Chapter 5 - The Silver Watch on the Balcony
The darkness in the dining room was suffocating.
The only light in the massive space came from the tiny, pulsing green dot on the silver pocket watch in Luca's hand. Beep. Beep. Beep.
“Get down!” Luca roared.
He lunged forward, throwing his body over his grandmother's wheelchair just as the heavy oak doors exploded.
Wood splintered and flew through the air as a hail of bullets tore through the dining room. Crystal shattered. The marble table cracked under the impact of high-caliber rounds.
I hit the floor hard, covering my head with my arms, the sound deafening my ears. Dust and gunpowder filled my lungs.
They weren't aiming to intimidate. They were aiming to kill everyone in the room.
The gunfire stopped abruptly. A heavy, ringing silence followed, broken only by the sound of boots crunching on broken glass in the hallway.
“Check the bodies,” a rough voice commanded from the dark corridor. “Find the girl with the key.”
I squeezed my eyes shut, my heart hammering against my ribs like a trapped bird. The girl with the key. Marco had told them about me.
Suddenly, a strong hand grabbed the collar of my maid’s uniform.
“Move,” Luca hissed in my ear.
He hauled me to my feet in the pitch black. He was dragging Rosa’s wheelchair with his other hand, moving with terrifying, silent precision. He pushed us toward the heavy velvet curtains covering the floor-to-ceiling windows at the back of the dining room.
“The balcony,” Luca whispered. “Get out onto the terrace. Go down the servant stairs to the garden. Don't stop running until you reach the gatehouse.”
“I’m not leaving you!” I choked out, gripping his sleeve.
“They want the key, Emily,” Luca said fiercely, pressing the silver pocket watch into my palm. His fingers were hot and slick with sweat. “If they find you with this, they will tear you apart. Go!”
He shoved me behind the curtains just as a flashlight beam swept across the destroyed dining room.
I fumbled with the heavy brass latch of the French doors. It clicked open. I slipped out into the cold night air, dragging Rosa’s wheelchair with me.
The balcony overlooked the sprawling, manicured gardens of the estate. The moon was hidden behind thick clouds, casting the grounds in deep, gray shadows.
“Hurry, child,” Rosa whispered, her frail hands gripping the wheels to help me push.
We reached the wrought-iron spiral staircase designated for the staff. It was narrow and steep.
“I have to carry you,” I told her, my voice shaking. “The chair won't fit.”
Rosa nodded. I leaned down, wrapping my arms around her fragile frame. She was incredibly light, like a bird made of hollow bones. I lifted her, my arms trembling from the adrenaline, and began a terrifyingly slow descent down the metal stairs.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
The watch in my apron pocket felt like a ticking time bomb. The green light pulsed through the thin fabric, illuminating the metal steps in brief, ghostly flashes.
We reached the bottom. I set Rosa down gently on a stone bench hidden beneath a massive weeping willow tree.
“Stay here,” I whispered, gasping for air. “I’m going to find the gatehouse guards.”
“Emily, wait,” Rosa said, grabbing my wrist with surprising strength.
She looked up at me, her eyes cutting through the darkness.
“You must understand why Vanessa’s family hates us,” Rosa said, her voice urgent. “It wasn't just about the money her father stole fourteen years ago. It was about pride.”
I frowned, glancing nervously toward the mansion. “This isn't the time, Mrs. Moretti.”
“It is the only time,” Rosa insisted, her grip tightening. “Vanessa’s father was a proud man. When your father—a lowly security guard—shot him in that alleyway, it humiliated the Bellini bloodline. A powerful mafia boss, killed by a commoner.”
I stared at her, the realization slowly dawning on me.
“Vanessa didn't just want to marry Luca for the money,” Rosa whispered. “She wanted to marry him to destroy the Morettis from the inside. And she wanted to find you, Emily, to erase the bloodline of the man who humiliated her family.”
A twig snapped in the darkness behind me.
I spun around.
Standing ten feet away, illuminated by the faint moonlight, was Vanessa.
She wasn't crying anymore. The ruined red engagement dress clung to her, and in her hand, she held a long, vicious-looking hunting knife she must have pulled from the kitchen.
“She’s a smart old bat, isn't she?” Vanessa sneered, stepping out from the shadows.
I stepped in front of Rosa, raising my empty hands. “Vanessa, it’s over. Marco is locked in the cellar. Luca’s guards will be out here any second.”
“Luca’s guards are dead,” Vanessa laughed coldly. “The men inside belong to the Bellini family. We bought them off months ago. This estate is ours now.”
She pointed the tip of the knife at my chest.
“Give me the watch, Emily. My brother might have failed, but I won't.”
“If you kill me, Luca will hunt you to the ends of the earth,” I said, trying to keep my voice steady.
Vanessa’s smile twisted into a snarl. “Luca is going to die in that dining room. And you are going to die right here in the mud, exactly where a maid belongs.”
She lunged at me.
I didn't think. I reacted on pure instinct. I threw my body to the side, dodging the blade by a fraction of an inch. Vanessa stumbled forward, her momentum carrying her past me.
I grabbed the heavy fabric of her gown and yanked backward with all my strength.
Vanessa screamed as she lost her balance, crashing hard onto the stone pathway. The knife clattered into the bushes.
I scrambled to grab the weapon, but Vanessa was faster. She kicked out, her heel connecting sharply with my knee. I cried out, falling to the ground.
She scrambled on top of me, her hands wrapping tightly around my throat.
“You ruined everything!” Vanessa screamed, spit flying from her lips as she squeezed my windpipe. “You and your pathetic father!”
I gasped, thrashing wildly, tearing at her hands. Black spots danced at the edges of my vision. My lungs burned.
In the struggle, the silver pocket watch spilled out of my apron pocket, landing on the grass beside my head.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Vanessa saw it. Her grip loosened slightly on my throat as she reached for the glowing prize.
I used my last ounce of strength to drive my knee upward into her stomach.
Vanessa gasped, rolling off me in pain.
I choked, dragging in massive lungfuls of air. I grabbed the watch and scrambled backward in the dirt.
But Vanessa didn't come after me.
She was staring down at her ruined red gown. When I threw her, her heavy silk coat had fallen off her shoulders, spilling its contents onto the stone path.
Lying in the dirt next to her spilled makeup compact was a thick, glossy piece of cardstock.
Even in the moonlight, I could read the bold red letters printed across the top.
ONE-WAY BOARDING PASS. DESTINATION: PALERMO, ITALY.
But the name printed under the destination wasn't Vanessa Bellini.
It was Emily Carter.
I stared at the ticket, my heart turning to ice.
“You weren't going to kill me,” I whispered, horrified.
Vanessa slowly looked up at me, a twisted, malicious grin spreading across her face.
“Death is too easy, Emily,” Vanessa panted, holding her ribs. “Marco wanted you dead. But I wanted you to suffer. I bought that ticket this morning. My men were going to put you on a private jet tonight, take you to our family’s compound in Italy, and keep you in a concrete room for the rest of your natural life.”
She began to laugh again, a terrifying, unhinged sound.
“You were going to be our pet. The daughter of the great hero, chained to a wall, scrubbing floors for the Bellinis until you begged to die.”
Before I could process the sheer evil of her plan, a massive shadow stepped out from the weeping willow tree behind her.
“No one,” a dark, furious voice rumbled, “is going to Italy.”
Luca stepped into the moonlight.
May you like
His suit was torn, his white shirt stained with blood, but the gun in his hand was perfectly steady.
And it was aimed directly at the back of Vanessa’s head.
