Chapter 5 - THE BRACELET ON THE BATHROOM SINK
I tried to scream, but the sound died in my throat.
Isabella Moretti stepped out of the shadows.
She looked exactly like her brother. The same dark, intense eyes. The same terrifying, regal posture.
But her face was haunted, gaunt, and hardened by years of hiding.
She raised a finger to her lips.
“Don't scream, Emma,” she whispered, lowering the gun slightly. “If my brother’s guards burst in here, I will have to kill them. And I don't want to hurt Luca’s men.”
I backed up until my spine hit the cold marble wall.
“You’re supposed to be dead,” I breathed.
Isabella gave a sad, bitter smile.
“I had to die. It was the only way to escape Matteo.”
She looked at the silver bracelet I was still clutching in my hand.
“My mother gave me that when I was a teenager. I left it there so you would know I wasn't a ghost.”
“Why are you here?” I asked, my voice trembling. “Why did you deliver the poisoned cake to your own brother?”
Isabella’s eyes flashed with anger.
“I didn't poison the cake. Vanessa did. I infiltrated the bakery three weeks ago because I knew Matteo was using them as a front to communicate with his people on the outside.”
She took a step closer, tucking the gun into the waistband of her dark jeans.
“Matteo ordered Vanessa to kill Luca tonight. I intercepted the delivery so I could slip the photograph into the box. I needed Luca to know Vanessa was a traitor.”
Answer one: Isabella wasn't trying to kill Luca. She was trying to warn him.
Open two: If Isabella wanted to warn Luca, why didn't she just walk through the front door and tell him she was alive?
“If you wanted to save him, why didn't you just come back?” I asked.
Isabella looked away, a profound shame washing over her scarred face.
“Because I’m the reason Matteo went to prison,” she said softly.
I stared at her.
“Five years ago, Matteo discovered I was feeding information to the FBI,” Isabella confessed. “I couldn't stand the violence anymore. I wanted out. Matteo found out and tried to kill me in the boat explosion.”
She swallowed hard.
“I survived, but I knew if I stayed, he would never stop hunting me. And he would punish Luca for failing to protect me. So I let the world think I burned.”
Isabella looked back at me, her dark eyes pleading.
“I came back because Matteo is planning something much worse than poisoning Luca.”
“What could be worse than killing him?”
Isabella pulled a crumpled piece of paper from her pocket.
“Matteo doesn't just want the Chicago territory. He wants to wipe out Luca’s entire bloodline to ensure no one can challenge his claim.”
She unfolded the paper and held it up.
It was a child’s drawing.
Crayon on thick white paper. It depicted a little boy playing with a red toy truck.
At the bottom of the drawing, written in a child’s messy handwriting, was the name: Leo.
My heart stopped.
“Luca doesn't have a child,” I said.
Isabella looked at me with absolute pity.
“Yes, he does, Emma. He has a four-year-old son.”
I shook my head, reeling from the information. I had worked in this house for ten months. There were no children here. No toys. No nursery.
“Where is he?” I whispered.
“Luca hid him,” Isabella explained. “When Leo’s mother died in childbirth, Luca knew his enemies would use the boy as leverage. So he sent him away to be raised in secret by a foster family in the suburbs.”
She tapped the drawing.
“But Matteo found him. That’s why Vanessa didn't run tonight when her plan failed. She’s stalling.”
“Stalling for what?”
“Matteo’s men are going to hit the foster house tonight,” Isabella said, her voice tight with panic. “Vanessa is supposed to send them the final coordinates using a burner phone hidden in this mansion.”
I remembered the lockbox. The one Vanessa had hidden in my garage room. The one Daniel said contained a burner phone.
“The lockbox,” I gasped. “Vanessa framed me with the ticket so you’d search my room! But she also hid her burner phone there to keep it away from Luca!”
Isabella’s eyes widened. “Where is the phone now?”
“Daniel took it. It’s with security.”
“Then we have to get it before she does.”
Before we could move, the locked bedroom door rattled.
Someone was turning the handle.
“Emma?” Luca’s voice called from the hallway. “Are you awake?”
Isabella panicked. She grabbed her gun and backed toward the open bathroom window.
“Don't tell him I’m here,” Isabella whispered fiercely. “If he knows I’m alive, he’ll try to protect me, and Matteo will use me to break him.”
“Wait!” I cried softly. “How do I stop Vanessa?”
Isabella threw a leg over the windowsill.
“Find the phone. Stop the coordinates. And trust no one. Not even Daniel.”
She disappeared into the cold Chicago night.
“Emma!” Luca knocked harder. “Open the door!”
I shoved the silver bracelet into my pocket and ran to the bedroom door, unlocking it.
Luca stood in the hallway. He looked exhausted, his tie loosened.
“Sir, is everything okay?” I asked, trying to keep my voice steady.
Luca walked into the room, closing the door behind him.
He didn't look angry anymore. He looked deeply, profoundly sad.
“I just finished interrogating Vanessa,” Luca said quietly.
“Did she confess?”
Luca shook his head.
“No. But she offered me a trade.”
He looked into my eyes, and the sheer desperation in his gaze terrified me.
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“She told me she knows where my son is,” Luca whispered. “And she said if I don't let her walk out the front door in ten minutes… Matteo’s men will kill him.”
TITLE: THE ROSARY IN THE BASEMENT
