Chapter 4 - THE BLOOD-STAINED WATCH
I stared at the silver rosary in my hand, the tarnished beads biting into my palm.
My mother’s rosary. The one I had buried with her.
If Elias Romano had this, it meant his men had dug up her grave. Or worse—someone in my own family had dug it up and handed it over as a token of loyalty.
“Claire?” Isabella stepped forward, her eyes darting to the rosary. “What is it?”
“This belonged to my mother,” I said, my voice hollow. “My uncle, Marcus, runs the St. Jude Orphanage on the South Side. If Leo is there...”
Isabella gasped. “Your own uncle is helping my father?”
Answer One: The betrayal went deeper than the mafia. It was inside my own bloodline. My uncle Marcus was Elias’s accomplice.
Open Two: Why would my uncle betray me? And how was Antonella involved in all of this?
“I have to leave,” I said, shoving the rosary and the child’s drawing into my purse.
“Wait!” Isabella grabbed my arm. “You can’t tell Gabriel you know. If Elias finds out we spoke, he’ll move Leo. And he’ll kill me.”
I looked at the woman I had hated for six months. The mistress who had tried to erase me. Now, I saw only a terrified pawn in a game played by cruel men.
“I won't tell Elias,” I said coldly. “But I’m not running from this. Not anymore.”
I left the penthouse and drove straight back to the Moretti estate.
When I arrived, the house was dark. The relatives had gone home. Only a single light burned in the parlor.
I walked in to find Antonella sitting in her high-backed chair, the fire dying in the hearth. She looked frail, the anger from dinner replaced by a bone-deep weariness.
“You didn't find him,” she said softly, not looking up.
“I didn't try to,” I replied, sitting opposite her. “I went to see Isabella.”
Antonella’s head snapped up. “Are you out of your mind? That woman is—”
“A hostage,” I interrupted.
I pulled the drawing and the rosary from my purse and placed them on the mahogany table between us.
Antonella stared at the crayon stick figures. Her breath hitched. She reached out with a trembling, spotted hand and touched the name LEO.
“Gabriel’s son,” I said.
Antonella closed her eyes, a single tear escaping. “He told you.”
“No. Isabella did. You knew?”
“I knew Gabriel had a child before he met you,” the old woman whispered, her voice rough. “The mother passed away. Gabriel wanted to bring the boy here, but his grandfather—my husband—forbade it. He said a bastard child would weaken the Moretti name.”
My stomach churned. “So Gabriel hid him?”
“He sent him to a private boarding school in Switzerland. He visited him in secret. He thought he was protecting him.”
“Elias Romano found him,” I said. “He kidnapped him. He’s using Leo to force Gabriel to hand over this estate.”
Antonella’s face hardened into a mask of pure fury. “My home. He wants to destroy the heart of our family to prove he has conquered us.”
“And it’s working,” I said. I pushed the rosary toward her. “Because my uncle Marcus is helping him. Elias is keeping Leo at St. Jude’s.”
Antonella recognized the rosary immediately. She looked at me, her expression softening into something like pity.
“Oh, my girl. You think Gabriel married you because he loved you?”
I froze. “What?”
“Your uncle Marcus owed Elias Romano two million dollars ten years ago. Elias was going to slaughter your entire family.” Antonella leaned forward. “Gabriel bought your uncle’s debt. He paid Elias off. But in exchange, to ensure Elias could never touch you, Gabriel had to marry you. He brought you under the Moretti protection.”
My heart stopped.
Answer One: My marriage wasn't a fairy tale. It was a transaction to save my life.
Open Two: Did Gabriel ever actually love me? Or was my entire life a charitable duty?
“He... he didn't love me?” I whispered.
“He didn't at first,” Antonella said gently. “But he grew to love you, Claire. He loved you so fiercely it terrified him. That’s why he’s pushing you away now. He’s trying to break the marriage so Elias won't see you as a target once the estate is gone.”
The coldness. The mistress. The humiliation at dinner.
It was all a performance. He was breaking my heart to save my life.
Before I could process the weight of the revelation, the heavy front doors burst open.
Footsteps echoed in the marble foyer.
Gabriel strode into the parlor. His white shirt was unbuttoned at the collar, his knuckles bruised and bleeding.
He stopped when he saw us. Then, his eyes fell on the crayon drawing and the silver rosary on the table.
He went completely still.
“Where did you get those?” he demanded, his voice a dangerous, low gravel.
“From the woman you’re pretending to sleep with,” I said, standing up to face him.
Gabriel looked at his grandmother, betrayal flashing in his eyes. “You told her.”
“She figured it out, Gabriel,” Antonella said fiercely. “Your wife is stronger than you think.”
Gabriel crossed the room in two strides. He grabbed my shoulders, his grip tight. “You have to leave, Claire. Tonight. I have a plane waiting to take you to Rome.”
“I’m not leaving you!” I shouted, fighting against his hold. “I know about Leo! I know my uncle has him!”
Gabriel’s face went pale. “If you know that, then you know Elias will kill him if I don't sign over the house by midnight tomorrow.”
He let go of me and pulled something from his pocket, tossing it onto the table next to the drawing.
It was a gold pocket watch.
The glass was shattered, and the gold casing was smeared with fresh, dark blood.
Antonella gasped, covering her mouth.
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“That’s Silvio’s watch,” she whispered. Silvio was Gabriel’s most trusted enforcer. The man who had been searching for Leo.
“They found Silvio near the orphanage,” Gabriel said, his voice breaking. “Elias sent the watch as a warning. We are out of time.”
