Chapter 6 - THE WATCH THAT STOPPED TICKING
I dragged Sophia into the passenger seat just as a hail of bullets shattered the driver’s side mirror.
Sophia screamed, rolling onto the floorboards next to the center console. She was soaking wet, her face bruised, and her wrists bound tightly with thick plastic zip-ties.
“Mommy!” Mia shrieked from the backseat, trying to climb over the seats.
“Mia! Stay down!” Sophia cried out, twisting her body to try and shield her daughter.
I didn't have time to think. I threw myself into the driver’s seat. I had never driven a luxury SUV before, let alone under gunfire, but survival instinct took over.
I slammed my foot on the brake, threw the gearshift into drive, and stomped on the gas pedal.
The heavy armored vehicle lurched forward, the engine roaring. The two men in dark coats dove out of the way as I accelerated straight toward them.
“Hannah, wait!” Sophia gasped from the floor. “Luca is still back there!”
I looked in the rearview mirror. Through the blinding rain and the rusted shipping containers, I saw a flash of muzzle fire.
Luca was pinned behind an old, rusted train car, exchanging fire with three more men. He was heavily outnumbered.
I slammed on the brakes, throwing the car into reverse. The tires squealed as I backed up at terrifying speed, slamming the heavy rear bumper of the SUV into a stack of empty wooden pallets, creating a massive, splintering barricade between Luca and the shooters.
“Get in!” I screamed out the window.
Luca didn't hesitate. He broke from cover, sprinting through the rain, and threw himself into the backseat next to Mia.
“Go! Go! Go!” Luca shouted.
I slammed the gas again, tearing out of the abandoned railyard and bursting onto the main highway. We didn't stop accelerating until the glow of the city lights surrounded us and the flashing red of the railyard was miles behind.
My hands were shaking so violently I had to grip the steering wheel with all my strength just to keep the car straight.
In the passenger seat, Sophia was sobbing, awkwardly trying to comfort Mia with her hands still bound.
Luca leaned forward from the backseat. He pulled a small pocket knife from his suit jacket and carefully sliced the zip-ties off Sophia’s wrists.
Sophia immediately threw her arms around Mia, pulling the little girl over the console and burying her face in Mia’s wet hair.
“I’ve got you, baby. I’m here,” Sophia wept, rocking her daughter back and forth.
Mia clung to her mother, crying softly. “Mommy, the bad men took daddy’s watch.”
Sophia froze. She looked down at Mia’s tiny wrist. The oversized gold watch she had been wearing in the closet was gone.
Sophia’s face drained of color. She looked back at Luca.
“They took it?” Sophia asked, her voice cracking with absolute despair.
Luca frowned. “Mia must have dropped it when she ran into the closet. Or one of Vanessa’s men stripped it off her. Sophia, it’s just a watch. I’ll buy her a hundred watches. You’re safe now.”
“You don't understand,” Sophia said, shaking her head rapidly. Tears streamed down her bruised face. “It wasn't just Matteo’s watch. It was his insurance policy.”
I glanced over at her, my heart pounding. “What do you mean?”
Sophia took a ragged breath, holding Mia tightly against her chest.
“Five years ago, the night Matteo died, he came to my apartment,” Sophia explained, her voice trembling. “He was terrified. He said he had found out something terrible about his uncle Silvio. Silvio had been embezzling millions from the Moretti businesses and laundering it through the Bellini family.”
Luca’s jaw tightened. Silvio. His father’s brother.
“Matteo had proof,” Sophia continued. “Bank records. Ledger copies. He hid them inside a safety deposit box at the downtown bank. But the bank required a physical key to open it.”
She looked down at Mia’s empty wrist.
“Matteo hollowed out the back casing of his gold watch,” Sophia wept. “He hid the safety deposit key inside it. He gave it to me that night and told me if anything ever happened to him, I was to take the key to his father and tell him the truth.”
“Why didn't you?” Luca asked, his voice thick with pain.
“Because two hours later, he died in that car crash!” Sophia cried. “The police said it was an accident. But a week later, Vanessa Bellini showed up at my door. She knew about Mia. She said if I ever approached the Moretti family, she would tell them I was an extortionist trying to steal their fortune. She said she would have Mia taken away by child services.”
The pieces were finally falling into place.
Vanessa’s family was broke because Don Bellini was being investigated for the very money laundering Matteo had discovered five years ago. Vanessa wasn't just marrying Luca for money; she was marrying him to maintain control over the empire, keeping the embezzlement hidden.
And tonight, because the feds had frozen her accounts, Vanessa panicked. She needed the leverage gone permanently.
“She sent those men to kill you,” Luca said softly.
“They were looking for the watch,” Sophia said, wiping her tears. “They tore my apartment apart. When they couldn't find it, they dragged me to the railyard to torture the location out of me.”
I looked at Luca in the rearview mirror.
“If Vanessa’s men found the watch in the apartment after we left...” I started.
“They’re taking it to her right now,” Luca finished.
He leaned forward, his eyes burning with a terrifying, cold resolve.
“Hannah. Turn the car around.”
“What?” I gasped. “Luca, we need to take them to the police!”
“The police can't touch the Bellinis without proof,” Luca said, his voice hard as iron. “If Vanessa destroys the evidence in that safety deposit box, her family walks free, and Sophia and Mia will be hunted for the rest of their lives.”
He looked at Sophia. “Are you willing to face my mother?”
Sophia swallowed hard, looking down at Mia. “I just want my daughter to be safe.”
“Then we go back to the mansion,” Luca said.
I spun the steering wheel, hitting the gas and tearing back toward the Moretti estate.
When we reached the massive iron gates of the mansion, they were wide open. A black van was parked haphazardly in the circular driveway.
“Vanessa’s men beat us here,” Luca muttered, drawing his weapon again.
He turned to me. “Hannah, take Sophia and Mia through the servant’s entrance. Go straight to my father’s study and lock the doors. Do not come out until I come for you.”
I nodded, my hands shaking.
We parked near the hedges. I helped Sophia and Mia out of the car. The rain masked the sound of our footsteps as we hurried to the side door.
I unlocked it with my maid’s key, ushering them into the dark hallway of the west wing.
We crept toward the study. But as we reached the double mahogany doors, I heard a voice echoing from the grand foyer.
It was Vanessa.
“Give it to me!” she was shrieking.
I couldn't help it. I peeked around the corner.
In the center of the foyer, Vanessa was standing over a terrified Elena. One of the armed men from the railyard was holding Matteo’s gold watch in his hand.
But Vanessa wasn't looking at the watch.
She was looking at Teresa.
Teresa was standing at the bottom of the grand staircase, Evelyn beside her, gripping the banister.
“You have no right to be in this house, Vanessa,” Teresa said, her voice shaking but fiercely defiant. “Luca banished you.”
“Luca is a fool!” Vanessa screamed, snatching the gold watch from the armed man. She held it up triumphantly. “I have everything I need to destroy this family, Teresa! Your perfect son Matteo was going to ruin us all, and now I’m going to make sure his bastard child burns with his memory!”
Before Teresa could respond, a small voice echoed from behind me.
“You’re the mean lady in the red dress.”
May you like
I spun around.
Mia had walked out from the hallway, her little hands balled into fists, glaring directly at Vanessa.
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