, but not with fine crystal or silver chargers. It was covered in a red-and-white checkered tablecloth. In the center of the table sat a massive, steaming lasagna, a plate of fresh cannoli, and a basket of warm garlic bread. The smell of Teresa’s cooking filled the entire house. Teresa was sitting comfortably near the middle of the table, laughing as Uncle Michael told a terrible joke about a bricklayer and a priest. Mrs. DeLuca and Mr. Caruso were seated across from them, arguing good-naturedly about the Chicago Cubs. There were no billionaires. There were no politicians. There were no fake friends. The police had opened Box 402 and arrested Marcus Bellini on federal charges of extortion and fraud. Vanessa was awaiting trial in the county jail, her bail denied. The Bellini empire had collapsed entirely, their assets seized by the state. Luca had legally adopted Leo, officially changing his last name to Moretti. I walked out of the kitchen, carrying a pitcher of fresh lemonade, and set it on the table. I wasn’t wearing a maid’s uniform. I was wearing a simple, comfortable blue dress, my hair pulled back with a ribbon. Luca walked into the dining room, carrying Leo on his shoulders. Leo was laughing loudly, wearing a brand-new Chicago Bears jersey. Luca swung the boy down, setting him gently in the chair directly to his right. The seat of honor. Then, Luca pulled out the chair to his left. He looked at me and smiled. A warm, genuine smile that reached all the way to his dark eyes. “Have a seat, Emma,” Luca said softly. I smiled back, feeling a profound sense of peace settle over my heart. I sat down in the chair beside him. Luca took his place at the head of the table. He looked around the room, at the loud, messy, beautiful family he had finally fought to protect. He picked up his glass of lemonade. “To family,” Luca said, raising his glass. “The ones we remember, and the ones we choose.” “To family!” Michael and Teresa cheered. Leo clinked his small plastic cup against Luca’s glass. Luca reached under the table and gently took my hand, his fingers intertwining with mine. I squeezed his hand back, looking at the man who had finally stepped out of the shadows. He wasn’t just a mafia boss anymore. He was a father, a nephew, and a man who had finally found his home. And for the first time in my life, I knew I was exactly where I belonged.
