Chapter 4 - THE ROSARY BEADS
The brass lamp struck the edge of the desk with a deafening CRACK as Vanessa dove out of the way.
"Guards!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. "Guards!"
The heavy study door rattled, then burst open. The two massive guards piled into the room, their weapons drawn.
Vanessa immediately burst into tears, pointing a shaking finger at me. "She attacked me! The maid tried to kill me! Shoot her!"
The guards hesitated, looking at the brass lamp in my hands.
"She’s lying!" I yelled, dropping the lamp and backing away. "Check my apron! She has Luca’s son! She admitted they kidnapped his child!"
Before the guards could move, a deep, terrifying voice echoed from the hallway.
"Nobody shoots anyone."
Luca stepped into the study. The fury radiating from him was palpable. He looked at Vanessa's fake tears, then at my panicked face.
"Emma," he said quietly. "Show me."
I reached into my apron with trembling fingers and pulled out the child’s drawing. I handed it to him.
Luca looked at the crayon drawing. His eyes traced the messy letters. To Uncle Luca. I miss you. - Leo. Then he turned it over and saw the maternity stamp.
The color drained from the most powerful man in Chicago.
"August 14, 2020," Luca whispered. He looked up, his eyes locking onto Vanessa with a gaze so lethal it made the guards step back. "Maria."
Vanessa stopped crying instantly. She backed against the wall. "Luca, she’s lying. The maid forged that—"
"Maria was the only woman I ever loved before I was forced into this arrangement with you," Luca said, his voice dropping to a terrifying whisper. "She died of a broken heart three months after the hospital told us our son was stillborn."
"It wasn't my idea!" Vanessa screamed, the panic finally breaking through. "It was my father! He said you needed to be tied to the Bellini family, not some penniless waitress! We kept him safe, Luca! He’s safe in Switzerland!"
Luca didn't yell. He didn't strike her. He simply turned to his lead guard.
"Call the pilot. Prep the jet for Geneva," Luca ordered. Then he looked at Vanessa. "Where is the exact location?"
Vanessa lifted her chin, a desperate smirk returning to her face. "I'll tell you. After we are legally married. And after you transfer fifty percent of the Moretti assets into my private account."
She was trying to use a kidnapped child to secure an empire.
I couldn't stand it. I looked around the room, my eyes landing on the Louis Vuitton trunk I had sliced open. The silk lining was torn, but something else had caught my eye when the fabric peeled back.
A string of beads.
I walked over to the trunk and pulled them out. It was a rosary. Black onyx beads with a silver cross.
"What is this?" I asked, holding it up.
Vanessa’s smirk vanished. "Put that down. It's mine."
Luca turned and looked at the rosary. He stepped toward me, gently taking the beads from my hands. He ran his thumb over the silver cross, his face hardening in confusion.
"This isn't yours, Vanessa," Luca said. "This is a man's rosary. And it has the Moretti crest on the back of the cross."
"My father bought it at an auction!" Vanessa lied quickly.
Luca shook his head. "My father gave this to my older brother, Antonio, the day he was confirmed. Antonio was wearing it the night he died in the fire."
The room went dead silent.
Antonio. The older brother.
"Why do you have my dead brother's rosary hidden in your trunk, Vanessa?" Luca asked.
Vanessa swallowed hard. She looked at the door, but the guards blocked it.
"Because," a frail voice said from the hallway.
May you like
We all turned. Mrs. Carter stood in the doorway, leaning on her cane. She looked exhausted, but her eyes were sharp.
"Because Antonio didn't die in that fire, Luca," Mrs. Carter said softly. "And he isn't your brother."
