Chapter 7 - A Threat Delivered to My Brother’s Door
By three in the afternoon, the rain had turned into a thick, gray drizzle that blanketed the Chicago skyline.
Luca had insisted on sending two of his trusted men to my mother’s apartment in Lincoln Park.
I rode in the passenger seat of an unmarked black SUV driven by Marco, my hands clenched tightly in my lap.
“Don't panic yet, kid,” Marco said, his eyes scanning the rear-view mirrors continuously. “Victor Bellini is a coward. He uses intimidation before he makes an actual move.”
“My brother is nineteen, Marco,” I said, my voice trembling. “He doesn't know anything about this world. He thinks I work at a luxury hospitality firm.”
“And that’s good. Keep it that way if you can.”
When we pulled up in front of the brick three-story walkup where my mother lived, my stomach dropped.
The front glass door of the building’s foyer was shattered.
“Marco!” I gasped.
Marco drew a handgun with a smooth, practiced motion and tapped the steering wheel to alert the second car behind us.
“Stay behind me, Nora. Do not run ahead.”
We rushed up the front steps, stepping over glass shards.
On the small wooden table in the communal lobby, where mail was usually left, sat a single dead black rose wrapped in red wire.
Beneath it was a torn piece of paper with three handwritten words:
TELL LUCA WE’RE CLOSE.
I felt the blood drain from my face.
“Mom! Leo!” I cried out, breaking past Marco and sprinting up the stairs to the second floor.
I pounded on apartment 2B.
“Leo! Open the door! It’s Nora!”
The deadbolt turned quickly, and the door swung open.
Leo stood there, holding an aluminum baseball bat, his eyes wide with fear. Behind him, sitting on the sofa with a blanket over her frail shoulders, was my mother, Clara.
“Nora!” Leo grabbed my arm and pulled me inside. “Two guys in leather jackets broke the lobby glass twenty minutes ago. They yelled up the stairwell that you had something that belonged to their boss.”
I threw my arms around Leo, checking his face, his arms, making sure he was unharmed.
“Did they come up here? Did they touch you?”
“No,” Leo said, shaking his head. “A black car pulled up outside, and when the guys downstairs saw it, they took off.”
Marco stepped into the doorway, his weapon now concealed beneath his jacket.
“That was our scout team,” Marco said calmly. “They scared the Bellini runners off.”
My mother looked up, her pale face creased with confusion and worry.
“Nora... darling, what is happening? Who are these men?”
I walked over to the sofa and knelt beside my mother, taking her cold, fragile hands into mine.
“Mom, there was an incident at my employer’s office. Some people are trying to cause trouble for Mr. Moretti, and they’re targeting his staff to intimidate him.”
“We’re moving you right now,” Marco said from the doorway. “Boss’s orders. We have a secure brownstone in Gold Coast with private medical staff on standby. Pack what you need for two weeks.”
Leo looked at me with confusion.
“Nora, who the hell is your boss?”
Before I could answer, my phone buzzed in my pocket.
It was an unknown number.
I answered with shaking fingers.
“Hello?”
“Nora.”
It was Luca’s deep, steady voice.
The mere sound of it seemed to anchor the spinning room.
“Are they safe?” Luca asked immediately.
May you like
“Yes,” I breathed, closing my eyes. “They’re safe. They left a note downstairs.”
“Marco will bring you all to the Gold Coast property,” Luca said, his tone turning into cold steel. “Victor Bellini crossed a line by coming near your family. Stay with your mother. I’m handling this personally.”
Related Stories
