Chapter 7 - THE TRAP IN THE DINING ROOM
Vanessa and I bolted out of the mudroom and sprinted down the hallway toward the grand foyer.
We peeked through the slightly opened double doors leading into the main banquet hall.
The scene inside was pure chaos frozen in time.
The fifty wealthy guests were backed against the walls, terrified. Vincent Bellini’s armed men stood at every exit, their weapons drawn.
Vincent Bellini sat at the head of the long table, drinking a glass of red wine. He looked incredibly smug.
But standing at the top of the grand staircase, looking down at them like a wrathful god, was Luca Moretti.
Roberto Rossi stood right behind him.
“Luca, my boy,” Vincent said smoothly, raising his glass. “So nice of you to join us. I was just telling your lovely guests that there has been a change in management.”
“Where is my daughter, Vincent?” Luca asked, his voice deathly calm.
“Safe. For now,” Vincent lied, gesturing to his men. “Sign the shipping contracts, Luca. Step down. If you do, I’ll let you and the girl walk away.”
Vanessa gripped my arm. “He’s lying. He’ll shoot them both the second the ink is dry.”
I patted my pocket, feeling the crinkle of the receipt. “I have to get this to Luca.”
“You’ll be shot before you take three steps,” Vanessa hissed.
Up on the stairs, Luca slowly descended step by step.
“You think you can take my family’s empire, Vincent?” Luca asked. “You think you can walk into my home and hold a gun to my head?”
Vincent laughed. “I already did, Luca. You’re outnumbered. Your head of security works for me. It’s over.”
Suddenly, the massive projector screen at the back of the banquet hall—the one that was supposed to show a slideshow of Luca and Vanessa’s engagement photos—flickered to life.
Everyone in the room turned to look.
Instead of romantic photos, a grainy security video began playing.
It was footage of Vincent Bellini standing in the driveway, handing a thick envelope of cash to Marcus.
The audio crackled through the speakers, loud and clear.
“Make sure the brakes fail on the highway,” Vincent’s voice echoed from the video. “I want the Moretti woman dead. No mistakes.”
The entire banquet hall erupted into gasps. The heads of the other crime families, who had been sitting quietly, suddenly stood up, their faces twisted in disgust.
Vincent Bellini dropped his wine glass. It shattered on the floor.
“Turn that off!” Vincent roared. “Where is that coming from?!”
Upstairs, in the security control room, little Isabella had found the tapes her mother had hidden before she died.
Luca reached the bottom of the stairs. He looked at the other family bosses.
“The code is clear,” Luca announced, his voice booming over the panic. “Vincent Bellini ordered the murder of a Don’s wife. He broke the sacred vow.”
The other bosses looked at Vincent. Slowly, they nodded.
Vincent’s own men began to lower their weapons, looking at each other in hesitation. Nobody wanted to die protecting a man who broke the highest law of their world.
Vincent realized he had lost.
His face turned purple with rage. He pulled a silver revolver from his jacket and aimed it directly at Luca.
“If I’m going down, you’re coming with me, Moretti!”
“NO!”
Before I even realized what I was doing, I burst through the double doors.
I didn't have a weapon. I didn't have a plan. I just knew I couldn't let Isabella lose her father.
I threw myself toward Vincent.
I crashed into the old man just as he pulled the trigger.
The gunshot was deafening.
The bullet shattered a crystal chandelier above us, showering the room in glass.
I tackled Vincent to the floor. The heavy revolver slid across the polished marble.
Before Vincent could punch me off him, a massive shadow fell over us.
Luca grabbed Vincent by the collar and hoisted the heavy man into the air like a ragdoll, slamming him against the wall.
Luca’s fist pulled back, ready to end the man’s life.
“Luca, stop!”
The voice rang out clearly.
It was Roberto.
He walked down the stairs, holding his phone. Red and blue police lights were suddenly flashing outside the mansion windows. Sirens wailed in the distance.
“Don't do it, Luca,” Roberto said calmly. “If you kill him in front of fifty witnesses, you go to prison. Isabella loses her father anyway.”
Luca breathed heavily, his fist shaking.
“I called the FBI twenty minutes ago,” Roberto revealed. “I gave them the burned ledger. They have enough RICO charges to bury him in a federal supermax until he rots.”
Luca stared into Vincent’s terrified eyes.
Slowly, Luca lowered his fist.
He dropped the old man to the floor in disgust.
“Let the feds have him,” Luca spat.
The massive doors burst open, and FBI agents swarmed the room.
In the chaos, Luca turned around. His chest was heaving. He looked past the agents, past the fleeing guests, directly at me.
He rushed over and dropped to his knees beside me.
“Emily.” His hands gently grabbed my shoulders. “Are you hurt? Did he shoot you?”
“I’m okay,” I breathed out, my heart still racing. “I’m okay.”
Suddenly, tiny footsteps echoed across the marble floor.
“Daddy! Emily!”
Isabella came running from the hallway. She threw herself into Luca’s arms. Luca held her tightly, burying his face in her dark curls.
Then, Isabella reached out and grabbed my hand, pulling me into the hug.
For the first time in years, the Moretti family was safe.
But as the FBI dragged Vincent away in handcuffs, one of the agents approached Luca carrying a small velvet box.
“Mr. Moretti,” the agent said. “We found this in Bellini’s coat pocket. He said he stole it from your father’s safe.”
Luca took the box and opened it.
He frowned.
“This doesn't belong to my father,” Luca said.
He turned the box around, showing it to me.
Inside rested an ancient, beautiful sapphire necklace.
I gasped.
I reached to my own throat, touching the cheap silver chain I always wore.
“That’s impossible,” I whispered.
May you like
Luca looked at me. “You recognize this?”
I nodded, tears welling in my eyes. “That’s my grandmother’s necklace. It’s been missing for thirty years.”
