Chapter 5 – THE TRAIN TICKET

The silence in the hallway was deafening.

Luca stared at Rose, the blood rushing out of his face, making him look even paler than before.

“My father?” Luca repeated, his voice barely a breath. “My father ordered the hit on Enzo?”

Rose nodded slowly, unable to look him in the eye.

“Enzo wanted out of the life,” she wept softly. “When I got pregnant with Megan, he went to your father. He told him he was leaving the syndicate to be a father. He wanted a clean life for us.”

She wiped her tears with trembling hands.

“But your father believed nobody leaves the family alive. He thought Enzo was going to the feds to buy immunity. So he hired Carmine Bellini to make sure Enzo never made it home.”

David wrapped his arm around Rose, supporting her as she shook.

Luca staggered back until his shoulders hit the wall. The foundation of everything he believed about his family—his legacy, his honor—was crumbling to dust beneath his feet.

Vanessa adjusted her mink coat, looking smug.

“You see, darling?” she purred. “We aren’t so different. Our families are built on the same blood. You need me to keep the peace.”

“Get out,” Luca whispered.

“Luca—”

“GET OUT!” he roared, the sheer force of his voice making the overhead lights seem to flicker.

Daniel grabbed Vanessa’s arm, hauling her toward the elevator.

“You’ll regret this!” she screamed as the doors closed on her.

I walked over to Luca, handing him a clean tissue for the small spot of blood leaking through his bandage.

He didn’t take it. He just stared at the child’s drawing in his hand.

“Why did my father keep this drawing?” Luca asked quietly, looking at Rose. “If he hated Enzo enough to kill him, why keep a picture Megan drew?”

Rose reached into the pocket of her worn brown coat.

She pulled out a small, rectangular piece of faded paper.

She handed it to Luca.

It was an old Amtrak train ticket, dated thirty years ago. The destination was Chicago to Seattle.

“Your father didn’t hate Enzo,” Rose said gently. “He regretted what he did every day of his life. Two days after Enzo died, your father came to my apartment.”

Luca looked at the ticket.

“He gave me a bag of cash, this train ticket, and a new identity,” Rose explained. “He told me to take the baby and run. But I couldn’t leave Chicago. This was Enzo’s home. So I hid in plain sight. I took the job in his kitchen.”

Luca stared at her in disbelief.

“My father knew you were in his house?”

Rose nodded.

“He hired me. He paid me double under the table. And every week, he would ask me to leave a drawing from Megan on his desk. He watched her grow up through those crayons.”

I felt a tear slide down my cheek.

The ruthless mafia boss hadn’t kept a trophy of his betrayal. He had kept a reminder of his guilt.

Suddenly, a nurse rushed through the double doors from the surgical wing.

“Family of Megan Bennett?” she called out.

Rose and David surged forward.

“Is she okay?” David begged.

The nurse smiled warmly. “She did beautifully. The transfusion saved her. And your grandson is breathing perfectly on his own.”

Rose covered her face, letting out a sob of pure, unadulterated joy.

David hugged her tightly, laughing through his tears.

“Can we see them?” Luca asked.

“She’s asking for all of you,” the nurse said, leading the way.

We followed her into the recovery room.

Megan looked exhausted, but she was glowing. Resting on her chest, wrapped in a striped hospital blanket, was a tiny, perfect baby boy.

Rose rushed to the bedside, falling to her knees.

“Oh, baby,” Rose cried, pressing a kiss to Megan’s forehead. “You did it. You did so good.”

Megan smiled weakly, brushing her mother’s silver hair.

“I couldn’t have done it without you, Mom.”

She looked up at Luca.

“Thank you,” she whispered. “For saving us.”

Luca stepped closer, looking down at the sleeping infant. For the first time all night, a genuine smile touched his face.

“He’s beautiful, Megan.”

Megan looked at David, who nodded encouragingly.

“We decided on a name,” Megan said softly.

She reached down and gently touched the baby’s tiny hand.

“We’re naming him Enzo.”

Rose let out a sharp gasp, pressing her hand over her heart.

Luca’s eyes filled with tears.

But as the beautiful moment settled over the room, my phone buzzed in my apron pocket.

I pulled it out.

It was a text from the head housekeeper back at the mansion.

Hannah, don’t let Mr. Moretti come back here. Vanessa’s father just arrived with twenty armed men. They’re burning the house down.

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