Chapter 7 - THE MICRO-SD CARD
The cold, black barrel of Carlo Bellini’s pistol stared me dead in the eye.
I sat frozen on the concrete floor, my fingers gripping the cracked wooden music box so tightly my knuckles were white. The small, sealed bag of Claire’s ashes rested heavily in my palm.
"I won't ask you again, Emily," Carlo warned, his voice a lethal, quiet hiss. "Give me the box."
Luca stood perfectly still across the ruined safe room, the two assault rifles trained on his chest preventing him from moving an inch. His dark eyes were locked onto mine, silently begging me not to do anything reckless.
"Don't give it to him, Emily!" Noah cried out, struggling desperately against the massive Russian mercenary holding him by the collar. "Please, it's my mommy!"
My heart shattered at the sound of the little boy’s terror.
I looked at Carlo, the man who had orchestrated this entire nightmare. He didn't care about the ashes. He didn't care about a grieving child. He only cared about power, leverage, and saving his own skin from the Russian cartel.
I slowly raised the music box, holding it out toward Carlo.
"Smart girl," Carlo sneered, stepping forward to snatch it from my hands.
But as his fingers brushed the wood, I didn't let go.
I looked up at him, forcing every ounce of courage I possessed into my voice.
"The ledger isn't in here, Carlo," I said, my voice surprisingly steady.
Carlo froze, his hand hovering over the box. His triumphant smile instantly vanished, replaced by a dark, dangerous confusion.
"What did you say?" Carlo demanded.
"The micro-SD card," I clarified, my heart pounding a frantic rhythm against my ribs. "The proof that your father ordered the hit on the Russian syndicate five years ago. It’s not in the box anymore."
Carlo’s eyes darted frantically to the velvet lining hanging limply from the false bottom. He saw the empty cavity.
"Where is it?" Carlo roared, grabbing me roughly by the collar of my uniform and hauling me to my feet, pressing the barrel of his pistol hard against my temple.
"Let her go!" Luca bellowed, taking a furious step forward. The two guards instantly tightened their grips on their rifles, but Luca didn't back down. "The ledger is with me, Carlo! She has nothing to do with this!"
Carlo kept the gun pressed against my head, his chest heaving with panicked adrenaline. He looked at Luca, his eyes wild.
"Give it to me, Luca," Carlo spat, desperation finally cracking his arrogant facade. "Give me the SD card right now, or I blow her brains out all over this bunker."
Luca didn't hesitate.
He slowly reached into his suit trouser pocket with his left hand, keeping his right hand raised in surrender.
He pulled out the tiny, black micro-SD card.
He held it up between his thumb and forefinger, the tiny piece of plastic catching the red glare of the emergency lights.
"This is what you want, Carlo," Luca said, his voice a low, terrifyingly calm rumble. "The only copy of Claire’s ledger. The only proof that the Bellini family broke the truce and started a war with the Russians."
Carlo’s eyes locked onto the tiny card, a hungry, desperate greed washing over his features.
"Toss it to me," Carlo ordered, tightening his grip on my collar.
"No," Luca refused smoothly.
Carlo cocked the hammer of the pistol against my skull. The metallic click echoed loudly in the small room. I squeezed my eyes shut, a silent tear slipping down my cheek.
"Don't test me, Moretti," Carlo hissed. "I will kill her."
"If you kill her, Carlo, I will snap this card in half," Luca promised, his voice devoid of any emotion. "And then I will send the pieces to the Volkov family, and they will slaughter you and your sister before the sun comes up."
Carlo hesitated. He knew Luca wasn't bluffing. The mafia boss would absolutely watch the world burn to avenge a wrong.
"What do you want?" Carlo demanded through gritted teeth.
"A trade," Luca stated, his eyes flicking briefly to Noah, then back to Carlo. "You let the maid and my son walk out of this room, down the tunnel, and out of the estate. Once they are clear, I will hand you the SD card, and you can walk away with the ashes."
"You think I'm stupid?" Carlo scoffed. "If I let them go, I lose all my leverage."
"Your leverage is the ledger, Carlo," Luca countered coldly. "Without it, your family is dead. You have five seconds to decide. Five."
Luca moved his thumb, preparing to snap the tiny plastic card in half.
"Four."
Carlo’s eyes darted frantically between the card, the guards, and me.
"Three."
"Fine!" Carlo yelled, violently shoving me away.
I stumbled backward, crashing hard against the concrete wall, clutching the music box and Claire’s ashes tightly to my chest.
Carlo pointed his gun at the Russian mercenary holding Noah.
"Let the kid go," Carlo commanded.
The mercenary grunted, releasing his grip on Noah's collar.
Noah didn't hesitate for a fraction of a second. He sprinted across the ruined safe room, throwing his arms around my waist and burying his face in my apron, sobbing uncontrollably.
I wrapped my arms around him, holding him so tightly I thought I might crush him.
"Go, Emily," Luca ordered, his dark eyes meeting mine. The look he gave me was filled with an overwhelming, desperate urgency. "Take him down the maintenance tunnel. Don't look back. Don't stop until you reach the street."
"I'm not leaving you here with them," I protested, my voice cracking. I couldn't just walk away and leave him to face seven armed men alone.
"You have to," Luca said softly, offering me a small, incredibly sad smile. "Protect him for me."
Tears streamed down my face. I knew I couldn't fight them. My only job was to get Noah to safety.
I grabbed Noah’s hand, pulling him toward the massive hole Luca had blown in the concrete wall.
"Wait," Carlo snapped, stepping forward. He pointed his gun at me again. "Leave the box."
I froze.
"The ashes are my insurance policy," Carlo sneered, looking at Luca. "If you try anything funny after I get the card, the kid’s mother goes down the drain."
I looked at Luca. He gave me a barely perceptible nod.
My heart broke. I looked down at Noah, who was staring at the music box in my hands with absolute devastation.
"I'm sorry, sweetie," I whispered, tears blurring my vision.
I slowly placed the cracked wooden music box, with Claire’s ashes safely tucked inside the false bottom, onto a piece of shattered concrete near Carlo’s feet.
"Now go," Carlo dismissed, keeping his gun trained on Luca.
I grabbed Noah's hand and pulled him through the jagged hole in the wall, stepping into the dark, damp maintenance tunnel beneath the estate.
We ran.
We ran through the pitch-black corridor, the sound of our footsteps echoing loudly in the enclosed space. Noah cried silently beside me, his small hand gripping mine like a lifeline.
We ran for what felt like an eternity, navigating the twisting tunnels until we finally reached a heavy iron grate leading out into the cold night air.
I pushed the grate open, and we scrambled out into a small, wooded area at the far edge of the Moretti property, far away from the main gates.
We collapsed into the tall grass, gasping for air, the cold autumn wind biting at our faces.
"We made it," I panted, pulling Noah into my arms, rocking him back and forth. "We're safe, Noah. We're safe."
Noah clung to me, his small body trembling violently.
But as I held him, the terrifying reality of what we had just left behind crashed over me.
Luca was alone in a sealed bunker with seven heavily armed men who wanted him dead. He had traded his only leverage—the SD card—for our lives.
And then, a thought struck me like a bolt of lightning.
I remembered the moment Luca had popped the false bottom of the music box earlier that evening. I remembered the exact way he had pulled the tiny black micro-SD card from the velvet lining.
And I remembered the way he had just held the card up in front of Carlo Bellini.
My eyes widened in sheer, unadulterated horror in the dark woods.
"Noah," I whispered, my voice shaking so badly I could barely form the words.
"What is it, Emily?" Noah sniffled, looking up at me.
I grabbed his shoulders, panic completely seizing my chest.
"When your dad showed Carlo the SD card just now," I stammered, my mind racing frantically. "The card he held up... it had a tiny red logo printed on the back."
Noah frowned, confused. "Yeah?"
"Noah," I breathed, the tears returning with a vengeance. "The SD card we found in the music box earlier tonight... it was completely black. It didn't have a logo."
The realization settled over me like a suffocating blanket.
Luca hadn't given Carlo the ledger.
He had bluffed. He had pulled a random SD card from his pocket to buy our escape.
May you like
Which meant that right now, Carlo Bellini was standing in that bunker, realizing he had been tricked.
And Luca was entirely unarmed.
