Chapter 5 - THE MAN WITH THE RED SCAR
The heavy oak doors of the dining room swung shut, sealing the thirty-eight remaining guests inside.
Panic rippled through the room.
Luca didn't flinch. He stood at the head of the table, his dark eyes fixed on the doors.
“Enzo,” Luca said loudly.
A massive man in a dark suit stepped forward from the shadows near the wall. Enzo was Luca’s head of security—loyal, ruthless, and terrifyingly efficient.
“Boss,” Enzo replied, his voice a low rumble.
“Where is Dominic?” Luca asked.
Enzo frowned. “Dominic had the perimeter watch tonight. He’s stationed at the front gates.”
“Bring him here. Now.”
“Boss, if I pull him off the gate—”
“I said bring him here!” Luca roared.
Enzo nodded sharply and spoke into his earpiece.
Vanessa slumped into a chair, her hands gripping the armrests. “Luca, you’re acting insane. You’re tearing our wedding apart over a child’s crayon drawing!”
“If that drawing proves my niece is alive,” Luca said, his voice cold and deliberate, “then there is no wedding.”
Vanessa’s face twisted in fury. “You can't do this to me! My father—”
“Your father is an old man sitting on a crumbling empire,” Luca interrupted, finally turning his full attention to her. “He used you to infiltrate my house because he knew he couldn't beat me in the streets. You are a spy, Vanessa. Nothing more.”
Vanessa gasped, tears of genuine humiliation springing to her eyes.
Teresa sat beside the blue dish of peach cobbler, her hands clasped tightly together.
“Dominic,” Teresa whispered, looking at Luca. “Luca, Dominic has worked for this family for fifteen years.”
“I know, Mom.”
“He was loyal to your father.”
“I know.”
I stood perfectly still near the dessert table. I knew exactly who Dominic was. He was the quiet, hulking guard who always took the night shifts. He rarely spoke, but I remembered noticing the jagged, ugly scar that ran down his left cheek.
A few minutes later, the dining room doors opened.
Two guards escorted Dominic inside.
He was wearing a heavy black raincoat, dripping water onto the marble floor. He looked around the room, his eyes taking in the pale guests, Marco’s terrified expression, and finally, Luca holding the piece of construction paper.
Dominic didn't look surprised.
He just looked incredibly tired.
“You called for me, Boss?” Dominic asked.
Luca walked slowly toward him.
He held up the child’s drawing.
“Do you recognize this, Dominic?”
Dominic looked at the messy crayon stick figures. He looked at the red scar drawn on the man’s face.
He didn't blink.
“Yes, sir.”
Luca’s chest heaved. “My father gave you my niece?”
Dominic shook his head.
“No, Boss. Your father didn't give her to me. Clara did.”
The room went completely silent.
“Explain,” Luca commanded.
Dominic let out a heavy sigh, water dripping from his coat.
“The night before your father died, Clara called me. She knew Marco had betrayed them to the Bellinis. She knew she couldn't take her daughter on the train, or they would both be killed.”
Dominic looked at Marco, his eyes filled with absolute disgust.
“Clara dropped the girl at Saint Jude’s and told me to get her out before Marco’s men arrived.”
“And you did?” Luca asked, his voice shaking with desperate hope.
“I got there twenty minutes before Marco and Vanessa’s father showed up,” Dominic said. “I took the girl out the back window. I’ve hidden her ever since.”
Teresa let out a cry of relief, burying her face in her hands.
Luca stepped closer to his guard.
“Where is she, Dominic? Where is my niece?”
Dominic didn't answer immediately.
He looked at Vanessa. Then at Marco.
“She’s safe.”
“I need to see her,” Luca demanded. “I need to bring her home.”
Dominic shook his head.
“With all due respect, Boss… this house isn't safe for her. As long as the Bellinis are breathing down your neck, she is a target.”
“The Bellinis are finished,” Luca said, his voice dropping to a terrifying register. “Vanessa is leaving tonight. And Marco is going to answer to the Commission for treason.”
Marco panicked, trying to bolt for the door.
Enzo grabbed him by the collar and slammed him into the wall, pinning him there effortlessly.
“Bring her to me, Dominic,” Luca pleaded, the mafia boss facade cracking to reveal the desperate uncle underneath.
Dominic hesitated.
Then, he reached into his heavy raincoat.
He pulled out a small, silver locket on a delicate chain.
He handed it to Luca.
“Clara gave this to her daughter the night she left her at the orphanage,” Dominic said softly. “She told her never to take it off.”
Luca opened the locket.
Inside was a tiny picture of Clara.
“Her name is Mia,” Dominic said. “She’s fourteen. And she thinks I’m her real father.”
Luca stared at the photo, tears finally spilling over his dark lashes.
“Bring her here tomorrow,” Luca said. “I’ll have the estate secured. No one gets in or out.”
Dominic nodded. “Yes, Boss.”
“Wait.”
Vanessa stood up.
Her red silk dress was wrinkled, her makeup slightly smudged, but a wicked, triumphant smile had spread across her face.
“You think you’ve won, Luca?” Vanessa laughed.
Luca didn't look at her. “Enzo, escort this woman off my property.”
“You might want to check your phone first, darling,” Vanessa sneered.
Luca froze.
He pulled his cell phone from his pocket.
The screen lit up with a text message from an unknown number.
I watched Luca’s face.
The color drained from his cheeks. His eyes widened in absolute horror.
He slowly lowered the phone.
“What did you do?” Luca whispered.
Vanessa smiled, a terrifying, venomous expression.
“You really think my father didn't have a backup plan? We knew Dominic was hiding something. My men have been following him for weeks.”
Dominic lunged forward, grabbing Vanessa by the throat.
“WHERE IS SHE?” Dominic roared, spit flying from his lips.
“Let her go!” Luca shouted, pulling Dominic back.
“They took her!” Dominic screamed, fighting against Luca’s grip. “Boss, they took Mia!”
Vanessa gasped for air, laughing as she rubbed her neck.
“My father has the girl, Luca,” Vanessa gloated. “And if you want to see your precious niece alive, you are going to sign the entire Moretti empire over to the Bellini family by midnight.”
The guests gasped in horror.
Luca stared at her, his hands trembling with rage.
“You touch one hair on her head, Vanessa…”
“Oh, I won't touch her,” Vanessa smiled. “But you have exactly two hours to hand over your territory. Otherwise, little Mia is going into the river.”
Suddenly, Teresa stood up from the table.
She didn't look frightened anymore.
She looked furious.
She picked up the blue dish of peach cobbler.
And she threw it directly into the massive stone fireplace.
The ceramic shattered with a loud crack, peaches and sugar splattering across the cold hearth.
“Mom?” Luca asked, shocked.
Teresa walked over to Vanessa.
And before anyone could stop her, the frail, seventy-eight-year-old woman slapped the mafia boss’s fiancée across the face so hard the sound echoed through the room.
Vanessa stumbled back, clutching her stinging cheek.
“Teresa!” Vanessa shrieked.
“You stupid girl,” Teresa spat, her voice ringing with absolute authority. “You think you are the first family to try and take this house?”
Teresa turned to Luca.
“Luca. Go into my bedroom.”
Luca stared at his mother. “Mom, what—”
“Go into my bedroom,” Teresa commanded. “Look under the mattress. Bring me the heavy black book.”
Vanessa froze.
“What black book?” Vanessa demanded.
May you like
Teresa looked at her with eyes as cold as ice.
“The book my husband told me to use if the Bellinis ever tried to break our family again.”
