Chapter 5 - THE WINTER COAT
The heavy cashmere coat hit Vincenzo squarely in the chest, the thick fabric tangling in his arms and blinding him for a split second.
It was only a second, but it was all Dante needed.
Dante lunged forward, tackling Vincenzo through the open French doors. The two massive men crashed onto the stone patio, shattering a terracotta planter. The dining room erupted in screams. Guests scrambled under the table, dragging silk tablecloths and crystal glasses down with them.
I didn’t run. I pulled Leo behind the thick mahogany sideboard, keeping my body between him and the broken glass doors.
Outside, the sound of heavy fists and grunts echoed from the patio. Dante and Vincenzo were locked in a brutal struggle in the rain.
Isabella was still kneeling on the floor, weeping mascara tears. She looked up and saw her white coat lying in the doorway where Vincenzo had dropped it.
Panic washed over her face. She didn’t run toward the hallway to escape. She scrambled toward the coat.
“Don’t let her get it!” Rosa signed wildly to me, pointing at the coat.
I didn’t think. I sprinted out from behind the sideboard and grabbed the collar of the coat just as Isabella’s manicured hands dug into the pockets.
We fell to the floor, struggling over the cashmere.
“Let it go, you stupid girl!” Isabella shrieked, her nails sinking into my forearm.
I cried out in pain but twisted the coat violently.
As I yanked it, a hidden seam inside the lining ripped open.
A heavy, diamond-encrusted bracelet fell out, clattering onto the hardwood floor.
Isabella gasped, all the fight leaving her body. She stared at the bracelet like it was a live grenade.
I reached out and picked it up. It was incredibly heavy. And as I turned it over in my hands, I saw why.
It wasn't just a piece of jewelry. The back of the thick diamond setting was unlatched. It was a hollow compartment.
And tucked inside was a small, black USB flash drive.
I looked at Isabella. “What is this?”
Isabella let out a hysterical, broken sound. “It’s the insurance policy. You think Vincenzo is the only one who takes precautions? That drive has the audio recordings. Everything Vincenzo said to me when he planned Nico’s murder.”
“You recorded him?” I asked, stunned.
“Of course I did!” she spat. “He forced me to help him! He told me if I didn't drug Nico's wine so he could inject him, he would kill me and Leo! I had to protect myself!”
A reversal hit me so hard my knees went weak.
Isabella wasn’t the mastermind. She was a hostage to her own ambition, blackmailed by Vincenzo. She didn't want Nico dead; she just didn't want to die with him.
But before I could process the truth, a deafening gunshot rang out from the patio.
The dining room went dead silent.
Someone screamed.
I rushed to the broken French doors, clutching the drive and holding Leo back.
Lying on the wet stone, clutching his shoulder, was Dante. Blood seeped through his custom suit, mixing with the rain.
Standing over him, breathing heavily, was Vincenzo. He had kicked Dante’s gun away.
Vincenzo raised his weapon, pointing it down at Dante’s head.
“It’s over, Boss,” Vincenzo sneered.
But then, Vincenzo’s eyes shifted to me standing in the doorway. He saw the USB drive in my hand.
“Give me the drive, Claire,” Vincenzo commanded, his gun wavering between Dante and me. “Toss it out here, and I let him live.”
I froze. I looked down at the little boy clinging to my apron, then out at the man bleeding on the stone.
Vincenzo sneered. “You’re a maid. You wipe down baseboards. You really want to die for a family that doesn't even know your last name?”
He was right. I was a nobody.
May you like
But I looked at the USB drive. And I noticed something else tucked inside the hollow bracelet.
A tiny, folded boarding ticket.
