Chapter 6 - THE ROSARY IN THE BASEMENT
The revelation hit me like a physical blow.
Luca had a son.
And he was willing to sacrifice his empire, his pride, and his safety to get him back.
“Mr. Moretti,” I said, my voice trembling. “You can't let her go.”
Luca ran a hand over his face. He looked like a man who had aged ten years in the last hour.
“I don't have a choice, Emma. She gave me proof. She described Leo’s bedroom. She knew the name of his foster mother.”
He looked away, staring at the floor.
“I thought I had hidden him perfectly. I thought I was protecting him.”
“If you let her go, she’ll just send the coordinates to Matteo’s men anyway,” I urged, stepping closer to him. “She works for your brother. You can't trust her.”
“I know!” Luca snapped, his legendary temper finally cracking. He punched the heavy oak doorframe. “I know! But what else can I do? If I kill her, my son dies. If I torture her, she’ll just lie to me until it’s too late!”
I took a deep breath.
I remembered Isabella’s words. Find the phone. Stop the coordinates.
“Sir,” I said softly. “Where is the burner phone Daniel found in my room?”
Luca frowned, confused by the question.
“It’s locked in the security office safe. Why?”
“Because Vanessa doesn't know the coordinates by heart,” I lied smoothly, praying my bluff would work. “When I was cleaning her room last week, I saw her typing complex GPS coordinates into a burner phone. She said she couldn't memorize them.”
Luca stared at me.
“If we have the phone,” I continued, “we have the coordinates. We can send your men to Leo before Matteo’s men get the signal.”
Hope—fragile and terrifying—sparked in Luca’s dark eyes.
“Are you certain?” he asked.
“I’m certain.”
Luca didn't hesitate. He grabbed my hand.
“Come with me.”
We practically ran down the grand staircase toward the basement security hub.
The mansion was eerily quiet, the remaining guards patrolling the perimeter outside.
When we reached the reinforced steel door of the security office, Luca punched in his code.
The door swung open.
But the office was empty.
Daniel wasn't there.
The heavy iron safe in the corner of the room was wide open.
And it was completely empty.
“Daniel!” Luca roared, his voice echoing off the concrete walls.
No answer.
Luca stared at the empty safe, the betrayal washing over his face like a tidal wave.
“Daniel took the phone,” Luca whispered.
Answer one: Vanessa wasn't acting alone inside the house. Her accomplice was the head of security.
Open two: Why would Daniel, a man who had taken a bullet for Luca five years ago, betray him now?
“We have to find him,” I said, panic rising in my throat.
Luca drew his weapon.
“He won't have gone far. The perimeter is locked down. He’s still in the house.”
We moved silently through the basement corridors.
We checked the wine cellar, the storage rooms, the boiler room.
Nothing.
Then, as we passed the heavy iron door leading to the holding cells, I noticed something glinting on the concrete floor.
I pointed.
Luca knelt and picked it up.
It was a silver rosary.
The beads were stained with fresh blood.
Luca’s jaw clenched tightly.
“This is Daniel’s rosary,” Luca said softly. “He never takes it off.”
He looked at the heavy iron door of the holding cell where Vanessa was supposed to be locked up.
The door was slightly ajar.
Luca pushed it open with his foot, his gun raised.
We stepped inside.
Vanessa was sitting on the cot in the corner of the cell.
She wasn't smiling anymore.
She was staring blankly at the wall, shivering uncontrollably.
Lying on the floor in front of her, bleeding from a gunshot wound to the stomach, was Daniel.
He was gasping for air, clutching the burner phone in his bloody hand.
Luca rushed forward, kicking the gun away from Daniel’s reach.
“Daniel,” Luca demanded, grabbing the dying man by the collar of his shirt. “Who shot you?”
Daniel coughed, blood bubbling past his lips.
He looked up at his boss.
“She did,” Daniel wheezed, nodding toward Vanessa.
Luca turned to his fiancée in pure shock.
“I didn't have a choice!” Vanessa shrieked, pressing herself into the corner of the cell. “He was going to kill me, Luca! He told me Matteo changed the plan! He said Matteo ordered him to execute me and send the coordinates himself!”
Luca looked back at Daniel.
“Why, Daniel? After fifteen years. Why?”
Daniel smiled a bitter, broken smile.
“Because you made me weak, boss,” Daniel gasped. “You wanted peace. You wanted to be a legitimate businessman. Matteo wants war. Matteo pays better.”
Daniel’s eyes drifted toward the burner phone in his hand.
“It’s too late,” Daniel whispered, his voice fading. “I already hit send. They have the coordinates.”
Daniel’s head fell back against the concrete.
His chest stopped moving.
Luca stared at the dead man who had been his closest friend.
Then he snatched the bloody burner phone from Daniel’s hand.
He looked at the screen.
MESSAGE SENT.
Luca let out a roar of absolute agony.
He turned his gun on Vanessa.
“Where is he?!” Luca screamed, the safety clicking off. “Give me the address!”
Vanessa covered her head, sobbing hysterically.
“I don't know the address! It was just coordinates! Matteo never told me where it was, I swear to God!”
Luca’s hands were shaking. He was seconds away from pulling the trigger.
“Mr. Moretti, wait!” I yelled, grabbing his arm.
“He’s going to kill my son!” Luca shouted, tears of pure rage in his eyes.
“Look at the phone!” I urged, pointing at the screen.
Luca looked down.
I wiped the blood off the screen with my apron.
The text message hadn't just sent coordinates.
It had sent a picture.
A picture of a small, suburban house with a red front door.
But that wasn't what made my heart stop.
Parked in the driveway of the house in the photograph was a rusty, blue 1998 Ford pickup truck.
With a massive dent in the left fender.
I stared at the picture, the breath leaving my lungs completely.
“Emma?” Luca asked, sensing my shock. “Do you know this house?”
Tears welled in my eyes.
“I know that truck,” I whispered.
I looked up at Luca.
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“Mr. Moretti. That’s my mother’s house.”
TITLE: THE FAMILY HEIRLOOM IN THE ATTIC
