Chapter 6 - The Rosary Of Betrayal
I stared at Marco.
The gun in his hand trembled, but his eyes were locked on me.
"Marco, what are you doing?" I asked, keeping my voice steady for Leo, who was burying his face in my neck.
"Twelve years," Marco said, his voice cracking. "I gave Luca twelve years of my life. And what do I have? A mortgage I can't pay and a sick wife. Vanessa offered me two million dollars to look the other way tonight."
"She set you up in the dining room!" I pleaded. "She humiliated you!"
"It was an act," Marco said bitterly. "A distraction. Luca was so busy looking at the catering bill, he didn't check the perimeter security."
He motioned with the gun. "Walk to the back gate. There's a car waiting."
"If you take his son, Luca will kill you," I said.
"If I don't give them his son, Vanessa's people will kill my wife."
Marco reached into his pocket with his free hand and pulled out a string of black wooden beads. A rosary.
He threw it at my feet.
I recognized it immediately. It hung on the rearview mirror of my mother's car.
"They already visited your mother’s restaurant tonight," Marco said. "They left that for you. If you don't get in the car, Emma, your parents won't see tomorrow."
My heart slammed against my ribs.
My parents. Leo.
I had to make a choice.
I looked down at Leo. He was shaking, terrified.
"Close your eyes, Leo," I whispered.
"Emma, don't try anything," Marco warned.
"I'm not," I said.
I took a step forward, crushing the rosary under my shoe.
"You’re a coward, Marco," I said, staring him down. "Luca trusted you."
"Move!" he yelled.
I took another step. But I didn't walk toward the door.
I kicked the heavy clay pot next to me.
It shattered, sending thirty pounds of dirt and a massive orchid crashing into Marco's legs.
He stumbled, the gun firing into the glass ceiling.
The deafening crack echoed through the estate.
I didn't wait. I grabbed Leo and bolted out the broken greenhouse door into the pouring rain.
"Security! Over here!" I screamed.
Footsteps splashed in the mud. Flashlights cut through the darkness.
Three of Luca’s guards tackled Marco before he even made it out of the greenhouse.
Then Luca was there.
He didn't care about the rain. He didn't care about Marco.
He dropped to his knees in the mud and pulled Leo from my arms, crushing the boy to his chest.
"I've got you," Luca whispered into his son's wet hair. "Papa is here."
I stood there, gasping for air, the rain washing the dirt from my hands.
Luca handed Leo to his lead security guard. "Take him inside. Now."
Then Luca walked over to Marco, who was pinned to the ground by two men.
Luca didn't say a word. He just reached down and pulled the gun from Marco’s hand.
"Luca, I had to!" Marco sobbed. "They have my wife!"
Luca stared at him with absolute zero emotion.
"Where is Vanessa?" Luca asked.
"She's... she's at the docks. Warehouse 4. She's waiting for the boy."
Luca turned to me.
He looked at my ruined uniform, my muddy hands, and the sheer terror in my eyes.
"They have my parents," I choked out, pointing to the greenhouse. "He had my mother's rosary."
Luca’s expression shifted from rage to something terrifyingly calm.
"Get in the car, Emma," he said softly.
"What?"
"We are going to Warehouse 4," Luca said, racking the slide of the gun. "And we are going to get your parents back."
I stared at him. "Just us?"
"No," Luca said, pulling his phone from his pocket. "I’m calling the family."
He hit a button and put the phone to his ear.
He looked at me as he spoke.
"It's Luca. Burn the treaties. We are at war."
He hung up.
Then he reached into his pocket and handed me a small, heavy object.
A silver family heirloom. A Moretti crest ring.
"Put this on," he said.
"Why?" I asked, my hands shaking.
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"Because when we walk into that warehouse, you aren't my maid anymore," Luca said. "You're under my protection."
TITLE: The Warehouse On The Docks
