Chapter 4 - THE GOLD SIGNET RING
The gold ring felt heavier than it should have, sitting in the palm of my hand like a poisonous insect.
I stared at it, then slowly raised my eyes to Vincent.
“Clara,” Vincent started, taking a step toward me.
I took a sharp step back, hitting the edge of the child’s bed. “Don’t touch me. Explain this.”
Vincent looked at the ring, his jaw clenching so hard a muscle jumped in his cheek. “I didn’t put that there.”
“It was in your pocket!” I shouted, the panic over Mia bleeding into a terrifying realization. “Isabella left a note telling me exactly where to find it! Were you working with them? Was this all a game? Keep the Rossi heir scrubbing your floors while you trade the niece to the Romanos?!”
“Stop,” Vincent commanded, his voice echoing sharply in the small nursery.
He didn’t yell, but the sheer force of his tone demanded absolute silence.
He walked over to me, ignoring my flinching, and gently took the heavy gold ring from my hand. He held it up to the dim light of the hallway.
“Look inside the band,” Vincent said quietly.
I hesitated, then leaned in.
Engraved on the inside of the gold circle were three initials: C.R.M.
“Carmine Romano Moretti,” Vincent read aloud, his voice thick with a sudden, devastating grief. “My uncle.”
My breath hitched. “Your uncle? I thought Lorenzo Romano was Isabella’s father.”
“He is,” Vincent said, closing his fist around the ring. “But twenty years ago, Lorenzo’s sister married my uncle Carmine. It was supposed to unite our families. Instead, it tore the city apart. Carmine was exiled from the Moretti family ten years ago for treason. I thought he was dead.”
Vincent looked at me, the terrifying puzzle finally clicking together in his mind.
“Isabella isn’t just acting on her father’s orders,” Vincent realized, the color draining from his face. “She’s working with Carmine. Carmine planted this ring on me before we left the estate. He must have bumped into me in the hallway.”
“Why?” I asked, my head spinning.
“To make you doubt me,” Vincent said, his dark eyes locking onto mine with an intensity that burned. “To make you run. Because without me protecting you, you’re an easy target.”
Before I could process the weight of his words, the sound of a heavy engine roared to life outside.
Not a boat. A helicopter.
“They’re still on the island,” Vincent said, drawing his weapon and spinning toward the window.
We ran to the front of the cabin, bursting through the shattered door just in time to see a sleek black helicopter lifting off from the clearing on the ridge above the cove.
Through the rain-streaked glass of the chopper, I saw her.
Isabella.
She was sitting in the back, holding a little girl in a pink nightgown tightly by the arm.
Mia.
My niece was crying, pressing her small hands against the glass.
“NO!” I screamed, lunging forward, but Vincent caught me around the waist, hauling me back against his chest as the powerful downwash of the helicopter blades threatened to knock us over.
“You can’t reach them, Clara!” Vincent yelled over the deafening roar of the rotors.
I fought him, sobbing wildly as I watched the only family I had left disappear into the stormy night sky.
When the helicopter was just a blinking red light in the distance, Vincent finally let me go. I collapsed onto the wet grass, my knees buckling under the weight of my failure.
I had lost her. The minute I found out she existed, I lost her.
Vincent knelt beside me in the mud, completely disregarding his expensive suit. He didn't offer empty comforts. He didn't tell me it was going to be okay.
Instead, he reached into his coat and pulled out his phone.
He dialed a number, holding the phone to his ear as the rain beat down on us.
“Lock down the city,” Vincent said to whoever answered. “Every port. Every runway. Every road. Nobody leaves.”
He paused, his eyes fixed on me.
“And find Carmine Moretti. If he has a pulse, I want it.”
Vincent hung up and reached out, gently tilting my chin up so I had to look at him.
“I swear on my life, Clara,” Vincent vowed, the rain plastering his dark hair to his forehead. “I will bring her back to you. I will burn this city to the ashes they left your family in if I have to.”
I looked into his eyes, searching for the lie. Searching for the betrayal.
But all I saw was a man willing to go to war for me.
We took the speedboat back to the mainland in heavy silence.
The estate was a fortress when we returned. Dozens of armed men patrolled the perimeter. Security cameras were recalibrated. The massive iron gates were bolted shut.
Vincent led me back to his private study.
He poured two glasses of amber liquid from a crystal decanter, handing one to me. I took it, my hands still numb from the cold and the shock.
“They have Mia,” I said quietly, staring into the fireplace. “What do they want? If they wanted us dead, they could have killed us on the island. Why take a child?”
“Leverage,” Vincent said, staring out the window into the darkness. “Carmine doesn’t want blood. He wants the throne. And to legally seize the Moretti syndicate from me, he needs the one thing that legitimized our rule twenty years ago.”
Vincent turned to face me.
“The Rossi blessing.”
I frowned, confused. “What does that mean?”
“When your family ruled the city,” Vincent explained, walking slowly toward me, “they held the absolute loyalty of the five boroughs. When the fire happened, the city almost tore itself apart in the vacuum. My father only kept the peace because he claimed the Rossi family had passed the torch to us.”
“A lie,” I said bitterly.
“Yes,” Vincent admitted. “But Carmine knows the truth is out there now. He knows you are alive. If he forces you to publicly hand the syndicate over to him in exchange for Mia’s life, nobody will ever question his rule.”
“Then I’ll do it,” I said instantly. “I don’t care about this empire. I don’t care about power. I just want my sister’s baby.”
“If you give him the syndicate, Clara, he will kill you both,” Vincent said gently. “Once he has the power, you are only a threat.”
“Then what do we do?” I whispered, a tear slipping down my cheek.
Vincent walked over and stopped just inches from me.
“We beat him at his own game,” Vincent said softly. “He wants to legitimize his rule through the Rossi bloodline. We are going to legitimize mine.”
I looked up at him, my heart skipping a beat. “How?”
Vincent reached into his desk drawer again, pulling out a small, velvet box.
He opened it.
May you like
Inside was a massive, breathtaking diamond ring.
“I called you my wife tonight to save your life,” Vincent said, his voice dropping to a low, intimate timber. “But tomorrow, we are making it real. You are going to marry me, Clara. And we are going to take your family's city back.”
