Chapter 8 - THE STANDOFF
"Don't make this difficult, Nora," Silvio’s voice drifted over the fallen oak, calm and chillingly polite. "The driver was an amateur. But I know these woods just as well as the boss does. Hand over the boy and the watch, and I'll let you walk away."
I pressed my hand over Leo's mouth, silently begging him to stay quiet. My mind was screaming. Silvio hadn't gone to the docks. He had stayed behind to finish Vanessa's dirty work.
"Vanessa promised me a seat at her father's table," Silvio continued, his heavy boots stepping closer to the edge of the log. "Luca is a dinosaur. He values loyalty over profit. The Bellinis value power. It’s simple math."
The beam of his flashlight hit the mud to my left. He was circling the tree. In seconds, he would see us.
I looked down at the heavy silver watch in my hand. It had saved me once tonight.
As Silvio’s silhouette appeared at the edge of the log, I didn't cower. I stood up, hiding Leo behind my legs.
"You want the watch?" I shouted, my voice cutting through the fog. "Go get it!"
I hurled the silver timepiece as hard as I could into the dense brush to his right. It crashed loudly through the branches.
Silvio instinctively jerked his flashlight toward the noise.
In that split second of distraction, a deafening gunshot shattered the silence of the woods.
Silvio screamed, dropping his flashlight and his gun, clutching his right shoulder. He fell to his knees in the mud.
From the thick fog stepped a figure. Tall, broad-shouldered, the barrel of a smoking gun lowered to his side.
Luca.
"Simple math, Silvio?" Luca said, his voice a low, terrifying growl. He stepped on Silvio’s dropped weapon, kicking it away. "You forgot to calculate one variable. I never went to the docks."
Luca looked at me, his chest heaving, his eyes scanning me for injuries. "Are you hurt?"
"No," I choked out, tears of relief finally spilling hot down my cheeks. Leo peeked out from behind my legs and ran straight into his father's arms.
Luca dropped his gun and scooped his son up, burying his face in Leo's neck. "I got you, buddy. You're safe."
He looked back down at Silvio, who was groaning in the mud.
"The Bellinis sent their best men to the docks," Luca said coldly. "But I sent my loyal men. My father’s men. Right now, the feds are raiding the Bellini compound with the copy of the manifest I gave them an hour ago. Vanessa and her father are finished."
Luca reached into his pocket and pulled out his radio. "Ray. Bring the car to the edge of the tree line. We need a cleanup on aisle four."
"Copy that, boss," came Ray’s steady voice.
Luca turned to me, offering his free hand. His sleeve was torn, a graze of blood on his forearm, but his eyes were entirely focused on me.
"Let's go home, Nora," he said softly.
I took his hand. It was warm and strong. We walked out of the dark woods, the fog lifting to reveal the glowing lights of the estate in the distance.
But as we reached the lawn, Luca stopped. He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a small, folded piece of paper. Not the manifest.
May you like
It was a photograph. Faded and worn.
"There's one more thing you need to know about your father," Luca said, handing me the photo.
