Chapter 4 – THE SIGNATURE IN INK

The air in the room vanished.

Luca stared at the paper in Vanessa’s hand, his chest rising and falling in rapid, shallow breaths.

“That’s a lie,” Luca said, his voice trembling. “Those were real estate documents for the Florence property. My lawyer prepared them.”

“Your lawyer is heavily in debt, darling,” Vanessa smirked, waving the paper in the air. “A few thousand dollars was all it took for him to slip the adoption petition into the stack. You signed on the dotted line. It’s notarized. It’s filed with the state of Illinois.”

Noah began to scream.

He buried his face into my waist, sobbing hysterically. “No! Daddy, don’t let her take me! Please!”

I wrapped my arms tightly around the little boy, pulling him against me. “Shh, Noah, it’s okay. Nobody is taking you anywhere,” I whispered, glaring at Vanessa.

“Let go of my son, you ignorant maid,” Vanessa snapped, taking a step toward us.

“Don’t you dare come near them,” Luca roared.

He grabbed a heavy silver wine decanter from the table and smashed it onto the marble floor. Red wine splashed across the white tiles like blood.

The guests screamed, scrambling backward.

“You committed fraud,” Luca snarled. “No judge in this country will uphold a signature obtained through deceit.”

“Maybe not eventually,” Vanessa smiled coldly. “But the courts move slowly, Luca. It could take months to untangle this. And in the meantime, I have joint custody. I can walk out that door with him right now, and the police will legally have to let me.”

She reached into her purse again.

This time, she pulled out her cell phone.

“I have a private car waiting outside,” Vanessa said. “Noah is coming with me to a hotel tonight. If you try to stop me, I’ll call the police and tell them you’re having a violent breakdown. Look at this room, Luca. Smashed glass. Screaming guests. Who do you think they’ll believe?”

Luca looked around. The broken glass, the spilled wine, his own trembling hands. He was trapped.

“Please,” Luca begged, his voice breaking. He actually dropped to his knees in front of her. The powerful, wealthy mafia boss was on his knees. “Vanessa, take my money. Take the cars, take the accounts. Just leave my son alone.”

Vanessa looked down at him with utter disgust.

“I don’t just want your money, Luca. I want half of everything you build for the rest of your life. And as long as I have the boy, you’ll pay me whatever I ask.”

She stepped around Luca and walked straight toward me.

“Come here, Noah,” she commanded.

Noah screamed and clung to my apron.

“I said, come here!” Vanessa yelled, reaching out to grab his arm.

I didn’t think. I just reacted.

I slapped her hand away.

The sound echoed sharply through the room.

Vanessa gasped, staring at her reddened skin. “You hit me?”

“If you touch him, I’ll do a lot more than that,” I said, my voice shaking but fiercely protective.

Vanessa’s eyes darkened. “You’re just a maid. You are nothing.”

She shoved me hard against the banquet table.

I stumbled backward, knocking over a stack of silver plates. They crashed to the floor in a deafening clatter.

As I caught my balance, my hand brushed against something cold on the edge of the table.

It was Claire’s second silver film canister.

The one Matteo had brought for Luca.

Vanessa saw my eyes dart to it.

“Don’t touch that,” she hissed.

But I grabbed it.

I held the canister tightly against my chest. “Mr. Moretti!” I yelled. “The second tape! She tried to destroy it because it proves she belongs in prison!”

Vanessa panicked. She lunged at me, her manicured nails clawing at my face. “Give it to me!”

“Run, Emily!” Luca shouted, springing up from the floor.

I didn’t wait.

Holding the canister in one hand and grabbing Noah’s hand with the other, I turned and bolted out of the dining room.