Chapter 6 - THE PLANE TICKET
The rain outside the shattered window suddenly sounded deafening.
I stared at the crumpled plane ticket on the floor. It was a one-way pass to oblivion. Vanessa hadn’t offered Marco a payout; she had offered him an ultimatum. Bring the child, hand over the family secrets, and vanish forever, or watch his family die.
Luca didn’t move. He stood over his bleeding, exiled brother, the silver rosary still clutched in his fist.
For twelve years, the Moretti family had spoken of Marco as a parasite, a bastard who only wanted money. But looking at the desperate man on the floor, bleeding to protect his four-year-old son, the entire narrative crumbled.
“Where is your wife, Marco?” Luca asked, his voice losing its lethal edge, replaced by a cautious, heavy authority.
“She’s safe,” Marco gasped, pressing a hand to his bleeding forehead. “I hid her in a safehouse in Detroit before I came here. But Vanessa’s men… they’re everywhere, Luca. I couldn’t hide Leo. She knew he was at this daycare. She gave me until midnight tonight to deliver the watch and the boy to the old train station.”
“And instead, you broke in here and took him yourself,” I said softly, finally understanding the panic.
“I had to beat her men here,” Marco said, looking up at me with gratitude. “I’m sorry I scared your mother. I truly am.”
My mother, still trembling in the chair, gave a weak, forgiving nod.
Luca picked up the plane ticket. He studied the flight details.
“Vanessa is arrogant,” Luca said, his eyes narrowing. “But she doesn’t have the resources to hire hitmen in Detroit. She doesn’t have the manpower to track an exiled bloodline for six months. She is a socialite. Someone else is funding this operation.”
Marco swallowed hard. “You’re right, Luca. She’s not the mastermind.”
“Then who is?”
Marco looked his younger brother dead in the eye. “Uncle Peter.”
The name hung in the air like toxic smoke.
Uncle Peter. The man Vanessa had secretly tried to feed at the engagement dinner. The man estranged from the family since the old Don’s funeral.
“Peter hates you, Luca,” Marco explained rapidly. “He believes the empire should have passed to him, not a twenty-something kid. But the Commission wouldn’t back him unless he had a legitimate blood heir to challenge your claim. I refused to join him twelve years ago. So, he used Vanessa. If she marries you, adopts my son, and then you tragically die… Peter swoops in as the child’s ‘protector’ and takes total control.”
I felt sick to my stomach. Vanessa didn’t even want the empire for herself. She was just a pawn, a greedy, cruel puppet playing a game she thought she could win.
“Daniel,” Luca barked, tossing the plane ticket onto the desk.
“Yes, Boss.”
“Take Sophie’s mother to the downtown penthouse. Put four men on the door. No one gets in or out.”
“I’m not leaving my daughter!” my mother cried, reaching for my hand.
“Mom, go with him,” I pleaded, squeezing her fingers. “You’ll be safe there. I promise.”
Daniel gently helped my mother up and led her out toward a secondary vehicle.
Luca turned back to Marco. “Where is the gold watch?”
“I hid it,” Marco said, struggling to his feet. “I knew if I gave it to Vanessa, Peter would kill me anyway. It’s in the trunk of my car, with Leo.”
“We’re going to the car,” Luca said.
We hurried out the back door of the daycare into the dark, rain-soaked alley. A rusted, beat-up sedan was parked near the dumpsters.
In the back seat, fast asleep and clutching a stuffed bear, was a beautiful four-year-old boy.
Marco opened the trunk with shaking hands. He pulled away a spare tire, reaching into a hidden compartment, and pulled out the legendary Moretti gold pocket watch.
He handed it to Luca.
Luca stared at the heavy gold timepiece, his father’s legacy resting in his palm. He didn’t open the casing to look at the microfilm. He just stared at the intricate engraving on the back.
“I remember this,” I whispered, stepping closer before I could stop myself.
Luca looked at me, surprised. “You’ve seen this watch?”
“Not me,” I said, my heart fluttering. “My mother. She used to clean it. She worked as a private nurse twelve years ago. Before she took the daycare job, she told me she used to polish a beautiful gold watch for a very wealthy, very sick man.”
Luca froze.
Marco froze.
“Sophie,” Luca said slowly, the air around us suddenly feeling incredibly thin. “Your mother was a private nurse twelve years ago?”
“Yes,” I said, suddenly terrified by the intensity in his eyes. “For a few months. Why?”
Luca looked at Marco. A silent, horrifying realization passed between the two brothers.
“My father didn’t die in a hospital, Sophie,” Luca said, his voice dropping to a terrified whisper. “He died at home. In his private estate. Cared for by a rotation of private nurses.”
My blood ran cold.
“Wait,” I breathed. “Are you saying my mother—”
Before I could finish the sentence, Luca grabbed his phone. He dialed Daniel.
“Daniel! Abort the transport! Do not take Sophie’s mother to the penthouse!”
Static crackled over the line.
“Daniel! Answer me!” Luca roared.
A voice finally came through the speaker. But it wasn’t Daniel.
May you like
It was Vanessa.
“I’m afraid Daniel is a bit tied up right now, darling,” Vanessa purred, her voice dripping with cruel satisfaction. “But don’t worry. Sophie’s mother is safe with me. For now.”
