Chapter 6 - THE FRAYED ROSARY
The basement plunged into absolute silence.
“An informant,” Luca repeated, the words tasting like poison in his mouth.
He looked at the woman he was supposed to marry in three weeks. The woman who had picked out flowers, tasted cakes, and planned a life with him.
“For two years,” Vanessa wept, refusing to look him in the eye. “They threatened to deport my mother if I didn’t get close to you. I was supposed to find the ledger your wife hid before she died.”
“And you helped her,” Luca said, glaring at Marcus.
“I used her,” Marcus corrected. “Vanessa’s handlers gave her clearance to poke around. I just let her take the risks. I needed that ledger, Luca. It details every bribe, every hit, every offshore account we’ve touched since 1995.”
Marcus tapped the ledger against his leg.
“With this, I buy my immunity. You take the fall. I take the family.”
“You killed my wife,” Luca realized, the devastating truth settling into his bones. “She was going to the Feds to protect Emily from this life. And you silenced her.”
Marcus’s eyes were cold. “She betrayed us, Luca.”
Luca lunged.
He moved faster than a man his age should. He crossed the basement in two massive strides, slamming Marcus against the cinderblock wall.
The ledger hit the floor. The crowbar clattered away.
Marco immediately stepped on the ledger, keeping his gun trained on the stairs.
Luca had both hands wrapped around Marcus’s throat.
“Dad, stop!” Emily screamed.
But Luca was entirely consumed by thirty years of grief and betrayal. He was going to kill his best friend with his bare hands.
Marcus choked, his face turning purple, but a sick, defiant smile remained on his lips.
I knew if Luca killed him now, in front of Emily, in front of me, there was no going back. The FBI would have everything they needed.
“Mr. Moretti!” I shouted.
I grabbed the first thing I saw on the floor—a small, wooden rosary that had spilled from the cabinet.
I pressed the wooden cross directly into Luca’s hand.
“Look at it!” I yelled over the chaos.
Luca froze.
He looked down at the rosary tangled in his fingers.
It was frayed, the wooden beads worn smooth from years of prayer.
“It’s hers,” I said softly. “Emily’s mother. Do you think she would want you to do this in front of your pregnant daughter?”
Luca’s breath hitched.
He looked at Emily. She was sobbing, clutching her stomach, completely terrified of the monster her father had become in that moment.
Luca let go.
Marcus collapsed to the floor, coughing violently, gasping for air.
Luca stepped back, staring at his trembling hands.
“Marco,” Luca ordered, his voice hollow. “Tie him up. We’re turning him over to the very Feds he was trying to deal with.”
Marco nodded, pulling zip-ties from his tactical vest.
I let out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding.
It was over.
The truth was out. The threat was neutralized.
Or so I thought.
Emily suddenly let out a sharp, agonizing cry.
She doubled over, dropping to her knees on the dusty concrete.
“Emily!” I dropped beside her.
She looked up at me, her face completely drained of color, beads of sweat instantly forming on her forehead.
“Claire,” she gasped, gripping my wrist with terrifying strength.
I looked down.
A dark, wet stain was rapidly spreading across her gray wool coat.
May you like
She was only six months pregnant.
And her water had just broken.
