Chapter 4 - The Voice on the Phone
I froze, the phone pressed hard against my ear.
The hallway was dead silent. Luca, Victor, Vanessa, and the guards were all watching me. Daniel was holding tightly to my apron.
“Mrs. Moretti?” I breathed.
Luca’s head snapped up. Victor’s face went pale.
“Don't use my name,” Isabella whispered quickly. “Listen to me, Hannah. You have to get Daniel out of that house. Victor is going to kill him.”
My blood turned to ice. “What?”
“The trust,” she gasped, her voice breaking with pain. “Luca’s father left the entire syndicate and the legal assets to Daniel. It skips Luca. Victor found out. If Daniel dies before his twelfth birthday, the money defaults to Victor. That’s why Victor wants me gone—so I can’t protect him.”
Answer one. Open two.
Victor hadn't chased Isabella away out of loyalty to Luca. He had chased her away so he could murder his own nephew and steal the family empire. And Vanessa was helping him, likely for a cut of the inheritance.
“Where are you?” I asked, tears springing to my eyes.
“I’m safe. But I need you to bring him to—”
Suddenly, Victor lunged.
He shoved past the guards, his massive arm swinging out. He struck my wrist, sending my cell phone clattering against the marble floor. The screen shattered.
“She’s lying!” Victor roared, pulling a concealed handgun from his jacket and aiming it directly at Daniel.
I didn't think. I threw myself in front of the little boy.
A gunshot deafened the narrow hallway.
But the pain didn't hit me.
I opened my eyes.
Victor dropped his gun, clutching his shoulder. Blood bloomed rapidly through his expensive suit jacket.
Luca stood three feet away, his own weapon raised, smoke curling from the barrel.
“Don't you ever aim a weapon at my son,” Luca snarled, his voice vibrating with absolute authority.
Vanessa screamed, dropping to her knees.
The guards immediately tackled Victor to the floor, kicking his weapon away.
Luca didn't look at his bleeding brother. He dropped to his knees in front of me and Daniel. His hands were shaking as he touched his son’s face, checking him for injuries.
“Are you okay, buddy? Are you hurt?”
“I’m okay, Daddy,” Daniel cried, throwing his arms around his father’s neck. “Hannah saved me.”
Luca looked at me, a profound, overwhelming gratitude in his dark eyes. “Thank you.”
He picked up my shattered phone. It was completely dead.
“What did she say, Hannah?” Luca asked urgently. “Where is she?”
I swallowed hard, my hands still shaking. “She didn't tell me where she was. Victor broke the phone before she could. But she told me why he did it.”
I looked down at Victor, who was groaning on the floor under the guards' boots.
“Your father left the empire to Daniel,” I told Luca. “If Daniel dies before he turns twelve, Victor gets it all.”
Luca stared at me. Then he looked at his brother.
The betrayal fractured the last remaining piece of Luca’s restraint.
“You tried to kill my wife,” Luca whispered. “And you were planning to kill my son.”
Victor groaned, spitting blood onto the floor. “You’re weak, Luca. You were going to let that woman turn our family legitimate. I was saving what our father built.”
Luca stood up. He looked at his guards.
“Take him to the basement. Lock Vanessa in the guest room. Nobody leaves this house.”
“Luca, please!” Vanessa begged, sobbing hysterically as a guard dragged her away. “He made me do it!”
Luca ignored her. He turned to me.
“Hannah, you said Isabella visited your mother yesterday. At St. Jude’s?”
“Yes,” I said, my mind racing. “But why would she visit my mom? They’ve never even met.”
Luca’s eyes hardened. “Because Isabella knew you were the only person protecting Daniel. She was checking on your mother to make sure Victor hadn't used her as leverage against you.”
He grabbed his car keys from the hall table.
“We’re going to the hospital,” Luca said. “We’re finding my wife.”
He picked up Daniel, and I followed them out to the garage. We piled into Luca’s black armored SUV.
As we sped through the rainy Chicago streets, my mind kept returning to the visitor’s pass.
Isabella was alive. She was fighting for her son.
But when we arrived at St. Jude’s Hospital and rushed up to the oncology ward, my mother’s room was empty.
The bed was made. Her bags were gone.
I panicked, running to the nurse’s station. “Where is Margaret Collins? Room 412!”
The nurse looked at her computer. “Mrs. Collins was discharged this morning, dear.”
“Discharged? By who? She’s too weak to leave!”
The nurse frowned. “She wasn't discharged to go home. She was transferred. A private ambulance came and took her to a secure facility.”
“Who authorized it?” Luca demanded.
The nurse handed him a clipboard. “Her new physician.”
Luca looked at the signature.
He handed the clipboard to me.
The signature belonged to Dr. Thomas Bellini.
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Vanessa’s father.
TITLE: The Doctor's Secret
