Chapter 6 - The Betrayal Within
I stared at the engraved pocket watch on the dusty vault floor.
To Nathan. Enjoy the retirement. - Luca.
My brain couldn't process the words. Luca? Luca Santoro gave this to my husband?
“I don't understand,” I whispered, looking up at Sofia, who was pacing like a caged tiger. “Nathan doesn't know Luca. He works in regional sales.”
“Your husband is a pathological liar, Katherine!” Sofia screamed, her voice echoing off the metal walls. “Regional sales? He’s been laundering money for my brother’s legitimate businesses for five years! He’s Luca’s favorite civilian asset!”
The room tilted. My entire fourteen-year marriage wasn't just a lie about infidelity. It was a lie about his entire existence. The late nights, the sudden business trips, the extra cash he claimed were bonuses. He was a money launderer for the Chicago mafia.
And Luca Santoro, the man who had just defended my son and lit his birthday candles, was his boss.
“Luca didn't know about me,” Sofia muttered, pacing frantically. “He thought Nathan was just a loyal employee. He didn't know Nathan and I made a side deal to find your mother’s stolen money.”
She stopped pacing and pointed her gun at my head.
“Where did he hide the bonds, Katherine?”
“I don't know!” I cried, pushing Benjamin behind me. “I didn't even know the money existed until an hour ago! He was going to lock me in a psychiatric ward tomorrow, remember? He was cutting me out!”
Sofia’s eyes narrowed. “Yes. He was. Because he knew if I found out he stole the bonds, I would kill him. He was using the asylum as a distraction. He was going to take the boy and run.”
Suddenly, the heavy metal door at the top of the concrete stairs slammed open.
Footsteps thundered down the steps. Heavy, fast, and tactical.
Sofia’s men spun around, raising their rifles.
“Drop your weapons, Sofia!” a voice roared from the shadows of the stairwell.
It was Luca.
He stepped into the harsh glare of the floodlights. He wasn't in his tailored dinner jacket anymore. He was wearing a black tactical vest over his dress shirt, holding an assault rifle perfectly steady. Behind him poured a dozen heavily armed men, outnumbering Sofia’s guards three to one.
“How did you get free?” Sofia hissed, backing away and grabbing my arm, pulling me in front of her as a human shield.
Luca didn't flinch. “You paid your guards well, sister. But I pay them better. Half the men who held me at the hotel were my loyalists. We just let you leave so you would lead us to the money.”
Luca’s eyes darted to the empty deposit box on the floor, then to the crushed paper in Sofia’s hand.
“Where are the bonds?” Luca demanded.
“Your prized accountant took them!” Sofia yelled, pressing the barrel of her gun hard into my temple. “Nathan double-crossed us both, Luca! He emptied the vault!”
Luca’s face darkened. He looked at me, trapped against Sofia’s chest, and his eyes softened for just a fraction of a second. “Let Katherine and the boy go, Sofia. This is between us.”
“They are my leverage!” she screamed.
“Mom!” Benjamin cried out, trying to grab my hand.
“Get back, Ben!” I yelled.
Suddenly, a bruised, bloody figure stumbled out from behind Luca’s men.
It was Nathan. His dinner jacket was ripped, his face swollen and bleeding, holding his broken wrist against his chest.
“Kate,” Nathan gasped, looking at me with absolute terror.
“You son of a bitch,” Sofia snarled, aiming her gun away from me and directly at Nathan. “Where is my money?”
“It wasn't yours!” Nathan screamed back, tears streaming down his ruined face. “It was Kate’s! Her mother left it for her! You were going to kill her, Sofia! I couldn't let you kill my wife!”
“You were going to lock me in an asylum!” I screamed at him, the betrayal burning hotter than fear.
“To keep you safe from her!” Nathan sobbed, dropping to his knees. “If you were locked in the state ward, Sofia couldn't get to you! I was going to take Ben, secure the money, and come back for you when it was safe!”
It was the most twisted, pathetic logic I had ever heard. He truly believed he was the hero of his own deranged story.
“Where is it, Nathan?” Luca asked, his voice deadly calm.
Nathan looked at Luca, then at Sofia’s gun pointed at his chest. Then, he looked at Benjamin.
“I’m sorry, Ben,” Nathan whispered. “Daddy made a mess.”
Nathan reached into his blood-soaked pocket with his good hand.
“Don't move!” Sofia shrieked.
Nathan pulled out a small, blue paper ticket.
“It’s at the Greyhound station,” Nathan wheezed. “Locker 42.”
May you like
He held the ticket up in the air.
Sofia fired.
