Chapter 2 - THE MEN WHO OWNED THE MONEY
The dining room went completely still.
Twenty-eight people had stopped moving.
Even the security guards by the door seemed frozen.
Luca stared at Vanessa.
“What do you mean they know I’m alive?”
Vanessa didn't answer.
She just looked at the doorway, her hands shaking slightly against the polished wood of the table.
“Vanessa,” Luca said.
His voice wasn't loud, but it carried across the room like a physical weight.
“Who owns the money?”
Vanessa swallowed hard.
“Your father wasn't just running restaurants, Luca. He was holding capital for families in New York. When he died, that money was supposed to go back.”
Rosa shook her head fiercely.
“Anthony never touched New York money.”
“He did,” Vanessa said quietly. “And when he died, he left it hidden in an account under a fake name. He made sure you didn't know about it, because if you knew, they would come for you.”
Luca’s expression darkened.
“And how do you know this?”
Vanessa looked down at the tablecloth.
“Because the man I brought to the house wasn't a financial planner.”
Rosa’s hand tightened around her napkin.
Vanessa looked up, meeting Luca’s eyes.
“He’s an auditor. From New York. They’ve been looking for the account for four years. They found the paper trail a month ago. It led back to this house.”
A cold dread settled in my stomach.
I was just the housekeeper holding the coffee pot, but even I knew what happened when New York mafia families came looking for missing millions.
“They approached me,” Vanessa continued, her voice trembling. “They told me if I helped them get Rosa out of the house, and got her declared unfit, they could quietly transfer the money before the wedding.”
Luca’s face was unreadable.
“And you agreed to help them steal from my family.”
“I agreed to help them so they wouldn't kill you!” Vanessa shouted, tears finally spilling over her cheeks.
The room erupted into shocked whispers.
Luca raised a hand.
The room fell silent instantly.
“Where is this auditor now?” Luca asked.
Before Vanessa could answer, the heavy oak doors of the dining room swung open.
A man walked in.
He wasn't one of Luca’s guards.
He was in his late fifties, wearing an immaculate gray suit.
He looked around the room with a calm, arrogant smile.
“I’m right here, Mr. Moretti.”
Luca didn't move.
His security guards immediately stepped forward, but the man raised a hand.
“I wouldn't do that. I have six men in the kitchen, and four more blocking the front gates. We didn't come to fight. We came to collect.”
The man walked toward the table.
He looked at Vanessa.
“You talk too much, Vanessa. I told you to keep the old woman quiet.”
Rosa stood up slowly.
She didn't look afraid. She looked furious.
“You get out of my house.”
The man smiled at her.
“Mrs. Moretti. I apologize for the intrusion. My name is Dominic Vance.”
He looked at Luca.
“Your father owed my employers twenty-two million dollars. We believe you have the account details.”
Luca’s jaw tightened.
“I don't know anything about that money.”
“That’s unfortunate,” Dominic said. “Because we know it’s in this house.”
Dominic reached into his suit pocket and pulled out a small, tarnished silver key.
He tossed it onto the dining table.
It clattered against the fine china.
Rosa gasped.
Luca looked at the key.
“What is that?”
Dominic smiled.
“It’s a safety deposit box key. We found it in your father’s old office downtown. But the box requires a secondary code. A name.”
He looked directly at Rosa.
“The name Anthony made you promise never to say aloud.”
Rosa went completely pale.
Dominic leaned forward, placing both hands on the table.
“Give us the name, Mrs. Moretti, and we leave in peace. Refuse, and this house burns tonight.”
The guests at the table began to panic.
Uncle Marco stood up, shouting at the guards to do something.
Luca held up his hand again, silencing his uncle.
Luca looked at Dominic.
“You threaten my mother in her own home, and you expect to walk out of here alive?”
Dominic chuckled.
“I expect you to be a pragmatic man, Luca. Like your father. He knew when he was beaten.”
“My father died of a heart attack,” Luca said coldly.
Dominic’s smile vanished.
He looked at Luca with a chilling emptiness.
“Did he?”
Rosa let out a small cry, pressing her hand to her mouth.
Dominic walked slowly around the table, stopping behind Rosa’s chair.
“He didn't want to give us the name either, Luca. We thought the secret died with him. Until we realized he must have told his loyal wife.”
Dominic placed a hand on the back of Rosa’s chair.
“The name, Rosa.”
Rosa was shaking, but she lifted her chin.
“No.”
Dominic sighed.
He reached into his jacket.
Before he could pull out a weapon, I moved.
I didn't think. I just reacted.
I slammed the heavy, stainless steel coffee pot directly into Dominic’s hand.
Hot coffee shattered across his sleeve.
Dominic yelled in pain, stumbling backward and dropping a suppressed pistol onto the floor.
The room exploded into chaos.
Luca moved instantly, vaulting the table and tackling Dominic to the ground.
The security guards drew their weapons and rushed toward the kitchen to cut off Dominic’s men.
I grabbed Rosa by the arm.
“Come with me! Now!”
I pulled her away from the table, dragging her toward the heavy wooden door that led to the basement stairs.
Behind us, gunfire erupted in the kitchen.
Screams filled the dining room.
We reached the basement door, and I pushed Rosa inside, locking it behind us.
The basement was dark and smelled of old wine and damp stone.
Rosa was breathing heavily, clutching the banister.
“Emily... why did you do that?”
“I wasn't going to let him hurt you,” I said, my voice shaking.
Rosa looked at me in the dim light.
She reached out and took my hands.
Her hands were cold, but her grip was surprisingly strong.
“Emily, listen to me carefully.”
“Mrs. Moretti, we need to hide—”
“No, listen!” she whispered fiercely.
She pulled me closer.
“Anthony didn't leave that money for New York. And he didn't hide it to protect Luca.”
I stared at her, confused.
“Then why did he hide it?”
Rosa’s eyes filled with tears.
“Because the twenty-two million dollars wasn't money he owed.”
She squeezed my hands tightly.
“It was money he stole.”
I stopped breathing.
Rosa looked toward the top of the stairs as another gunshot echoed through the floorboards.
“He stole it from a family he destroyed twenty-five years ago. He hid it to pay for his sins.”
She looked back at me, her eyes desperate.
“The name on the account... the code Dominic wants...”
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Rosa took a shuddering breath.
“It’s your name, Emily.”
