Chapter 7 - THE NURSE IN THE HEADLIGHTS
My mother lay on the concrete floor, clutching her stomach.
“Mom!” I shrieked, sprinting across the warehouse floor, ignoring the gasoline, ignoring the hitmen, ignoring everything.
I slid to my knees beside her.
Blood was blossoming across her hospital gown.
Martha Brooks had discharged herself against medical advice, stolen a taxi, and followed the police scanners to the pier. She had arrived just in time to step in front of the bullet meant for Vanessa.
“Mom, no, no, no,” I sobbed, pressing my hands frantically against her wound.
Martha coughed, reaching up a trembling hand to touch my face.
“I had to... fix it, Hannah,” she gasped. “I had to... save them.”
Vanessa stood frozen in shock, staring at the woman who had just saved her life. The woman her father had blackmailed eight years ago.
Luca didn't freeze.
He handed Leo to Daniel.
“Protect my son.”
Luca raised his Glock.
He walked slowly toward the wreckage where Marcus Bellini was trying to reload his jammed hunting rifle.
The hitmen in the shadows had abandoned their boss. They were fleeing through the hole the SUV had made.
Marcus looked up, blood pouring down his face.
He saw Luca standing over him.
“You don't have the guts, Luca,” Marcus wheezed, coughing up blood. “You kill me, the Commission will hunt you down for breaking the truce.”
Luca stared at the man who had stolen his son, tortured his fiancée, and just shot a brave, innocent nurse.
“The truce ended the day you touched my family,” Luca said.
He didn't shoot Marcus in the head.
He shot him in both kneecaps.
Marcus’s screams echoed through the cavernous warehouse, a pathetic, agonizing sound that finally broke his reign of terror.
Luca turned his back on the screaming man and ran over to me.
He dropped to his knees beside my mother, pressing his heavy coat against her wound to stop the bleeding.
“Hold on, Martha,” Luca ordered, his voice thick with emotion. “Daniel is calling the paramedics. You are not dying today.”
My mother looked up at the mafia boss.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, tears leaking from her eyes. “I’m so sorry I took your boy.”
“You kept him alive,” Luca said fiercely. “If you hadn't hidden his medical records, Marcus would have let him die. You saved him, Martha. You saved my family.”
Behind us, the back door of the armored SUV slowly pushed open.
Sophie climbed out.
She was wearing her yellow cardigan, completely unharmed. She had hidden on the floorboards when Vanessa hijacked the car.
Sophie didn't look at the blood or the guns.
She looked at the little boy standing next to Daniel.
Leo was shivering, staring at the chaos with wide, terrified eyes.
Sophie walked over to him.
She didn't hesitate. She didn't ask questions.
She reached into her pocket and pulled out her favorite stuffed rabbit. The one she had packed in her pink suitcase.
She held it out to Leo.
“It’s okay,” Sophie said softly, her eight-year-old voice echoing in the quiet warehouse. “Daddy checks for monsters. He made the bad man go away.”
Leo looked at the rabbit.
Then he looked at Sophie.
They had the exact same dark hair. The exact same eyes.
Leo slowly reached out and took the rabbit.
He took a step forward and buried his face in Sophie’s shoulder, finally allowing himself to cry like a normal little boy.
Sophie wrapped her arms around her twin brother, holding him tight.
I sat on the floor, holding my mother’s hand as the distant wail of ambulance sirens pierced the foggy night.
Luca knelt beside me. His hands were covered in blood, but his eyes were fixed on his children.
For the first time since his wife died, Luca Moretti looked complete.
The paramedics burst through the doors, rushing to my mother.
The police swarmed the building, dragging a screaming Marcus Bellini away in handcuffs. Vanessa surrendered quietly, her head bowed in shame.
As they loaded my mother onto a stretcher, she squeezed my hand weakly.
“I’m okay, Hannah,” she whispered. “I’m going to be okay.”
I kissed her forehead, tears of relief washing down my face.
Luca walked over and helped me stand.
He didn't say anything. He just pulled me into a tight, grounding embrace.
The nightmare was over.
The twins were reunited. The villain was defeated.
We had survived.
But as we walked out of the warehouse into the cold Chicago dawn, Daniel approached Luca.
The massive security chief looked deeply troubled.
“Sir,” Daniel said quietly, holding a plastic evidence bag.
“What is it, Daniel?” Luca asked, exhausted.
Daniel held up the bag.
Inside was a small, black velvet box.
“The police found this in Marcus Bellini’s coat pocket, sir,” Daniel said.
Luca frowned. He took the bag and opened the box.
I leaned over to look.
Inside was a beautiful, vintage gold pocket watch.
But it wasn't the watch that made Luca’s face turn completely pale.
May you like
It was the photograph tucked inside the lid.
It was a picture of my father.
