Chapter 9 - THE EMERALD BRACELET (The Climax)
I stared at the heavy emerald bracelet in my hand.
It was a breathtaking piece of jewelry, easily worth a hundred thousand dollars.
I flipped the small, cream-colored card over.
Vanessa’s elegant, cursive handwriting sent a chill straight down my spine.
“For your silence, Emma. Play your part, and the money is yours.”
I stopped walking.
“Luca,” I called out.
Luca, Anna, and Matteo stopped near the front doors and turned around.
I held up the bracelet and the card.
Luca’s eyes locked onto the jewelry. His jaw tightened so hard I could hear his teeth grind.
“That was my grandmother’s bracelet,” Luca said, his voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. “It went missing from the vault three days ago.”
“Vanessa put it in my pocket,” I realized, feeling sick to my stomach.
Matteo frowned, stepping closer. “Why would she bribe you? Victor just confessed to everything. They lost.”
“Unless there’s something they didn’t confess to,” Anna said, her nurse’s instincts kicking in.
I looked down at the note again.
Play your part.
What part?
My mind raced back through the chaotic events of the evening. The arguments. The locked doors. The memory card. The gun jamming.
Wait.
The gun jamming.
“The security chief,” I said, my heart starting to pound.
“What about him?” Luca asked.
“When Victor had the gun to his head,” I recalled, my words spilling out fast, “Victor didn’t pull the trigger immediately. He stalled. And the chief… he said he removed the firing pin from Victor’s spare gun.”
Luca nodded slowly. “Yes. He disarmed Victor.”
“But how did the chief know Victor had a spare gun?” I asked, looking up at Luca. “Victor just walked in. They didn’t search him.”
The foyer went deathly quiet.
The realization hit Luca like a physical blow.
“The chief let Victor through the front gate,” Luca whispered.
“Vanessa didn’t bribe me to keep quiet about the past,” I said, my hands trembling. “She bribed me so I wouldn’t tell you that your head of security has been working for her the entire time.”
Just as the words left my mouth, the front doors of the mansion slammed shut.
The heavy deadbolts clicked into place.
We were locked inside.
From the shadows of the grand staircase, the security chief stepped forward.
He wasn’t holding the jammed gun anymore.
He was holding a fully loaded automatic rifle.
“Smart girl, Emma,” the chief said, his voice echoing in the massive foyer. “Too bad you couldn’t just take the jewelry and walk away.”
He raised the rifle, pointing it directly at Luca’s chest.
“Victor might be going to prison,” the chief smiled. “But Vanessa promised me two million dollars if the Moretti bloodline ends tonight.”
Anna screamed. Matteo jumped in front of his sister.
Luca didn’t flinch.
He looked the traitor dead in the eye.
“You won’t make it out of Chicago alive,” Luca said calmly.
“I’ll take my chances,” the chief replied, his finger tightening on the trigger.
I didn’t think.
I still had my heavy wool coat in my hand.
With every ounce of strength I had, I hurled the coat directly at the chief’s face.
The thick fabric blinded him for half a second.
It was all Luca needed.
Moving with terrifying, lethal speed, Luca closed the distance.
He grabbed the barrel of the rifle, shoving it upward just as it fired.
The bullets shattered the massive crystal chandelier above us.
Luca delivered a brutal, punishing strike to the chief’s throat.
The man collapsed, gagging, dropping the weapon.
Matteo kicked the rifle away.
Luca stood over the traitor, breathing heavily, his eyes blazing with fury.
“Take him to the basement,” Luca ordered his loyal men who came running at the sound of gunfire. “He’s going to tell us every single person Vanessa bought.”
The guards dragged the gasping chief away.
Silence finally fell over the house again.
Luca turned around.
He looked at his son, who was safely holding his daughter.
He looked at my mother, who was unharmed.
And then, he looked at me.
The fierce, terrifying mafia boss softened.
He walked over to me, picked up the emerald bracelet from the floor, and gently placed it in my hand.
“You didn’t play her part,” Luca said, his voice thick with raw gratitude. “You saved my family, Emma. Again.”
I looked at the bracelet.
“I don’t want this,” I said softly. “I just want my dad to be okay.”
Luca smiled, a genuine, warm smile that reached his eyes.
“He will be. I promise.”
He reached out and gently rested his hand on my shoulder.
“You’re not a housekeeper anymore, Emma. Not in this house.”
May you like
He looked at Anna and Matteo.
“Let’s go see Thomas.”
