Chapter 10 - THE BLOOD-RED RUBY
I stared at the note, the words blurring as a cold, terrifying dread settled in my stomach.
The true Commission has come to collect its heir.
I looked at the silver ring resting in the wooden box. The ruby caught the sunlight, gleaming like a fresh drop of blood.
“The Commission was dismantled,” I whispered, my voice trembling. “The FBI arrested all the regional bosses. They seized the assets. It’s over.”
Luca closed the wooden box with a sharp snap. His jaw was clenched, his eyes scanning the empty driveway, looking for threats in the shadows of the ancient oak trees.
“The Chicago syndicate was dismantled,” Luca corrected, his voice dropping into that low, dangerous register I hadn’t heard in months. “But the Commission isn’t just Chicago, Hannah. It’s a national council. And whoever left this box isn’t a regional boss. They’re the old guard.”
He turned and looked back toward the dining room.
Through the archway, we could see Leo sitting at the table, laughing at something on his phone, completely oblivious to the nightmare that had just arrived on our doorstep.
“They know Leo is alive,” I said, panic rising in my chest. “They know he’s Arthur Bellini’s biological son. They want to use him to rebuild.”
“They won’t touch him,” Luca stated, absolutely unyielding.
He grabbed my hand and pulled me back inside, locking the heavy front doors and engaging the steel deadbolts.
“Mom!” Luca called out, his voice echoing through the house.
Teresa and my mother hurried in from the patio, alarmed by the sudden change in his tone.
“What is it, sweetheart?” Teresa asked, clutching her cardigan.
“Pack a bag. Both of you. Just the essentials,” Luca ordered. “We’re leaving the estate. Now.”
My mother looked terrified. “Are they back? Did Vanessa escape?”
“Worse,” Luca said.
He walked into the study, moving with terrifying efficiency. He pulled aside a large oil painting, revealing a hidden wall safe. He quickly punched in the code, grabbed stacks of cash and two passports, and shoved them into a duffel bag.
Then, he pulled out his heavy pistol and slammed a magazine into the grip.
Leo walked into the study, his smile vanishing as he saw the gun. “Luca? What’s going on?”
“We have to go, Leo,” I said, grabbing my brother’s arm. “Someone is coming for you.”
“For me?” Leo asked, confused and terrified. “Why?”
Before I could explain, the power in the entire mansion suddenly cut out.
The lights died. The hum of the air conditioning stopped. The security cameras whirred down to silence.
The house was plunged into shadows.
“Get down!” Luca roared.
He tackled me to the floor just as the massive glass French doors in the dining room shattered into a million pieces.
Gunfire erupted from the garden. Suppressed automatic weapons chewed through the drywall, destroying the peaceful sanctuary we had just built.
Teresa screamed, covering her head as my mother pulled her behind the heavy mahogany dining table.
“Leo, stay low!” Luca shouted, firing two blind shots toward the garden to force the attackers behind cover.
I crawled across the glass-covered floor, grabbing Leo by his shirt and pulling him into the hallway.
“How many are there?” I yelled over the chaos.
“Too many,” Luca grunted, dropping his empty magazine and reloading in less than a second. “They killed the power. That means they cut the backup generators too. This is a highly trained hit squad.”
He crawled over to us, his eyes burning with a fierce, protective fire.
“Hannah, listen to me,” Luca said, grabbing my shoulders. “Under the main staircase, there’s a false panel. It leads to the old prohibition tunnels. It comes out three blocks away in the city sewer line.”
“I know,” I said. “I cleaned this house, remember?”
“Take my mother, your mother, and Leo. Get into the tunnel and don’t stop running until you hit the street. Call the FBI contact.”
“What about you?” I cried, gripping his shirt.
“I’m going to hold the hallway. I’ll buy you time.”
“No!” I screamed, tears springing to my eyes. “I’m not leaving you to die!”
Luca looked at me, his expression softening for just a fraction of a second amid the gunfire.
“I’m not dying today, Hannah,” he promised. He leaned in and kissed me hard on the mouth. “I finally have a reason to live. Now go!”
He shoved me toward the stairs and turned back to the hallway, laying down a heavy volley of suppressing fire.
I didn’t want to leave him, but I looked at my mother and Leo. They were defenseless.
“Mom, Mrs. Moretti, come on!” I yelled, pulling the women toward the grand staircase.
I found the hidden latch on the wooden paneling and pulled it open, revealing a dark, narrow stone staircase leading deep underground.
I pushed Leo and the mothers inside, preparing to follow them.
But as I stepped into the tunnel, I heard a sound that made my blood freeze.
The heavy front door of the mansion didn’t just open. It was blown off its hinges by a breaching charge.
Smoke filled the foyer.
Luca was pinned down, trapped between the attackers in the garden and the breach at the front door. He was completely surrounded.
I couldn’t leave him.
“Leo, take them and run!” I shouted, shoving my brother down the stone steps.
I slammed the hidden panel shut from the outside, locking them safely in the tunnel.
I turned back to the foyer, grabbing a heavy iron fireplace poker from the mantle.
Through the thick gray smoke, a figure walked slowly through the destroyed front doorway. He wasn’t carrying a gun. He wore a pristine gray suit, walking with a silver-tipped cane.
He was an older man, his hair entirely white, his face weathered but exuding absolute, terrifying authority.
He stopped in the center of the foyer and looked at Luca, who was bleeding from a graze wound on his shoulder, his gun empty.
The old man didn’t look angry. He looked disappointed.
“Luca Moretti,” the old man sighed. “You have caused the Commission a great deal of trouble.”
Luca dropped his empty gun, standing tall despite his injury. “Go to hell, Don Salvatore.”
The old man smiled faintly. “I’m already there, my boy. Now, where is my grandson? Where is the boy with Bellini blood?”
“He’s gone,” I shouted, stepping out of the shadows, gripping the iron poker tight.
Salvatore turned his cold eyes toward me. He looked at my fierce, protective stance, and then he noticed something.
He looked at the gold pocket watch resting in my dress pocket. The watch Teresa had just given me.
The old man’s eyes widened. He stepped forward, ignoring Luca entirely.
“Where did you get that watch?” Salvatore demanded, his voice suddenly shaking.
May you like
“It belonged to Luca’s father,” I spat.
“No, it didn’t,” the old man whispered, staring at my face with a terrifying realization. “I gave that watch to my son thirty years ago. Before he ran away to become a school teacher.”
