Chapter 7 - THE SECRET IN THE MOTHER'S PHOTOGRAPH
The library spun around me.
I gripped the edge of the wooden pedestal to keep from collapsing, staring at the faded photograph in my trembling hand.
My mother. And Antonio Moretti.
"Olivia, we need to go," Daniel urged, unaware of the world-shattering bomb that had just dropped in my lap. "Vanessa could wake up any minute."
I didn't move. I couldn't.
"Daniel," I whispered, my voice sounding like it belonged to someone else. "Why is there a picture of my mother in Michael's hidden ledger?"
Daniel froze. He took a cautious step forward and looked at the photograph.
The security chief's eyes widened. He looked from the picture to my face, studying my features with sudden, intense clarity.
"My God," Daniel breathed. "You have his eyes."
"Whose eyes?!" I demanded, tears of sheer confusion welling up.
"Antonio's," Daniel said softly.
He took the photograph from my hand and turned it over. Written on the back, in Michael Moretti's handwriting, were three words:
The true heir.
"I don't understand," I sobbed, shaking my head violently. "My father was a mechanic. He died when I was ten. My mother worked three jobs to keep us afloat!"
"Your mother was Antonio Moretti's mistress," a cold, elegant voice echoed through the library.
I whipped around.
Standing in the doorway, wearing a silk robe and holding a suppressed silver pistol, was Vanessa.
Daniel instantly reached for his weapon, but Vanessa was faster.
Pfft.
The suppressed gunshot sounded like a violent cough.
Daniel grunted, his hand flying to his shoulder as blood blossomed across his shirt. He stumbled backward, dropping his gun, and collapsed against the bookshelves.
"Daniel!" I screamed, dropping the ledger and running to him.
"Don't move, little maid," Vanessa commanded, aiming the smoking gun directly at my head.
I froze, kneeling beside a groaning Daniel.
Vanessa walked slowly into the library. She didn't look like a terrified fiancé anymore. She looked like exactly what she was: a ruthless, calculated assassin.
"I knew Antonio had a bastard daughter," Vanessa sneered, picking up the red ledger from the floor. "The Russians have been looking for you for twenty years."
"Why would they care about me?" I cried, pressing my hands over Daniel's bleeding shoulder to stem the blood flow.
"Because Antonio didn't trust his sons with the empire," Vanessa explained smoothly, flipping through the ledger with a triumphant smile. "Michael was too soft. Luca was too hot-headed. Antonio left the ultimate control of the syndicate's offshore billions in a blind trust."
She pointed the gun at me.
"A trust that can only be unlocked by the DNA of his only daughter. You."
The pieces fell into place with sickening precision.
"That's why you hired me," I realized, the horror washing over me. "You didn't randomly pick my resume out of a pile. You hunted me down."
"I brought you into the house to keep an eye on you," Vanessa admitted. "I needed to wait until I had eliminated Michael and framed Luca. Once Luca is dead in prison tonight, you are the last surviving heir. I take your blood, unlock the accounts, and the Russians take over Chicago."
She laughed, a cruel, soulless sound.
"Breaking that vase was just an excuse to fire you, to isolate you from the staff before I made you disappear."
I looked down at Daniel. He was pale, sweating profusely, but he managed to give me a subtle, urgent nod toward the fireplace.
The brass fire poker.
I couldn't reach it. She would shoot me before I took two steps.
"Get up," Vanessa ordered, waving the gun toward the door. "We are going for a ride."
I stood up slowly, raising my hands. My mind raced. Elias was waiting at the warehouse. If I didn't show up with the ledger, Luca would die in prison.
"You won't get away with this," I said, trying to buy time. "Elias Thorne is alive. He knows everything."
Vanessa's smile vanished. "Elias is dead."
"He's not," I challenged, holding her gaze. "He bought the decoy notebook at the auction. He's coming for you, Vanessa."
For a fraction of a second, genuine fear crossed the Russian agent's face.
She glanced toward the window.
That was all the distraction I needed.
I didn't run for the fire poker. I ran for the massive, antique globe sitting on a stand between us.
I shoved the heavy wooden globe with every ounce of strength I had.
It tipped over, crashing violently into Vanessa.
She shrieked, stumbling backward as the heavy sphere hit her chest. Her gun fired wildly, the bullet shattering a stained-glass window.
I didn't wait to see if she fell.
I snatched the red ledger from the floor where she had dropped it, grabbed Daniel by the collar, and hauled him toward the secret servant's passage behind the bookshelf.
"Move, Daniel!" I screamed, throwing my weight against the hidden panel.
The bookshelf swung inward. We tumbled into the dark, narrow passageway just as Vanessa recovered.
"You little bitch!" Vanessa roared.
Three bullets slammed into the heavy wooden bookcase as it swung shut, sealing us in the darkness.
I locked the internal deadbolt, plunging us into pitch black.
Daniel groaned, leaning heavily against me.
"We have to get out of the house," I panted, throwing his good arm over my shoulder. "She's going to call her men."
We stumbled blindly through the dusty passage, descending the narrow spiral staircase toward the underground delivery tunnels.
"You did good, kid," Daniel wheezed.
We reached the heavy steel door that led out to the delivery bay.
I pushed it open, the morning sunlight blinding me for a second.
But as my eyes adjusted, my relief evaporated instantly.
We weren't safe.
Standing in the delivery bay, surrounding the exit with drawn assault rifles, were a dozen men in dark suits.
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And standing in front of them, looking furious and completely lethal, was Luca Moretti.
TITLE: The Gun In The Shadows
