Chapter 7 - The Bracelet
Roman stopped dead in his tracks. Marco raised his weapon, but Roman violently shoved Marco’s arm down.
"Silvio," Roman said, his voice shockingly calm, holding his hands up. "Put the boy down. This is between you and me."
"It's always been between you and me!" Silvio spat, backing toward the rear staircase. "You got everything, Roman! The businesses, the respect, the fear! I got the scraps!"
"You killed my brother," Roman said, his voice devoid of emotion, a terrifying calm before the storm. "You killed your own blood."
"He was weak!" Silvio yelled. "And you're weak, too. Trusting a maid. Letting a woman like Adriana play you for a fool."
Leo was crying, clinging to Silvio's arm, terrified by the gun pressed to his temple.
I couldn't breathe. My mind raced back to my days at the care facility. When a patient became violent and took a nurse hostage, you didn't yell. You didn't threaten. You broke their pattern. You distracted them with something entirely out of context.
I took a step forward.
"Silvio!" I yelled.
Silvio’s eyes snapped to me. "Shut up, you stupid bitch!"
"I saw Adriana!" I lied, my voice shaking but loud. "I saw her hide the ledger in the basement! The ledger with your name on the offshore accounts!"
Silvio hesitated. Greed and paranoia warred in his eyes. "What ledger?"
"She was going to sell you out, Silvio!" I yelled, taking another step. "She told me! She said you were the fall guy!"
"She's lying!" Silvio screamed, but the gun wavered slightly from Leo's head as he looked at me.
It was only a fraction of an inch. But it was all Roman needed.
Roman didn't draw a gun. He moved with a speed that defied his size, lunging forward and hurling a heavy bronze bust from a hallway pedestal directly at Silvio's chest.
The heavy metal struck Silvio hard. He gasped, stumbling backward, his grip on Leo loosening.
"Run, Leo!" I screamed.
The boy tore free, running blindly down the hall. I ran toward him, catching him in my arms and shielding his body with mine against the wall.
A gunshot rang out. Plaster exploded above my head, dusting my hair with white powder.
But Silvio hadn't fired.
Marco had.
Silvio dropped to his knees, clutching his shoulder, the gun clattering onto the thick Persian rug. Roman was on him in a second, his knee pinning Silvio to the ground, a gun pressed firmly to the back of his cousin's head.
"Take him down to the cellar," Roman ordered Marco, his voice cold and flat. "He's going to tell us every single person who helped him. And then he's going away."
Marco dragged a bleeding, cursing Silvio down the hall.
I was sitting on the floor, holding Leo tightly to my chest. The boy was sobbing, his small hands gripping my apron.
Roman slowly turned around. The rage in his eyes faded the moment he looked at Leo. He walked over and knelt beside us.
"You're safe, piccolo," Roman whispered, stroking the boy's hair. "Uncle Roman has you."
Leo sniffled and looked up at me. Then, he reached into his small pajama pocket.
"Lily," Leo whispered. "The bad lady dropped this when she was trying to take me."
Leo opened his small hand.
Sitting in his palm was a diamond tennis bracelet.
But it wasn't just jewelry. The latch was broken, revealing a hidden, razor-sharp steel blade concealed within the links. An assassin's tool, masked as diamonds.
Adriana hadn't just come to poison Roman. If the poison failed, she had a backup plan.
May you like
Roman stared at the blade. Then he looked at me.
"She was going to kill me," Roman said softly. "And you stopped her."
