Chapter 7 - THE RED COAT’S SECRET
“Get your hands off me!” Vanessa shrieked as Rocco’s massive hands clamped down on her shoulders.
She fought like a wildcat, kicking, scratching, her perfect nails digging into Rocco’s suit jacket, but it was useless. He lifted her off the floor effortlessly.
“You’re dead, Luca!” Vanessa screamed as she was dragged down the hallway. “The Feds will tear this house down to the studs! They’ll take the boy! They’ll take everything!”
Her voice echoed down the corridor, fading until the heavy steel door of the basement slammed shut, cutting her off completely.
Silence returned to the study.
I stood frozen in the doorway, Leo clutching my leg, his face buried in my skirt.
Luca sagged against the mahogany desk, the adrenaline finally giving way to the pain. He dropped the bloody towel, his face pale, sweat beading on his forehead.
“Luca,” I rushed forward, letting go of Leo for a second to grab the edge of the desk for support. “You need a doctor. You’re losing too much blood.”
He waved me off, though his hand shook.
“I’ve had worse from paper cuts,” he muttered, though the grimace on his face betrayed him. He looked at me, his dark eyes intense. “The key, Nora. Where is it?”
“It’s upstairs,” I said, my voice breathless. “In Maya’s red coat. I sewed it into the lining seven years ago. I thought it was just money. I swear to God, Luca, I didn’t know it was the ledger.”
“I believe you,” he said softly.
He pushed himself off the desk.
“Go get it. Dante will go with you.”
Dante, the second guard who had realized betting against Luca was a fatal mistake, stepped forward, looking thoroughly chastised.
“Watch them,” Luca told Dante, his voice hard. “If anyone so much as looks at them wrong, I’ll hold you personally responsible.”
“Yes, Boss,” Dante nodded quickly.
I grabbed Leo’s hand. “Come on, baby. We’re going upstairs for a minute.”
We hurried out of the study and up the grand staircase. The house felt entirely different now. It wasn’t just a rich man’s mansion anymore; it was a fortress, and I was holding the key to its destruction.
We reached the third floor.
I pushed open the door to my small servant’s bedroom.
The room was exactly as I had left it.
The ice pack on the floor.
The scissors on the desk.
The heavy red wool coat lying flat on the bed.
I let go of Leo’s hand and rushed to the bed. I flipped the coat over, running my fingers along the bottom seam, searching for the thick, rigid lump of the safety deposit key I had hidden there so long ago.
My fingers found it.
It was still there.
I grabbed the scissors and sliced the fabric open.
I pulled out the heavy brass key. It was wrapped in a small piece of plastic to keep it from rusting.
“Got it,” I breathed, the relief washing over me like a wave.
I turned around to show Dante.
But Dante wasn’t looking at me.
He was standing in the doorway, his hands raised in the air, his weapon lying on the floor.
Standing behind him, pressing the barrel of a suppressed pistol into the back of Dante’s neck, was a man in a sharp grey suit.
I recognized him instantly.
It was Agent Miller.
He had been at the engagement party tonight, mingling with the guests. Vanessa had introduced him as a “college friend.”
He wasn’t a friend.
He was her FBI handler.
“Put the key on the desk, Nora,” Agent Miller said, his voice calm, professional, and utterly terrifying.
I froze, the brass key burning in my hand.
“How did you get in here?” I demanded, stepping backward, instinctively shielding Leo behind my body.
“Vanessa texted me the security codes an hour ago when things started going sideways,” Miller said smoothly. “She’s a mess, but she’s efficient. Now, the key.”
“You’re FBI,” I said, my voice trembling. “You’re supposed to arrest the bad guys. Not break into houses.”
Miller smiled, a thin, humorless line.
“I am arresting the bad guys. The ledger is evidence. But I can’t let Luca Moretti destroy it before I get a warrant. So, I’m securing it.”
He pressed the gun harder into Dante’s neck.
“Don’t make me shoot the help, Nora. Give me the key.”
I looked at Dante. He was terrified, but he shook his head slightly.
Don’t give it to him.
If Miller got the ledger, the Moretti family was finished. But more importantly, if Miller got the ledger, he would know about Leo. The true heir. The bastard child Marco had hidden.
Vanessa had promised to eliminate Leo. Who was to say her handler wouldn’t do the same to tie up loose ends?
“Mommy, I’m scared,” Leo whimpered, clinging to my leg.
Miller’s eyes flicked down to Leo.
A cold, calculating look crossed his face.
“That’s the kid, isn’t it?” Miller said softly. “The heir. Vanessa mentioned a complication.”
My blood ran ice cold.
He wasn’t here just for the ledger.
He was here to clean up Vanessa’s mess.
“Take it,” I yelled, and I threw the heavy brass key as hard as I could.
Not at Miller.
At the window.
The heavy key smashed through the glass pane with a loud crash, disappearing into the dark, rainy night, falling three stories into the dense, overgrown rose bushes below.
Miller swore loudly, distracted for a fraction of a second as the glass shattered.
That was all Dante needed.
Dante spun around, grabbing the barrel of Miller’s gun and twisting it upward.
The gun fired with a muffled phut, the bullet tearing into the ceiling.
“Run, Nora!” Dante roared, throwing a heavy punch into Miller’s jaw.
May you like
I didn’t hesitate.
I scooped Leo into my arms, ignoring the screaming pain in my bruised left arm, and bolted out the door.
