Chapter 7 - THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF MORELLO
The blast from the shotgun was deafening in the enclosed space.
Carlo Morello didn’t even have time to scream.
He flew backward, crashing through the glass doors of the dining room balcony. He landed on the terrace outside, completely motionless.
Chaos erupted.
Carlo’s six guards raised their weapons, but Daniel had already snatched his gun back from the floor.
“Drop them!” Daniel roared, firing a warning shot into the ceiling.
At the same time, the mansion’s backup security forces—alerted by the car explosion outside—flooded into the dining room from the kitchen and the service hallways.
Twenty heavily armed men loyal to Luca surrounded the six Morello guards.
The guards looked at their dead boss on the balcony.
Then they dropped their guns.
Vanessa screamed.
It was a raw, guttural sound of total defeat.
She ran toward the balcony, falling to her knees beside her father’s body.
“No! No, no, no!” she wailed, ruining her expensive dress in the blood and broken glass.
Luca stood in the center of the room. He didn’t lower the shotgun.
He breathed heavily, his eyes locked on Vanessa.
“Daniel,” Luca said, his voice cold and echoing in the silent room.
“Yes, Boss.”
“Zip-tie them. All of them. And call the cleaner.”
The guests were huddled against the walls, terrified but unharmed. Luca ignored them. He walked over to where I was still shielding Leo in the corner.
He knelt down carefully, laying the shotgun on the floor out of Leo’s sight.
“Emma,” he said softly.
I looked up. My face was wet with tears I didn’t know I was crying.
“Are you hurt?” he asked.
“No,” I whispered. “We’re okay. He’s okay.”
Leo peeked out from behind my arm.
“Uncle Luca? Was that a bad man?”
Luca reached out and gently stroked Leo’s hair.
“He was a very bad man, buddy. But he’s gone now. You’re safe.”
Luca stood up and turned to Mr. Caruso.
The old man was sitting on an overturned chair, clutching his chest, breathing shallowly.
Luca walked over and knelt in front of him.
“Antonio,” Luca said, taking the old man’s shaking hands. “You smuggled a bomb and a shotgun into my house?”
Mr. Caruso managed a weak smile.
“You told me to take care of the family, Luciano. I take my job seriously.”
Teresa ran over and threw her arms around Mr. Caruso’s neck, weeping into his shoulder.
Luca stood up and looked at his uncle.
Michael was standing alone near the doorway. He looked utterly broken.
He had sold his soul to save his life, and in the end, it was an eighty-year-old accountant who had actually shown courage.
“Luciano,” Michael choked out. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
Luca stared at him for a long time.
“You’re my blood, Michael,” Luca said, his voice devoid of anger, leaving only profound disappointment. “But you’re not my family anymore. You leave Chicago tonight. If I ever see you in this city again, you’ll share a grave with Carlo.”
Michael nodded, tears streaming down his face. He turned and walked out of the room, a ruined man.
Vanessa, handcuffed by Daniel, was dragged back into the dining room.
Her mascara was running down her face in black rivers.
“You’re dead, Luca!” she spat, struggling against Daniel’s grip. “The commission in New York will kill you for this! You broke the treaty!”
Luca walked up to her.
He didn’t look angry anymore. He looked bored.
“There is no treaty,” Luca said. “Your father broke it ten years ago when he killed my mother. New York knows it. They’re the ones who tipped off Mr. Caruso about your offshore accounts yesterday.”
Vanessa’s eyes widened in horror.
“You... you knew?” she whispered.
“I knew you were stealing money,” Luca said. “I didn’t know you were Carlo’s daughter until tonight. But the result is the same.”
He looked at Daniel.
“Take her to the police. Hand over the financial documents. Let the FBI deal with her for wire fraud and conspiracy. She’ll spend the next twenty years in the same cell block her father did.”
“No!” Vanessa screamed as Daniel dragged her toward the door. “Luca, please! I loved you!”
Luca didn’t even blink.
“Get her out of my house.”
As the doors closed behind Vanessa, the silence in the room was overwhelming.
The danger was over.
But the room was destroyed.
Luca looked around at the terrified bankers, the ruined food, the shattered crystal.
He sighed, running a hand over his face.
Then he looked at me.
“Emma,” he said.
May you like
“Yes, sir.”
“Can you make me some eggs?”
