Chapter 6 - THE SILVER CLASP
Luca stared at the broken silver clasp smeared with blood.
It perfectly matched the missing piece of the wooden rosary.
“Madison, look at me,” Luca commanded, catching her shoulders as panic began to completely consume her. “Is your mother at St. Jude’s?”
“She... she goes there for her treatments,” Madison choked out, her whole body shaking. “It’s a charity clinic on the West Side.”
Luca turned to Daniel. “Clean this up. Put Henry in the trunk. Bring Leo and meet me there.”
Luca pulled Madison toward the SUV.
The drive to the West Side was a blur of rain and neon lights. Madison sat in the passenger seat, clutching the broken rosary to her chest, her breathing shallow and erratic.
“She’s going to be okay,” Luca said, his voice firm, leaving no room for doubt.
He reached across the console and took her hand. His grip was warm and solid. Madison didn't pull away. For the first time in her life, she didn't feel entirely alone.
They arrived at St. Jude’s Hospice. It was a crumbling brick building in a forgotten neighborhood.
Luca bypassed the empty front desk and kicked open the double doors leading to the patient wards.
The hallway was dark.
At the far end, outside Room 114, stood Vanessa.
She was holding a medical clipboard in one hand and a syringe in the other.
When she saw Luca and Madison, she didn't run. She just smiled.
“I told you, you’re too late.”
Madison screamed and lunged forward, but Luca caught her waist, pulling her behind him.
He drew his sidearm, pointing it directly at his fiancée’s chest.
“Put the syringe down, Vanessa.”
“Or what?” she sneered. “You’ll shoot me in a hospital? You’re not a monster, Luca. You just play one.”
“I don't play anything.” Luca cocked the hammer. “Put it down.”
Vanessa’s smile faded. She looked at the gun, then at Madison.
Slowly, she tossed the syringe onto the linoleum floor.
“It doesn't matter,” Vanessa said bitterly. “She’s barely breathing anyway.”
Madison pushed past Luca and ran into Room 114.
A moment later, Luca heard her sobbing.
He kept the gun trained on Vanessa and backed into the room.
Elizabeth Reed was lying on the narrow hospital bed. She was incredibly frail, her skin pale, but her chest was rising and falling.
She was alive.
“Mom,” Madison cried, pressing her forehead against her mother’s hand.
Elizabeth slowly opened her eyes. She looked at Madison, then past her, locking eyes with Luca.
“You... you came,” Elizabeth whispered, her voice like dry leaves.
“I’m here, Mrs. Reed,” Luca said softly.
Elizabeth reached with trembling fingers toward the collar of her hospital gown.
“I didn't... give it to her,” the old woman gasped.
Vanessa stepped into the doorway, her face twisted with rage.
“She’s lying! She hid the ledger! Make her tell you where it is, Luca!”
“There is no ledger,” Elizabeth whispered.
Luca frowned. “Henry said—”
“Henry is a fool,” Elizabeth coughed, squeezing Madison’s hand. “Isabella didn't hide money. She hid the truth.”
Elizabeth pulled her collar down.
Resting against her fragile collarbone was a heavy gold bracelet.
It wasn't jewelry. It was a medical identification band.
Luca stepped closer, his eyes scanning the engraved metal.
LEO BELLINI.
CONGENITAL HEART DEFECT.
DO NOT ADMINISTER SEDATIVES.
Luca felt a cold wave crash over him.
He turned slowly toward Vanessa.
“He’s sick.”
Vanessa backed up into the hallway, her face suddenly panicked.
“He’s fine! He just has a murmur!”
“You locked a child with a severe heart defect in a freezing basement?” Luca’s voice shook the windows.
“He was a mistake!” Vanessa screamed. “I didn't want him! My father told me to use him to secure the marriage, but he’s weak! He requires constant medication! It costs a fortune!”
Luca realized the absolute horror of what he was hearing.
Vanessa hadn't just neglected her son. She had actively hidden his condition because a sick child didn't fit the perfect narrative she was selling to the Moretti family.
Suddenly, the sound of heavy boots echoed down the hallway.
Daniel arrived, holding six-year-old Leo in his arms. The boy was wrapped in Luca’s thick cashmere coat.
When Leo saw Vanessa, he didn't reach for his mother.
He whimpered and buried his face into Daniel’s shoulder.
Vanessa stared at the boy with pure disgust.
“Get that thing away from me.”
Luca holstered his weapon. He didn't need it.
He walked up to Vanessa, grabbed her arm, and slammed her against the brick wall of the corridor.
“You are finished,” Luca whispered, his face inches from hers. “There will be no wedding. There will be no money. You and your father are going to rot.”
He shoved her toward Daniel.
“Take her to the police. Give them everything.”
As Daniel dragged a screaming Vanessa away, Luca walked back into the hospital room.
He looked at Leo, then at Madison, who was holding her mother’s hand.
Elizabeth took off the gold bracelet and pressed it into Luca’s palm.
“Isabella wanted you to save him, Luca,” the old nurse whispered. “She knew you were a good man.”
Luca held the warm gold.
May you like
He looked at Madison.
“We’re taking them home.”
