Chapter 7 - THE KEY AROUND HER NECK
The shockwave knocked us all to the ground.
I hit the snow hard, my ears ringing with a high-pitched whine. The heat from the explosion washed over my freezing skin, instantly melting the ice around us.
I scrambled to my hands and knees, gasping for air.
The entire East Wing of the Moretti mansion—the guest suites where the children had been kept—was engulfed in roaring flames. Thick black smoke billowed into the night sky, illuminated by the flashing orange light.
Vanessa’s men were disoriented, lowering their rifles as they shielded their faces from the intense heat and falling debris.
“Get the boy!” Vanessa screamed, climbing back to her feet and pointing frantically at Sofia.
But Sofia had already used the distraction. She had rolled behind the massive stone pillar of the front gates, clutching Leo tightly to her chest.
I was completely exposed in the middle of the driveway.
One of the armed men turned his rifle toward me.
Before he could pull the trigger, three gunshots rang out in rapid succession from the darkness of the woods.
The man holding the rifle collapsed into the snow, shot in the shoulder and knee.
Luca emerged from the tree line like a vengeful ghost.
His tuxedo jacket was gone, his white shirt stained with dirt and soot. But his face was a mask of pure, unfiltered rage. He fired twice more, forcing Vanessa’s remaining men to dive behind their SUV for cover.
“Luca!” Sofia screamed from behind the pillar.
Luca didn't look at her. He kept his gun trained on the SUV, walking slowly backward toward me. He grabbed the back of my apron and hauled me to my feet.
“Get behind the gates,” Luca ordered me, his voice a low, terrifying growl.
Answer one: Luca had returned from the woods to save us.
Open two: Did he find the little girl?
I ran toward the stone pillar, sliding into the snow beside Sofia. She was shaking uncontrollably, her eyes wide with terror as she clutched her son.
“Did he find her?” Sofia sobbed to me. “Did he find my daughter?”
I looked at Luca, who was reloading his weapon behind a marble statue. I didn't see a little girl with him. My heart broke.
Vanessa peered around the edge of the SUV. The fire from the mansion cast demonic shadows across her face.
“You’re too late, Luca!” Vanessa yelled over the roar of the flames. “David told me you found out! I sent my men to torch the East Wing to destroy the evidence! You have nothing! And I have your family surrounded!”
It was true. The sirens of private security vehicles were wailing in the distance, but they belonged to Vanessa’s loyalists in the syndicate, not the police.
Luca fired a warning shot into the hood of the SUV.
“You burned an empty room, Vanessa!” Luca shouted back. “The children weren't in there!”
“I know!” Vanessa laughed. “That’s why I’m taking the boy now! And as for the girl… my men found her wandering in the woods five minutes ago.”
The world stopped.
Sofia let out an agonizing, gut-wrenching scream.
Reversal: Luca hadn't failed to find the little girl. He had found her, but Vanessa’s men had ambushed him and taken her.
“Bring her out!” Vanessa commanded her men.
The back door of the SUV opened. A heavily built mercenary stepped out, holding a tiny, dark-haired little girl by the arm. She was wearing a thin pink sweater, shivering violently, her eyes wide with silent terror.
“Lily!” Sofia screamed, trying to run forward. I grabbed her waist, pulling her back behind the pillar before the men could shoot her.
Luca stepped out from behind the statue, lowering his gun.
He had surrendered.
“Let her go, Vanessa,” Luca said, his voice stripped of all its power. He dropped his weapon into the snow. “You want the money? You want the estate? Take it. Just let the kids walk away with their mother.”
Vanessa smiled, a slow, triumphant smirk.
She walked over to the mercenary and took the little girl by the hand. Lily whimpered, pulling back, but Vanessa yanked her forward.
“Oh, Luca,” Vanessa mocked. “You still don't get it. I don't just want the estate. I want the legacy. And the legacy requires Moretti blood.”
Vanessa reached up to her own neck.
She unclasped a heavy gold necklace. Dangling from the chain was a small, intricately carved gold key.
“This is the key to the syndicate’s master vault,” Vanessa said, holding it up in the firelight. “The one your father entrusted to you. I took it from your study tonight.”
Answer one: Vanessa had stolen the ultimate symbol of the family’s power.
Open two: Why was she showing it to him now?
Vanessa looked at the little girl, then back at Luca.
“I’m going to take this child, and I am going to disappear,” Vanessa said. “I will raise her far away from here. And when she is old enough, she will return to claim this entire city as my heir.”
Vanessa turned to her men. “Kill Luca. Kill the sister. Leave the maid as a witness.”
The men raised their guns.
I closed my eyes. It was over.
But then, a voice rang out from the burning front doors of the mansion.
“The only thing you’re taking tonight, Vanessa, is a trip to a federal prison.”
Everyone froze.
We all looked toward the fiery entrance.
Standing on the marble steps, illuminated by the raging inferno behind her, was Teresa Moretti.
She was no longer wearing the faded apron.
She was holding a massive, heavy iron lockbox. And standing beside her, holding a pump-action shotgun aimed directly at Vanessa’s SUV, was an old man I didn't recognize.
May you like
But Vanessa recognized him. Her face went completely white.
“Uncle Marco,” Luca whispered.
