Chapter 5 - The Recipe Book And The Deal
The blinding headlights of the town car cast long, terrifying shadows down the wooden pier. The freezing wind off Lake Michigan whipped Vanessa’s blonde hair around her face, but her cruel, triumphant smile remained fixed.
“Give me the book, Daniel,” I whispered frantically, stepping in front of my son to shield him from the raised guns.
Daniel clung to the leather binder, his eyes wide with sheer panic as he looked at the armed men surrounding us. “Mom, what’s going on? Who are they?”
“They’re the people your father stole from,” I said softly, never taking my eyes off Vanessa.
Vanessa stopped ten feet away from us. Her three guards spread out, cutting off any chance of escape back to the street. Behind us was nothing but the freezing, deadly black water of the lake.
“I must admit, Sarah, you’re faster than you look,” Vanessa drawled, wrapping her thick wool coat tighter against the wind. “But running is exhausting, isn't it? Let’s end this. The ring and the book. Toss them over.”
I reached into my pocket and pulled out the heavy gold signet ring. I held it up in the glare of the headlights.
“I have the ring, Vanessa,” I yelled over the wind. “Let Daniel walk away, and I’ll give it to you.”
Vanessa laughed, a sharp, bitter sound. “You really think I’m stupid enough to leave a witness? That boy knows what his father was. He knows what I’m doing here tonight. Neither of you is leaving this pier alive.”
She nodded to the guard on her right.
The man raised his suppressed pistol, aiming the laser sight directly at Daniel’s chest.
“No!” I screamed, throwing myself entirely over my son.
“Wait!” Daniel shouted, his voice cracking with terror. He scrambled backward, holding the heavy leather recipe book out over the edge of the pier, dangling it above the freezing water.
“If you shoot my mom, I drop it!” Daniel yelled, his hands shaking violently.
Vanessa froze. The guards lowered their weapons slightly, waiting for her command.
“You drop that book, you stupid boy, and I will skin you alive,” Vanessa hissed, taking a sudden, threatening step forward.
“Take one more step, and it’s gone!” Daniel warned, his grip loosening on the leather binding. “I don't know what’s in it, but I know you want it more than you want us dead!”
I stared at my eighteen-year-old son in awe. He was terrified, shivering in the freezing wind, wearing a chef’s jacket he now knew belonged to a mobster. But he wasn't backing down. He was using his father’s legacy to protect me.
Vanessa’s jaw clenched so tight I thought her teeth might shatter. She knew the pages of that book contained the routing numbers for offshore accounts holding millions of dollars. If it hit the water, the ink would run, the paper would disintegrate, and the Bellini family fortune would be lost forever.
“Fine,” Vanessa spat, holding her hand up to stop her men. “We negotiate.”
“We don't negotiate with you,” a deep, booming voice echoed from the darkness behind the town car.
Vanessa spun around in shock.
Stepping into the glare of the headlights, holding a massive tactical shotgun, was Marco.
The head chef wasn't wearing his pristine white uniform. He was wearing a heavy black leather jacket, and flanking him were four men I recognized as the kitchen prep cooks from the restaurant. But they weren't holding spatulas or knives. They were holding automatic rifles.
“Marco?!” Vanessa gasped, taking a step back toward her guards. “What are you doing here? You’re just a cook!”
“I’m the man who taught Michael Collins how to shoot before I ever taught him how to chop an onion,” Marco said grimly, racking the pump of his shotgun with a terrifying, metallic clack. “Drop the guns, Vanessa. Or my boys will turn you and your crew into Swiss cheese.”
Vanessa’s guards immediately raised their weapons toward Marco’s men. A tense, deadly standoff settled over the freezing pier.
“You think you can take us, Marco?” Vanessa sneered, regaining her arrogant composure. “My father’s men are trained killers. Your boys make pasta.”
“My boys grew up on the South Side, Vanessa,” Marco corrected calmly. “And they are incredibly loyal to Luca Moretti. Luca, who, by the way, was released from police custody twenty minutes ago when the Mayor personally made a phone call.”
Vanessa’s face went entirely slack. “That’s a lie.”
“Is it?” Marco smiled coldly.
Suddenly, a sleek, black armored SUV roared into the parking lot, completely blocking Vanessa’s town car from leaving.
The door opened, and Luca Moretti stepped out.
He didn't look like the man who had hugged Daniel in the restaurant. He looked like the Devil himself. His dark eyes were fixed entirely on Vanessa, radiating a lethal, unrestrained fury.
“Luca, darling, thank God you’re here!” Vanessa immediately panicked, dropping her arrogant facade and playing the victim. She rushed toward him. “Sarah and her son went crazy! They stole your father’s ring! I was just trying to get it back for you!”
Luca didn't slow his stride. He walked right past Vanessa’s guards, grabbed Vanessa by the throat, and shoved her violently against the side of her own town car.
“Do not insult my intelligence, Vanessa,” Luca growled, his grip tight enough to make her gasp for air. “I know about the ledger. I know your father sent the police to detain me so you could hunt down an innocent woman and her son.”
“Luca, please!” Vanessa choked out, tears of genuine terror spilling down her cheeks. “My father forced me! He said if I didn't get the ledger back before the wedding, he would kill me!”
Luca stared at her, his expression devoid of any mercy or affection.
“The wedding is off, Vanessa,” Luca said softly. He released her throat, letting her slump against the car in a weeping, pathetic heap.
He turned to his men. “Disarm her guards. Take them to the warehouse. We’ll find out exactly what Carlo Bellini is planning.”
Marco’s men swiftly moved in, stripping the Bellini guards of their weapons and zip-tying their hands.
Luca turned and walked down the pier toward us.
I was still sitting on the wooden planks, clutching Daniel tightly. When Luca reached us, the terrifying mob boss melted away, replaced by the gentle, protective man I knew.
He dropped to one knee, wrapping his arms around both of us, pulling us into a fierce, comforting embrace.
“I am so sorry I wasn't there,” Luca whispered, burying his face against my shoulder. “I swear to you, I will never let anyone hurt you again.”
I closed my eyes, letting myself finally break down, sobbing in pure relief as I held onto him.
Daniel, still trembling from the cold and the fear, looked at Luca.
“You’re the Boss,” Daniel whispered, as if he was just realizing the true gravity of who Luca was.
Luca pulled back, looking my son directly in the eyes.
“I am,” Luca nodded, his expression completely honest. “And your father was my Underboss. He was a good man, Daniel. He did terrible things to protect the people he loved, and it ate him alive. That’s why he hid the ledger. That’s why he wanted out.”
Daniel looked down at the leather recipe book still clutched in his hands. He slowly opened the cover.
He ran his fingers over the thick leather spine. Then, he pressed hard against the bottom seam.
With a soft tearing sound, the leather split open, revealing a hidden compartment built directly into the spine of the book.
Inside was a small, black micro-USB drive.
The Bellini Ledger.
Daniel pulled it out and held it up. He looked at me, then looked at Luca.
“If I give this to you,” Daniel asked, his voice shaking but remarkably brave, “will you use it to protect my mom?”
Luca reached out and gently took the small drive from Daniel’s trembling hand.
“I won't just protect her, Daniel,” Luca promised, his dark eyes fiercely sincere. “I am going to destroy the Bellini family, and I am going to make sure your mother never has to clean another house for the rest of her life.”
I looked at Luca, my heart swelling with an emotion I hadn't felt in years. Hope.
But as we stood up, Marco ran down the pier, his face pale and grim.
“Boss,” Marco panted, holding up his cell phone. “We have a massive problem.”
Luca’s jaw tightened. “What is it?”
“Vanessa just confessed to something while my boys were tying her up,” Marco said, looking directly at me with a profound, terrifying sadness.
“What did she confess to?” Luca demanded.
Marco swallowed hard.
“She didn't just tell her father about the ledger tonight,” Marco whispered. “She told him about the photograph she found in your office. The one of Michael and your dad.”
My blood ran cold.
“Carlo Bellini realized Michael was the Underboss,” Marco continued, his voice trembling. “And Vanessa just admitted that Carlo didn't order the hit on Michael five years ago.”
The silence on the pier was absolute.
“If Carlo didn't order the hit,” Luca breathed, horror dawning in his eyes, “then who killed Michael?”
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Marco looked at Luca, the terrible truth finally breaking free.
“Vanessa said it wasn't a rival family, Boss,” Marco choked out. “She said your father ordered the hit on Michael Collins.”
