Chapter 7 - The Marriage Certificate and the Dead Boss
I walked slowly across the shattered glass, the crunching sound deafening in the tense room.
I reached the heavy oak paneling on the far wall. I knew the house intimately. I had dusted this exact panel every Tuesday for eighteen months. I pushed the hidden spring lock, and the wood swung silently open, revealing a steel combination dial.
“The combination is his mother’s death date,” Vanessa spat, her grip tightening on Antonio. “Type it in.”
I turned the dial. Click. Click. Click. The heavy steel door popped open.
Inside the small, dark compartment sat two items.
One was an antique gold pocket watch—a Morelli family heirloom passed down for three generations.
The other was a thick, sealed envelope.
“Bring me the envelope,” Vanessa demanded.
I reached in and pulled it out. It was heavy, sealed with wax. But as I turned around, I noticed the seal wasn’t the Morelli crest.
It was a black snake wrapped around a dagger. The crest of the Lucchese family. The Morellis' oldest, most violent rivals in New York.
I held the envelope out, freezing in my tracks.
“Bring it here!” she yelled.
Nico looked at the black wax seal in my hand, and his entire posture changed. The fear vanished, replaced by a dark, chilling realization.
“That’s not my family’s ledger,” Nico said softly.
“It’s leverage,” Vanessa sneered. “Open it, Elise. Read the top paper aloud.”
I broke the wax seal with a trembling thumb. I pulled out a stack of crisp, official documents.
I looked at the top page. It was an official state document, stamped with a gold foil seal.
“It’s... it’s a marriage certificate,” I stammered.
“Read the names,” Vanessa ordered.
I swallowed hard. “Vanessa Romano... and... Dominic Lucchese.”
Nico stood perfectly still. Dominic Lucchese was the ruthless boss of the rival family. He had vanished mysteriously six months ago, presumed dead after a bloody turf war.
“You’re married to Lucchese?” Nico asked, the betrayal deepening into something profoundly sinister. “You infiltrated my family as a spy for my enemy?”
Vanessa laughed, a harsh, grating sound. “Dominic isn’t your enemy anymore, Nico. Dominic is dead.”
“I know. We assume his underboss killed him.”
“His underboss didn't kill him,” Vanessa smiled, the glass still pressed to Antonio’s throat. “I did.”
The words hung in the air, chilling the room.
“He was weak, just like you,” Vanessa sneered. “He wouldn't consolidate power. So I removed him. I forged the marriage certificate to claim his assets. Then I set my sights on you. With the Lucchese money and the Morelli territory, I would have controlled the entire Eastern seaboard.”
“And my mother found out,” Nico realized, his voice dropping to a dangerous whisper.
“Your mother was nosy,” Vanessa snapped. “She hired a private investigator. She found the marriage certificate. That’s why she had to go over that mountain road.”
Antonio’s eyes flared with sudden, violent grief.
He didn't wait for a translation. He didn't wait for Nico to make a move.
Despite his age, Antonio twisted his body with shocking speed. He slammed his elbow backward directly into Vanessa’s ribs.
She gasped, the shard of glass slipping from his neck.
In a fraction of a second, Nico lunged forward. He didn't go for Vanessa; he grabbed Antonio by the collar and dragged him backward, shielding the old man with his own body.
Vanessa stumbled, recovering quickly. She dropped the glass and reached into her dress, pulling a small, silver derringer pistol from her garter.
She pointed it directly at Nico’s chest.
“I may not get the empire,” Vanessa breathed, her eyes wild and desperate. “But I’m not leaving witnesses.”
Suddenly, my phone buzzed in my apron pocket.
It was a loud, jarring sound in the silent room.
Vanessa’s finger tightened on the trigger. “Throw the phone on the ground, maid.”
I pulled it out slowly. The screen was lit up with a FaceTime call.
The caller ID didn't say Maya.
It said: Headmaster Vance - Seattle Academy.
“Answer it,” Vanessa ordered, a cruel smile returning to her face. “Let’s see if your sister runs as fast as she hides.”
I hit the green accept button and turned the screen around.
But it wasn't the headmaster on the screen.
It was Maya.
She was sitting in the back of a police cruiser, wrapped in a blanket, holding a heavy, tactical flashlight. And sitting next to her was a Seattle police officer.
May you like
Maya looked directly into the camera and signed rapidly.
Elise. I hit the bad man with a rock. The police are here. They are arresting everyone at the school. We are safe.
