Chapter 7 - THE CONFRONTATION
The lights in the penthouse flickered, then died completely.
The security screen went black. Paul had cut the main power from the hallway.
“Marcus,” Luca whispered in the pitch dark. “Get Emily to the back bedroom. Lock the door. Do not come out no matter what you hear.”
“I’m not leaving you,” I hissed, grabbing Luca’s arm. “He wants me. If I hide, he’ll just kill you both to get to me.”
“You are a mother first,” Luca said fiercely, gripping my shoulders. “You go to Lily. Now.”
Before I could argue, Marcus was pulling me down the long, dark hallway. We reached the guest room where Lily was sleeping. The moonlight filtered through the floor-to-ceiling windows, casting long, eerie shadows across her small, peaceful face.
Marcus shoved a heavy oak dresser in front of the door, barricading us inside. He drew a heavy pistol from his shoulder holster, keeping his eyes locked on the door handle.
“Stay down,” Marcus ordered me.
I crouched beside the bed, pulling Lily’s sleeping body gently into my lap. She stirred but didn’t wake. I pressed my cheek against her hair, praying to a God I hadn’t spoken to in years.
Outside in the living room, the heavy oak door clicked open.
There was a heavy thud—a body hitting the floor. Dennis.
“You always were too sentimental, Luca,” Paul’s voice echoed through the suite. It sounded wrong, raspy and damaged, like a man who had swallowed glass. “You fired this idiot, but you didn’t change the locks. Sloppy.”
“You burned down an apartment building on Christmas Eve, Paul,” Luca’s voice fired back, calm and resonant. “There were families in there.”
“Collateral,” Paul sneered. “Just like Dad was. Just like David Carter was.”
I squeezed my eyes shut, fresh tears burning my face. Hearing him admit it so casually felt like taking a bullet to the chest.
“David found out I was siphoning funds,” Paul continued, his footsteps echoing on the hardwood floor. “He was going to tell Dad. So I made a deal with the Morettis to hit the vault, and I set David up to take the fall. But David was smarter than I thought. He found out about his little wife’s bloodline. He took the money, hid it, and threatened to expose me to the commission if I ever touched you or the girl.”
“So you cut the brakes on his truck,” Luca said.
“It was messy,” Paul admitted. “But it worked. Until I realized he hid the three million dollars before he died. I’ve been looking for that money for two years, Luca. Two years living like a ghost, sleeping in gutters, while you sit in a penthouse wearing cashmere.”
“The money is gone, Paul,” Luca said.
“No, it isn’t,” Paul spat. “I saw the wife’s face when she looked at me outside that dump yesterday. She knows something. Where is she?”
“You’re not getting past me,” Luca said quietly.
Then, chaos erupted.
The sound of shattering glass, a sickening crunch of bone, and a guttural roar shook the walls. I screamed, covering Lily’s ears. Lily woke up instantly, her eyes wide with terror.
“Mommy, what’s happening?” she cried.
“Shh, baby, stay down,” I sobbed, shielding her with my body.
Gunfire roared—three deafening shots that rattled the windows.
Marcus flinched, stepping toward the door, his weapon raised. “Boss!” he yelled.
Silence followed. A heavy, suffocating silence.
Then, the doorknob to the bedroom slowly began to turn. The door hit the heavy oak dresser Marcus had pushed in front of it.
“Marcus,” a voice rasped from the hallway. It wasn’t Luca. “Move the dresser. Or I shoot through the wood and hope I hit the kid.”
Marcus looked at me. His eyes were filled with absolute despair. He lowered his gun.
“Don’t do it,” I whispered.
But Marcus slowly pushed the dresser aside.
The door swung open. Paul stood there, a silencer equipped pistol pointed directly at us. Blood was pouring from a gash above his eye, but he was grinning.
In his left hand, he was holding an antique gold pocket watch. It had a deep, jagged scratch across the glass face.
May you like
I recognized it instantly. It was the watch David had in his pocket the day he died.
“Hello, Emily,” Paul said. “It’s time to tell me where the money is.”
