Chapter 7 - THE ROSARY'S SECRET
I stared at the silver beads in my hand. They were cold, heavy, and meticulously crafted.
“Ben,” I whispered. “Where did you get this?”
“It was in the little box with the pocket watch,” Ben said softly. “When Marco dropped the pouch, it rolled under the table. I picked it up.”
Luca turned around. His eyes widened when he saw the rosary.
“That was my mother’s,” Luca said, his voice thick with emotion. “She prayed with it every night. I haven't seen it since the day she died.”
Vanessa rolled her eyes in exasperation. “Oh, wonderful. More stolen jewelry. Are we going to call the police on the grandmother, or shall I do it myself?”
Luca ignored her. He walked over to me and gently took the rosary from my trembling hands. He ran his thumb over the silver crucifix at the end of the beads.
“My mother didn't just pray with this,” Luca said quietly. “She told me once that faith was the only thing that could unlock the truth.”
He gripped the silver crucifix. With a sudden, sharp twist, the bottom half of the cross snapped open.
A collective gasp echoed through the room.
The crucifix was hollow. Inside was a tiny, tightly rolled piece of parchment paper and a small, brass key.
Luca carefully unrolled the paper. As he read the words written in his mother’s elegant handwriting, his eyes filled with tears.
He looked up at Don Bellini. The older man was suddenly gripping his cane so tightly his knuckles were white.
“You thought my mother was just a quiet housewife, Carmine,” Luca said, his voice carrying a lethal edge. “But she knew exactly what you did to Antonio. And she knew you forced Vanessa onto me to merge our families and protect your secret.”
Luca held up the tiny brass key.
“This is the key to a safety deposit box at First Chicago Bank,” Luca announced. “According to this letter, my mother didn't just pay off Robert Parker’s debt. She bought the original security footage from Union Station from him. The footage of you driving the car that killed my brother.”
Don Bellini took a step back, his face draining of color.
“She put the tape in the deposit box,” Luca continued. “Along with the real deed to this restaurant. The one my father signed before he died, leaving sole ownership to me, completely overriding the fraudulent partnership papers you forced me to sign.”
Vanessa stared at the key in horror. “That’s impossible. You’re bluffing.”
“Am I?” Luca asked. He tossed the partnership papers Vanessa had slammed on the table into the fireplace behind him. They went up in flames instantly.
“Tomorrow morning, I am taking this key to the bank,” Luca said, his voice ringing with absolute authority. “I am taking the footage to the District Attorney. And you, Carmine, are going to spend the rest of your miserable life in a federal penitentiary.”
Bellini raised his cane, his face twisted in fury. “You insolent little—”
Before he could finish, Marco and three of Luca’s security guards stepped out of the shadows, their hands resting firmly on their holstered weapons.
Bellini froze. He looked at the armed men, then at Luca, and finally at Vanessa.
“It’s over, Vanessa,” Luca said. “You wanted to destroy a family today. You just destroyed your own.”
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Vanessa looked around the room, realizing she was entirely surrounded. Her engagement dinner had become her funeral. In a final act of desperate malice, she turned her venomous eyes toward Emily and Ben.
“You think you won?” Vanessa hissed at me. “You think you’re a real family? Ask your precious daughter why the boy’s real mother died, Linda. Ask her whose car ran her off the road four years ago!”
