Chapter 4 - The Sins Of The Father And The Coat
The silence in the library was suffocating.
Lily clung to my apron, her small fingers twisting the fabric. I held her tight, but my eyes were locked on Luca.
He didn’t yell. He didn’t draw his gun. He simply stood up slowly, taking the silver rosary from Lily’s palm. He examined the heavy crest on the back of the cross, his jaw muscles working.
“Your father died of complications from diabetes five years ago,” Luca said, his voice terrifying in its evenness. “I ran a background check on you before you were hired, Nora. You’re a local girl. Hardworking. Clean record.”
“My dad’s medical records were falsified,” I said, the truth burning my throat as it finally came out. “He didn’t die. He went into hiding.”
I stood up, lifting Lily into my arms. She rested her head on my shoulder, exhausted.
“My father worked for Dominic for twenty years,” I continued, my voice shaking but determined. “He washed the money. He kept the books. But five years ago, he realized Dominic was planning to wipe out our entire neighborhood to build a new shipping hub. So my dad stole the ledgers. The proof of every bribe, every murder Dominic ever ordered.”
Luca’s eyes narrowed. “The missing West Side ledgers. The ones that caused the syndicate war.”
“Yes,” I said. “He hid them. And to keep Dominic from torturing him to find them, he faked his death. He told me to disappear. I’ve been moving from job to job ever since.”
“Then why are you here?” Luca asked, taking a step closer. “Why infiltrate my house?”
“I didn’t infiltrate anything!” I fired back, my fear suddenly replaced by defensive anger. “I applied for a housekeeping job through an agency because I needed to eat! I had no idea this was your house until I walked through the door. By then, the agency had my real name on file. If I ran, Dominic’s men monitoring the employment agencies would have noticed.”
Luca studied my face. In his world, everyone lied. But he had spent his entire life reading people. He was looking for the tell.
He didn’t find one, because I was telling the absolute truth.
“Uncle Luca,” Lily whispered, her small voice breaking the tension. “I’m cold.”
Luca’s expression instantly softened. He took off his suit jacket and wrapped it around her small shoulders. “I know, sweetie. Let’s get you upstairs.”
He turned to the doorway. Marco, his head capo, was standing there, his gun drawn.
“Boss,” Marco said grimly. “We swept the grounds. The intruders are gone. They slipped back out through the gates Vanessa opened.”
“They didn’t come to kidnap Lily,” Luca said, his mind working with frightening speed. “They came for something else.”
He looked back at me.
“They came because they found out you were here, Nora,” Luca said. “Vance dropped your father’s watch on purpose. It was a message. They know who you are.”
My stomach dropped. “But why break into the house if they didn’t take me?”
“Because they wanted to search your room,” Marco said.
I didn’t wait. I handed Lily to Luca, completely forgetting my place, and ran past Marco. I sprinted down the grand hallway, through the swinging doors of the kitchen, and down the narrow corridor that led to the staff quarters.
I reached my small, windowless bedroom at the end of the hall.
The door was wide open.
I stepped inside and clamped a hand over my mouth to stifle a scream.
The room had been destroyed. The mattress was slashed, the stuffing pulled out. My few clothes were scattered across the linoleum floor. The small wooden dresser had been smashed to pieces.
But I didn’t care about the clothes.
I dropped to my knees and crawled toward the small closet. I frantically pushed aside the broken hangers until I reached the back corner.
There, hidden under a pile of old shoes, was a heavy, moth-eaten wool coat.
It was my father’s old winter coat. The one he wore when he left me.
I grabbed it, my hands shaking violently as I felt along the thick seams of the inner lining.
My fingers brushed against a stiff, rectangular shape sewn deep into the fabric.
I let out a massive breath, closing my eyes as relief washed over me. It was still there.
“What is it?” Luca asked.
He was standing in the doorway, still holding Lily. Marco was right behind him.
I looked up at them from the floor.
“My dad didn’t just steal the ledgers,” I said softly. “He stole the key to a safety deposit box where the ledgers are kept. I sewed it into the lining of this coat five years ago. I’ve carried it with me everywhere.”
Luca stepped into the room. “If Dominic’s men didn’t find it… what were they looking for?”
Before I could answer, a loud, frantic shout echoed from the main house.
“Boss! Boss, get out here!”
It was Ray’s voice. The driver.
We ran back to the kitchen. Ray was leaning heavily against the granite island counter, his face pale, pointing a shaking finger toward the back door.
Vanessa was standing there.
She had a heavy winter coat pulled over her red silk dress. But she wasn’t running away.
She was holding a gun. And it was pointed directly at Ray’s chest.
“Nobody move,” Vanessa said, her voice high and frantic.
Luca froze. “Vanessa. Put it down.”
“I can’t!” she screamed, tears streaming down her face. “Dominic’s men… they didn’t just come for the maid’s room, Luca. They came to give me a message.”
She reached into her coat pocket with her free hand and pulled out a photograph. She threw it onto the kitchen floor.
It landed face up near my feet.
I looked down.
It was a picture of my father. He looked older, tired, bruised. He was tied to a chair in a dark, concrete room.
And standing behind him, holding a knife to his throat, was Vanessa’s father.
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“My family didn’t betray you for money, Luca,” Vanessa sobbed, her hand shaking violently as she kept the gun aimed at Ray. “Dominic has my father. He said if I don’t bring him Nora tonight, he’ll slit both their throats.”
TITLE: The Trade And The Drawing
