Chapter 11 - THE SCAR ON THE HAND
The phone almost slipped from my fingers.
“What did you say?” I whispered, turning away from Luca and Leo so they couldn’t hear.
“Elizabeth wrote it down,” Aunt Beth said quickly. “Nicholas found out about Charles’s true identity eight years ago. But he didn’t fight him, Rebecca. He made a deal with him.”
My mind raced. “A deal for what?”
“To take the empire. Nicholas faked his own death to escape the mafia heat, letting Charles run the front. They were working together. When Charles got sloppy, Nicholas started using Anna to poison Luca so he could step out of the shadows and take over completely.”
I looked at the little boy on the couch.
If Nicholas was alive, and he was the mastermind… why did he abandon his son?
“Aunt Beth, are you sure?” I asked.
“I’m sure. Get out of there, Rebecca.”
She hung up.
I turned back to the room. Luca was holding Leo, a look of pure, unadulterated joy on his face. He had a family again.
I couldn't shatter it. Not yet. Not until I was sure.
“Luca,” I said, keeping my voice steady. “We should get Leo back to the estate. It’s safer there.”
Luca nodded, standing up with the boy in his arms. “You’re right. Sarah, you’re coming with us. I’ll make sure you’re protected.”
Sarah looked relieved. She grabbed a small suitcase she had already packed.
We walked out to the SUV.
As the guards opened the doors, a black sedan pulled slowly onto the quiet suburban street. It stopped twenty yards away. The engine idled.
The tinted windows rolled down.
A man sat in the driver’s seat. He was wearing a dark suit.
He rested his arm on the open window.
I saw it immediately.
A jagged, unmistakable scar on his right cheek.
And another scar running across the back of his right hand.
It was Nicholas.
He didn't pull a gun. He didn't shout.
He simply looked at Luca. Then he looked at the boy in Luca’s arms.
Luca froze. The color drained from his face for the third time in forty-eight hours.
“Nico?” Luca breathed, using his brother’s childhood nickname.
Nicholas smiled. It wasn't a warm smile. It was cold, calculating, and victorious.
He raised his scarred hand, tapped two fingers against his temple in a mocking salute, and rolled the window back up.
The sedan sped away down the street.
Luca stood paralyzed, holding Leo tightly against his chest.
“Boss,” the security chief said, drawing his weapon and stepping in front of Luca. “Who was that?”
“My brother,” Luca whispered, the betrayal carving deep lines into his face. “He’s alive.”
We got into the SUV and sped back to the mansion. The entire ride, Luca didn't speak. He just held Leo, staring out the window.
When we returned to the estate, the heavy iron gates closed behind us, locking down the compound.
Luca ordered the guards to double the perimeter. He sent Leo and Sarah to a secure guest wing with Sofia and Aunt Beth.
Then, he walked into the library and poured a glass of whiskey.
He didn't drink it. He just stared at the amber liquid.
I walked in and closed the door behind me.
“He played us,” Luca said, his voice completely hollow. “Charles wasn't the mastermind. Charles was just the distraction. The fall guy.”
“Your brother manipulated Anna into poisoning you,” I said softly, stepping closer. “He wanted you dead, and he wanted Charles out of the way. Now they are both gone, and he has a clear path to the estate.”
Luca gripped the glass. “He abandoned Maria when she got sick. He abandoned his own son. To run a criminal empire.”
He looked up at me, his eyes burning with a terrifying, absolute resolve.
“I’m going to kill him, Rebecca.”
I didn't argue. I didn't tell him murder was wrong. In his world, survival required absolute finality.
“How do we find him?” I asked.
Luca walked to the fireplace. He looked at the portrait of Elizabeth.
“Nicholas thinks he’s smarter than everyone. But he has one weakness. He always wears our grandfather’s vintage Rolex. It’s a family heirloom. Solid gold.”
I frowned. “How does a watch help us find him?”
Luca turned to me, a dark, dangerous smile touching his lips.
“Because three years before Nicholas ‘died,’ I had a microscopic GPS tracker installed inside the casing of that watch. I did it to keep him safe from rival families.”
He walked to the desk and opened a hidden drawer, pulling out a small tablet.
He typed in a code.
A map of Chicago appeared on the screen.
A single red dot was blinking on the map.
“He’s at the old shipping warehouse on the docks,” Luca said. “He’s gathering the lieutenants. Taking over my business tonight.”
He set the tablet down and looked at me.
“I’m going to end this. But you need to stay here. With Leo. Keep him safe.”
I shook my head. “I’m your nurse, Luca. If you get hurt—”
“If I get hurt, I die on my own terms,” Luca interrupted, grabbing my shoulders gently. “Rebecca, please. For me. Stay here.”
I looked into his eyes. I knew I couldn't stop him.
“Come back to me,” I whispered.
He kissed me hard, full of passion and promise.
“I will.”
He turned and walked out of the library, calling for his men.
An hour later, the house was quiet. Too quiet.
I was sitting in the kitchen, drinking cold coffee, when my phone rang.
It was the security chief.
“Rebecca,” he said, his voice tight with panic. “You need to get Leo and the others to the panic room. Now.”
“What’s wrong?” I asked, standing up, my heart racing. “Did you find Nicholas?”
“We found the watch, Rebecca,” the chief said. “It was sitting on an empty desk at the warehouse. Nicholas isn't here.”
A cold dread washed over me. “Then where is he?”
Before the chief could answer, the heavy front doors of the mansion blasted open with a deafening explosion.
Smoke poured into the foyer.
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And walking through the smoke, holding a suppressed pistol, was Nicholas Ferraro.
TITLE: THE BLOOD ON THE MARBLE
