Chapter 4 - THE ROSARY
“Mommy!”
Leo broke away from Daniel and ran toward me.
I dropped to my knees and caught him, burying my face in his small shoulder.
He smelled like crayons and the cheap maple syrup from our breakfast.
“What are you doing here?” I gasped, checking his arms and face. “Who brought you?”
Daniel crossed his arms.
He didn’t look at me. He looked at Luca.
“I picked him up from school, Boss. Just like you asked.”
I froze.
I looked up at Luca.
“You sent him?”
“Vanessa knows where he goes to school,” Luca said calmly. “She threatened him. I don’t take threats lightly.”
He walked around the desk and crouched down so he was at eye level with Leo.
“Hello, Leo. I’m Luca.”
Leo looked at him shyly.
“You have a big house.”
“I do. And there’s a lot of empty rooms. I thought you and your mom might want to stay here for a few days. Just until the wedding is over.”
“No,” I said instantly, standing up and pulling Leo behind me. “We’re leaving.”
Luca stood.
He looked at Daniel.
“Give us a minute.”
Daniel nodded and stepped out of the study, closing the door.
Luca turned to me.
“If you leave, you’re unprotected. Vanessa is desperate. Desperate people don’t care who gets hurt.”
“You’re part of the mafia!” I whispered fiercely. “You think I feel safe here?”
“I’m a businessman,” Luca corrected, though his eyes darkened. “But more importantly, I’m a man trying to find out if my niece is still alive. And you are the only person in this house I can trust.”
I looked at him.
“Why me?”
“Because you’re a mother. You know what it means to protect a child.”
He pointed to the child’s drawing on the desk.
“If that little girl is Marco’s daughter, she belongs with her family. I need to know where she is. And Vanessa will only slip up if she thinks she’s in control.”
I looked down at Leo.
He was staring at a shiny silver paperweight on Luca’s desk.
If Vanessa was willing to frame Luca with edited audio, she was willing to hurt my son.
“We get the guest house,” I said firmly. “Nobody comes in without my permission. And you double my pay.”
Luca actually smiled.
A small, genuine smile.
“Done.”
That afternoon, I moved our few belongings into the guest house at the back of the estate.
It was quiet. Safe.
At 6:00 PM, I returned to the main house to serve dinner.
Vanessa was sitting by the fireplace in the living room.
She was running a silver rosary through her fingers.
Click. Click. Click.
The beads were heavy, ornate.
She looked pale. Nervous.
“Caroline,” she said as I walked past with a tray of wine glasses.
I stopped.
“I see you brought your brat to work today.”
I gripped the edge of the tray.
“Mr. Moretti insisted.”
Vanessa stopped moving the beads.
She looked up at me, her eyes hollow.
“Luca is a dangerous man. You think you’re safe because he’s playing the protector? He destroys everything he touches.”
She stood up and stepped closer to me.
“He killed his own brother.”
The tray slipped in my hands, the glasses rattling together.
“What?”
“Marco’s crash wasn’t an accident,” Vanessa whispered. “Luca cut the brake lines. He wanted complete control of the family.”
She pressed the silver rosary into my free hand.
It was warm from her skin.
“Leave tonight, Caroline. Take your boy and run. Because when the truth comes out on Saturday, this whole house is going to burn.”
She walked away, leaving me standing alone.
My breathing was shallow.
I looked down at the rosary in my hand.
I turned it over.
There was a tiny clasp on the back of the crucifix.
My thumb pressed it by accident.
The cross snapped open.
Inside was a tiny, folded piece of paper.
I set the tray down and unfolded it.
It was a luggage claim ticket for Chicago Union Station.
Number 448.
May you like
And written on the back in bold black marker were two words:
Ask Daniel.
