Chapter 7 - The Climax And The Deal
The heavy steel wrench struck Dominic square in the shoulder.
A sickening crack echoed through the warehouse as Dominic roared in pain, dropping the carved jewelry box and stumbling forward.
The distraction was all Luca needed.
Before Dominic’s men could adjust their aim, Luca fired three times in rapid succession. The silenced shots hit their marks with terrifying precision. Two of Dominic’s guards dropped instantly. Marco took out the third.
The warehouse fell into a deafening silence, broken only by Dominic’s groans as he writhed on the concrete floor, clutching his shattered shoulder.
I didn’t wait for Luca’s signal. I sprinted across the dark floor, my boots slipping on the oily concrete, and slid to my knees beside my father’s chair.
“Dad!” I gasped, my hands shaking violently as I tore at the thick nylon ropes binding his wrists.
“Nora,” my father choked out, tears mixing with the blood on his swollen face. “You shouldn’t have come. You shouldn’t have brought him here.”
“I’m not leaving you again,” I said, finally snapping the ropes loose.
My father slumped forward into my arms. He was painfully thin, his body trembling from exhaustion and lack of insulin. But he was alive.
I looked up. Luca was standing over Dominic, his gun aimed directly at the older boss’s head.
Dominic spat a mouthful of blood onto the concrete. He looked up at Luca and laughed, a wet, ragged sound.
“Go ahead, Luca,” Dominic sneered. “Pull the trigger. But it won’t save you. My men in Geneva are already moving on the bank. They get the ledgers, they destroy them, and I win. The Commission will hand Chicago to my family by the end of the week.”
Luca didn’t flinch. His face was carved from stone.
“You think I came here blind, Dominic?” Luca asked quietly.
Luca reached into his inner jacket pocket. He pulled out a small, heavy silver object and tossed it onto the concrete next to Dominic’s face.
It was the silver pocket watch. My father’s watch, the one Vance had dropped in the driveway.
Dominic stared at it, confused.
“You sent Vance to my house to deliver a message,” Luca said smoothly. “But you made a mistake. Vance was a mercenary. He worked for the highest bidder.”
Luca crouched down, his dark eyes locking onto Dominic’s.
“While you were waiting here for me to show up and beg for the girl’s life,” Luca said, “I wired three million dollars into Vance’s offshore account. And in exchange, Vance called your men in Geneva.”
Dominic’s face drained of color. “No.”
“Yes,” Luca whispered. “He told them the target had changed. He gave them the address of your primary stash house in Zurich instead. They aren’t blowing the bank vault, Dominic. They’re blowing your own money.”
Dominic let out a primal scream of rage and tried to lunge upward.
Luca simply stood back, letting Marco step in. Marco drove the butt of his rifle hard into the back of Dominic’s skull. The older boss collapsed, unconscious.
“Bind him,” Luca ordered. “Throw him in the trunk. The Commission is going to want to have a very long conversation with him about hiring mercenaries to bomb his own assets.”
Marco dragged Dominic away into the shadows.
Luca turned to me.
I was sitting on the floor, holding my father, tears streaming freely down my face. I looked up at the man who had just dismantled an entire rival syndicate without breaking a sweat, entirely to save a housekeeper’s father.
Luca holstered his weapon. The cold, ruthless mafia boss vanished. He walked over and knelt beside us, his eyes softening as he looked at my father.
“Thomas,” Luca said gently. “It’s been a long time.”
My father looked at Luca, his breathing shallow but steady. “You look like your old man, kid.”
Luca smiled softly. “Let’s get you home. We have a doctor waiting at the estate.”
Ray, who was standing nearby rubbing his tired hands, stepped forward to help lift my father. “I got him, Boss.”
“You did good today, Ray,” Luca said, clapping the driver on the shoulder. “Take a week off. Fully paid. And when you come back, you’re not driving anymore. You’re running the motor pool. Desk job. Better hours for your health.”
Ray’s eyes filled with tears. He nodded, unable to speak, and helped my father toward the waiting SUVs.
I stayed on the floor for a moment longer. I looked down and saw my mother’s carved wooden jewelry box lying on the concrete where Dominic had dropped it.
I reached out and picked it up. The wood was scratched, but it was unbroken.
Luca offered me his hand.
I looked at it. A strong, calloused hand that had just taken down an empire. I placed my hand in his, and he pulled me to my feet.
He didn’t let go.
“It’s over, Nora,” Luca said softly, his thumb brushing a smudge of dirt from my cheek. “You don’t have to run anymore. Either of you.”
I looked up into his dark eyes, feeling a flutter in my chest that had absolutely nothing to do with fear.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
Luca leaned in, close enough that I could feel the warmth of his breath against my cold skin. “Come home.”
I nodded.
We walked out of the dark warehouse together, leaving the shadows behind. But as I clutched the jewelry box to my chest, a small, folded piece of paper slipped out of the hidden compartment and fluttered to the ground.
I stopped to pick it up.
It wasn’t the bank statement Dominic had found.
It was a ticket.
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A faded, twenty-year-old ticket stub for a ferry ride in Venice. And written on the back, in my mother’s handwriting, were the words: To my husband, Thomas. And our secret.
TITLE: The Secret In The Box
