Chapter 7 - THE TRAIN TICKET
The empty gold casing gleamed in the morning light, mocking me. There was no memory card. No recording. No proof.
“You stupid girl,” Vanessa sneered, crossing her arms over her pristine silk suit. “Did you really think a groundskeeper could outsmart me? Bill found the watch two years ago, yes. And he tried to blackmail me with it. But I didn’t just pay him off.”
She walked toward the desk, her confidence fully restored. “I took the memory card. And then I made sure Bill had a tragic heart attack in the gardens six months later.”
My stomach dropped. She had murdered June’s husband.
“You have no proof,” Vanessa said, turning to Luca. She softened her voice, playing the victim perfectly. “Luca, darling, look at her. She’s unhinged. She’s making up wild stories about Leo being alive to stop our wedding. She’s trying to tear us apart.”
Luca stared at the empty watch in his hand. He looked up at me, his dark eyes unreadable.
“Claire,” Luca said slowly. “Where is the boy you claim is my nephew?”
“He’s safe,” I said, backing away slightly. “I won’t tell you until she is gone.”
“She’s lying, Luca!” Vanessa insisted, moving closer to him, resting a manicured hand on his chest. “There is no boy. Antonio and Leo burned in that car. You buried them. Don’t let this maid manipulate your grief.”
Luca looked down at Vanessa’s hand on his chest. He gently grabbed her wrist and removed it.
“You are very good at this, Vanessa,” Luca said softly.
“Good at what?” she asked, a flicker of uncertainty crossing her face.
Luca reached into the inner pocket of his tuxedo jacket. He pulled out a small, rectangular piece of heavy stock paper.
He tossed it onto the mahogany desk.
I stared at it. It was the pawn ticket I had hidden in my apron last night. The one with the handwritten note on the back.
“When my driver brought you back to your apartment last night,” Luca said, his voice cold and flat, “he called me. He said you were frantic, searching through your bags, muttering about a lost pawn ticket.”
Vanessa froze, her eyes glued to the paper on the desk.
“So,” Luca continued, pacing slowly around her like a predator circling wounded prey. “I had my men visit the Gold & Silver Exchange at 4:00 AM. They woke the owner up. They asked him about my mother’s emerald bracelet.”
Vanessa swallowed hard. She took a step back, hitting the edge of the desk.
“He confirmed you pawned it,” Luca said. “But that’s not what interested me. What interested me was the note on the back. Tell Marco he’s safe. Keep the boy hidden.”
Luca stopped in front of her. He leaned in close.
“Who is the boy, Vanessa?”
“It’s... it’s a misunderstanding,” Vanessa stammered, her voice shaking violently. “Marco was extorting me. He claimed he had a child. He lied to me, Luca! I was just trying to protect you from the scandal!”
“You pawned my mother’s jewelry to pay off my underboss, and you didn’t think to tell me?” Luca roared, the sudden explosion of volume making both of us flinch.
He slammed his fist on the desk. “Marco is dead! Found shot in an alley two hours ago by men who don’t belong to my family. Men you hired!”
“I didn’t!” Vanessa screamed, tears of genuine panic streaming down her face.
“Then why did they find this in Marco’s pocket?”
Luca reached into his jacket again. He pulled out a crumpled, blood-stained piece of paper.
It was the child’s drawing. The one Marco had shown me. MARCO AND LEO.
Luca smoothed it out on the desk next to the pawn ticket. His hand was trembling slightly as he looked at the clumsy blue crayon.
“My brother’s son,” Luca whispered, the grief in his voice raw and devastating. He looked at Vanessa, his eyes dark with a promise of violence. “You kept him in a basement for two years while I wept over an empty coffin.”
Vanessa realized she was trapped. The mask fell away completely, revealing the cold, calculating monster underneath.
“He would have taken everything from you, Luca!” she shouted, defiant to the end. “Antonio was weak. You were meant to lead this family. When the boy turned eighteen, the captains would have forced you out to honor the bloodline. I did this for us!”
“You did this for power,” Luca said coldly.
He walked behind his desk and picked up the suppressed pistol Vanessa had placed there earlier. He checked the magazine, the metallic click echoing loudly in the quiet room.
Vanessa’s eyes widened in terror. “Luca, you can’t. The wedding guests are arriving. The families are gathering. If you kill me, my father will wage war on your syndicate.”
“Let him,” Luca said.
He raised the gun.
“Wait!” I yelled, stepping forward.
Luca glanced at me, his finger hovering over the trigger.
“Don’t do it here,” I pleaded. “Not in this house. The police will come. The wedding will turn into a crime scene. And Leo… Leo needs you. If you go to prison today, he has no one.”
Luca stared at me. His chest heaved as he fought a brutal internal war between vengeance and duty to his blood.
Slowly, agonizingly, he lowered the gun.
He pressed a button on the intercom on his desk. “Send Dante and Rocco in here.”
Two massive men in dark suits stepped into the study seconds later.
“Take her to the warehouse at the docks,” Luca ordered, not taking his eyes off Vanessa. “Keep her there until I decide how she dies.”
Vanessa screamed, thrashing wildly as the two men grabbed her arms and dragged her toward the door. “You’re nothing without my family, Luca! You’re dead! You hear me? Dead!”
The heavy oak door slammed shut, cutting off her screams.
May you like
Luca stood in silence for a long moment, gripping the edge of the desk. Then he looked at me, the ruthless mafia boss disappearing, leaving only a desperate uncle.
“Claire,” he said, his voice breaking. “Take me to him. Please.”
