Chapter 6 - THE CHRISTENING COAT
The underground garage felt as cold as a crypt.
Luca stared at the tiny, blood-stained white coat in Catherine’s hands. The silk fabric fluttered slightly in the damp wind.
“She has Matteo’s son,” Luca whispered, the words stripping away every ounce of his authority. He wasn't a mafia boss in that moment; he was a broken grandfather.
He turned slowly toward the first SUV, where Sabrina was handcuffed to the door handle.
Luca drew his gun. His face was a mask of absolute, lethal stillness.
“Luca, stop,” Catherine pleaded, grabbing his wrist. “If you kill her, we lose the only leverage we have against the Rossi syndicate. We lose the boy.”
Luca didn't lower the weapon. He stared at the woman who had murdered his son, slept in his bed, and stolen his grandchild.
“She isn't leverage, Cath,” Luca said, his voice hollow. “She’s a poison. And I let her into our home.”
He looked at Catherine. The guilt in his eyes was heavier than the gun in his hand.
“Answer one, open two,” Luca murmured bitterly, quoting Catherine’s earlier words. “I asked why she came to the house. The answer was revenge. But now it opens two more. Where is the boy, and whose blood is on this coat?”
He finally lowered the gun, turning to his captains.
“Get us to the safe house. Call Dr. Evans. Tell him to prep the dialysis machines. We have a civilian casualty.”
The drive to the safe house was a blur of neon streetlights and heavy rain. I sat in the back of the armored SUV, holding my mother’s hand as she drifted in and out of consciousness.
The safe house wasn't a grimy basement. It was a massive, fortress-like estate hidden deep in the forested suburbs of Lake Forest. High stone walls, iron gates, and armed guards patrolling the perimeter with attack dogs.
We rushed my mother inside. A private medical team immediately took her to a sterile room in the east wing, hooking her up to top-of-the-line equipment.
I collapsed into a leather chair in the hallway, burying my face in my hands. The exhaustion and terror were finally breaking me.
A gentle hand touched my shoulder.
It was Catherine. She had washed the blood from her hands and changed into a simple black sweater.
“Your mother is stable, Emily,” Catherine said softly. “The doctor said her vitals are returning to normal.”
I looked up, tears spilling down my cheeks.
“Why are you protecting us?” I asked, my voice trembling. “You should be looking for your grandson. We’re just the help.”
Catherine sat down next to me. She looked exhausted, but her dignity remained untouched.
“You aren't the help tonight, Emily,” Catherine said. “You picked up a weapon to protect my husband. You risked your life. In my world, loyalty like that makes you family. And we protect our family.”
The word family echoed in the quiet hallway.
“Even when they betray you?” I asked, thinking of Luca.
Catherine looked down at her hands. Her ring finger was still bare.
“Especially then,” Catherine whispered. “Because betrayal is easy. Forgiveness requires strength. And right now, I have to be strong enough for both of us.”
Before I could say anything else, Luca marched down the hallway. He had changed into a clean black shirt, a fresh bandage wrapped around his head.
“Sabrina is talking,” Luca said grimly.
Catherine stood up. “What did she say?”
“She didn't hurt the boy. The blood on the coat belongs to one of the nuns at the clinic who tried to stop her men from taking him,” Luca explained, though the relief in his voice was overshadowed by anger.
“Where is he?” Catherine demanded.
Luca looked at his wife, a deep sorrow crossing his features.
“They took him to the old Rossi warehouse on the south side,” Luca said. “Her men are holding him there until Sabrina brings them my head. They want to execute me in the same building where your father died.”
Catherine went completely still.
The Rossi warehouse. The place where her family had burned. The place where she had been forced to surrender to the man she eventually married.
“I’m going,” Luca said, checking the magazine of his gun. “I’m taking ten men. We breach the warehouse, we get the boy, and we burn the rest of the Rossi syndicate to the ground.”
“No,” Catherine said sharply.
Luca stopped. “Cath, I have to fix this. I broke this family. Let me save him.”
Catherine shook her head. She walked over to a small mahogany table in the hallway and picked up a piece of paper that had been sitting there.
She held it out to Luca.
I recognized it. It was a child’s drawing in crayon. A drawing of a house with flames coming out of the windows. I had seen it hanging in Sabrina’s guest room at the mansion while cleaning.
“Sabrina drew this when she was six years old,” Catherine said softly. “She’s kept it her entire life. It’s her trauma, Luca. It’s the fire you started.”
Luca stared at the drawing, the guilt washing over him.
“If you go in there with guns,” Catherine said, her voice filled with absolute certainty, “they will kill the boy just to watch you suffer. You can't fight fire with fire tonight, Luca.”
“Then what do I do?” Luca begged, looking completely lost.
Catherine reached out and gently took the gun from his hand.
“You don't go,” Catherine said. “I go.”
Luca’s eyes widened in horror. “Are you insane? They’ll kill you!”
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“They are my father’s men,” Catherine said, her chin raised high. “They are Rossi soldiers. And I am the eldest Rossi daughter. It’s time I took back my name.”
TITLE: THE ROSSI DAUGHTER
