Chapter 8 - The Mother on the Stairs
“Very impressive, Adriano. But you’re entirely out of time.”
Elena slowly descended the grand staircase, her dark eyes locked on the stuffed pink rabbit in my arms. The four armed men behind her kept their rifles aimed squarely at Adriano’s chest.
“Give me the chip, Grace,” Elena demanded, stopping three steps above us. “And I’ll let you walk out the front door. You can go to the hospital and hold your father’s hand.”
I squeezed the rabbit tighter, refusing to break eye contact. “You’re lying. You’ll kill us the second you have it.”
“She’s right,” Adriano said, stepping slightly in front of me, shielding my body with his own. “You’ve grown sloppy, Elena. Four years hiding like a rat has dulled your edges.”
Elena’s smile vanished. “I built an empire while you played house with a deaf child and a hired maid. Hand it over, Adriano, or I will order my men to shoot you both in the knees and pry it from your dead hands.”
Before anyone could move, a small, fragile sound echoed from the hallway.
Isabella stood in the doorway of the library, the panic room door wide open behind her. She had crawled out through the vent after Adriano. She stood in her pink pajamas, staring up at the woman on the stairs.
Elena froze. For a fraction of a second, something like guilt flickered across her hardened features.
“Bella,” Elena whispered.
Isabella didn’t run to her. She didn’t cry. She stood perfectly still, looking at the mother she had wept for every night for four years. The mother who was now pointing guns at the only people who loved her.
Isabella raised her small hands. Her fingers moved sharply, angrily.
“You are not my mommy.”
Elena’s face contorted in anger. “What is she doing? Tell her to stop that ridiculous waving and come here.”
Adriano’s jaw clenched. “She said you are not her mother.”
“I gave birth to her!” Elena shouted, losing her composed facade. “I gave up my youth for her! Bring me the rabbit, Isabella, right now!”
Isabella looked at me. She signed, “Keep Mr. Bunny safe, Grace.”
Then, Isabella reached to the wall beside her and slammed her hand against the master fire alarm switch.
A deafening siren erupted through the mansion, paired with blinding strobe lights that flashed violently in the dark foyer. The sudden noise and flashing lights disoriented Elena’s men.
Adriano moved with terrifying speed. He drew his backup weapon and fired twice, dropping the two guards closest to Elena. The other two scrambled for cover, firing blindly into the foyer.
Adriano grabbed my hand, pulling me toward the library where Isabella was waiting. “Move!”
We dove through the library doors just as a barrage of bullets shattered the wood frame behind us. Adriano scooped Isabella up, rushing us back toward the panic room.
“We’re trapped!” I shouted over the blaring alarms.
“No, we’re not,” Adriano said, slamming the panic room door shut behind us and locking the heavy bolts.
He leaned against the steel door, panting heavily. Then, he looked at his watch.
The heavy thumping of helicopter rotors suddenly vibrated through the reinforced walls of the panic room. It wasn’t just one helicopter. It was several.
The radio console crackled. It wasn’t Elena this time.
“Mr. Falcone, this is FBI Special Agent Vance. We have the perimeter secured. Your wife and the Rossi operatives are surrounded. Come out with your hands empty.”
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I stared at Adriano in shock. “You called the FBI?”
“I called them twenty minutes ago, when I saw Elena on the camera,” Adriano said, his voice entirely calm. He looked down at the pink rabbit in my hands. “I don’t want the mafia life anymore, Grace. I gave them the chip. I gave them the Rossis. I gave them everything to ensure Isabella never has to live in fear again.”
