THE CHEST FULL OF LEAD WEIGHTS

Luca didn’t look away from Marco, but his voice was sharp.

“What do you mean, Emma?”

I crawled out from under the dining table, leaving Leo safely huddled behind the thick wooden legs. My hands were shaking, but my voice was steady.

“Southside Brokers doesn’t melt anything down in the first thirty days,” I said, walking toward them.

Marco glared at me, clutching his bleeding shoulder. “What the hell do you know, you stupid maid?”

“I know pawn shops,” I replied coldly. “By Illinois state law, a pawn broker has to hold an item for thirty days before altering or selling it, in case it’s reported stolen.”

“Southside is a mob front!” Marco spat. “They don’t care about state law!”

“They care about police raids,” I countered. “If they melt down a traceable heirloom within twenty-four hours and the cops kick the door in, the shop gets shut down. The Syndicate doesn’t risk a million-dollar money laundering front for a single piece of jewelry.”

I pointed to the EPNS spoon still sitting on the dining table.

“The blue adhesive on that spoon,” I said, looking at Luca. “It wasn’t just a price tag. It was a holding sticker. They put the fake silver into circulation immediately because nobody reports cheap spoons stolen. But the real silver, and the rosary? They’re sitting in the Southside basement vault right now.”

Luca’s eyes gleamed with a dangerous, calculating light.

He looked down at Marco.

“You hear that, Marco?” Luca whispered. “My mother’s rosary is still intact.”

Marco swallowed hard, his arrogant smirk finally fading. He was losing too much blood. His face was pale and sweating.

“You’re still dead, Luca,” Marco wheezed. “You think Southside is just going to hand it back? The Syndicate runs that shop. You go in there demanding your stuff, you start a war.”

“I’m the boss of the Gold Coast,” Luca said softly. “I don’t start wars. I end them.”

Luca turned toward the hallway.

“Daniel!” Luca shouted.

Seconds later, Daniel, Luca’s loyal second-in-command, burst into the room with four trusted men. They took one look at the bloody scene and immediately raised their weapons.

“Secure these three,” Luca ordered, pointing to Marco and the two unconscious guards. “Zip-tie them. Throw them in the basement cells. Call the private doctor to patch Marco’s shoulder. I want him alive for the police tomorrow.”

“Yes, Boss,” Daniel nodded.

As Daniel’s men dragged the bleeding traitor out of the dining room, Luca turned his attention to the corner.

Vanessa was still sitting on the floor.

Her red dress was ruined. Her hair was a tangled mess. The glamorous socialite was gone, leaving only a terrified, broken woman.

Luca walked over to her.

He didn’t yell. He didn’t pull his gun.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out the velvet box containing the stunning, three-carat diamond engagement ring he had given her two months ago.

He dropped it onto her lap.

“Take it,” Luca said, his voice void of any emotion.

Vanessa looked up at him, tears streaming down her face. “Luca, please…”

“Take the ring, Vanessa. Sell it. Pay off whatever is left of your father’s debts to the loan sharks.”

She picked up the box with trembling hands.

“You have exactly ten minutes to pack whatever fits in one suitcase,” Luca told her. “My driver will take you anywhere in the city. But if I ever see your face in this house, or near my nephew again, I will not be as merciful as I am tonight.”

Vanessa knew it wasn’t an empty threat.

She scrambled to her feet, clutching the velvet box to her chest, and ran out of the room without looking back.

The dining room was finally quiet.

Luca stood amidst the shattered crystal and broken furniture, breathing heavily. He looked utterly exhausted. The betrayal of his fiancée and his head of security had taken a massive toll.

I walked over to the dining table and crouched down.

“Leo?” I whispered softly.

The little boy peeked out. His face was stained with tears, but he was unharmed.

“Is the bad man gone?” Leo asked.

“He’s gone, sweetie,” I promised. “You’re safe now.”

I picked Leo up, holding him tightly. He wrapped his arms around my neck, burying his face in my shoulder.

Luca walked over to us. He reached out and gently stroked Leo’s hair.

“Thank you, Emma,” Luca said quietly. “You saved his life tonight.”

“I just threw a tray, sir.”

“You did more than that.”

He looked around the ruined dining room, then at the EPNS spoon on the table.

“You figured out the silver. You exposed Marco. You found the rosary.”

He met my eyes.

“But there’s one thing that still doesn’t make sense.”

I frowned. “What’s that?”

Luca walked over to the table and picked up the fake spoon.

“Marco arranged the drop. Vanessa stole the pieces. But neither of them knows anything about silver.”

Luca turned the spoon over, pointing to the EPNS hallmark.

“To replace two hundred pieces of antique sterling with exact replicas that weigh almost the same and look identical under chandelier light… that takes an expert. Someone who knew exactly what they were looking for.”

Luca looked at me.

“Marco didn’t order these replicas, Emma. Who did?”

I stared at the spoon.

And a sickening realization washed over me.