Chapter 4 - THE ROSARY IN THE DARK
"Daniel, drop the gun."
Luca didn't flinch. He didn't even raise his hands.
Daniel’s grip tightened on the weapon. "You're soft, Luca. You cry over a maid and a deaf kid. Marco is going to run this family the way your father did. With blood."
Sofia screamed, an awful, guttural sound, and hid behind my legs.
I threw my arms around her, shielding her small body with my own.
Vanessa was hyperventilating on the floor.
"If you pull that trigger, Daniel, you won't make it out of this room," Luca said calmly.
"The guards outside work for me now," Daniel sneered.
"Do they?"
Luca reached into his pocket and slowly pulled out a string of black rosary beads.
Daniel frowned. "What is that?"
"My father gave me this rosary the day I took over," Luca said, stepping forward. The barrel of Daniel's gun was inches from his chest. "He said a leader must always pray for forgiveness."
Luca wrapped the rosary around his knuckles.
"But I don't pray for forgiveness, Daniel. I pray for my enemies."
With blinding speed, Luca struck.
He didn't hit Daniel's face. He hit the gun.
The heavy wooden cross of the rosary smashed into the slide of the pistol, knocking it off target just as Daniel fired.
The suppressed shot shattered the dining room window.
Before Daniel could recover, Luca drove his knee into Daniel's stomach, grabbed his wrist, and twisted until a sickening snap echoed through the room.
Daniel screamed, dropping the gun.
Luca kicked the weapon away and slammed Daniel onto the dining table, pinning him by the throat.
"Where is my sister?" Luca roared.
Daniel choked, blood pooling in his mouth. "Go to hell."
Luca grabbed a steak knife from the table.
Vanessa shrieked and covered her eyes.
"I won't ask again," Luca whispered, pressing the blade to Daniel's cheek. "Where is Elena?"
"The old boathouse!" Daniel gasped, his eyes wide with terror. "At the docks! Marco has her there!"
Luca threw Daniel to the floor.
"Anna," Luca said, chest heaving as he straightened his suit.
"Yes?" I trembled.
"Take Sofia to the basement panic room. The code is my mother's birthday. Stay there until I come back."
I nodded, picking up Sofia, who was clinging to me like a lifeline.
Luca picked up Daniel's gun, checked the magazine, and walked out the front doors into the pouring rain.
I ran down the hallway toward the basement stairs. Sofia's arms were wrapped tight around my neck.
I punched in the code. The heavy steel door hissed open.
Inside, the room was stocked with water, medical supplies, and monitors displaying camera feeds from all over the estate.
I set Sofia down on the cot and wrapped a blanket around her.
"It's going to be okay," I signed to her, my hands shaking.
She looked at me, her eyes wide and trusting.
Then she pointed at one of the security monitors.
I looked up.
The camera showed the front gate.
Luca's black SUV was tearing out of the driveway.
But right behind it, slipping through the gates before they closed, was a silver sedan.
The same car that had brought the man who spoke to Vanessa.
And as the driver stepped out into the rain, the security camera caught his face.
May you like
It wasn't Marco.
It was my father.
