Chapter 9 – THE GOLD BRACELET

I froze, still kneeling next to Nicholas.

Luca slowly stood up, turning to face his brother. The warmth that had just filled the hallway instantly evaporated, replaced by the cold reality of the life Luca led.

“What else was in the safe, Michael?” Luca asked.

Michael held up a small, heavy black ledger.

“Dante wasn’t just planning to take over Chicago,” Michael said, his eyes scanning the first few pages. “He was selling us out. There are transaction records here. He’s been funneling Moretti money to the New York families for two years.”

Luca’s jaw clenched.

“New York,” Luca repeated, the word sounding like poison in his mouth.

“If New York was backing him,” Michael continued, swallowing hard, “then they know Dante failed tonight. And they won’t just let us walk away from the money he promised them.”

I stood up, instinctively placing my hand on Nicholas’s shoulder.

“What does that mean?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

Luca looked at me. The softness was gone, replaced by the calculating, ruthless leader I had met eleven months ago.

“It means the war isn’t over,” Luca said. “It’s just moving outside these walls.”

He turned to his brother. “Lock down the estate. Nobody in or out. Call all the capos. We prepare for New York.”

Michael nodded and hurried down the stairs.

Luca turned back to me.

“Emily, I need you to pack a bag for Nicholas. And for yourself.”

Panic flared in my chest. “Where are we going?”

“You aren’t staying here,” Luca said firmly. “It’s too dangerous. I have a safe house in Wisconsin. It’s off the books. I’m sending you, Nicholas, and your mother there tonight.”

“What about you?” I asked, my heart hammering.

“I have to stay and fix this,” Luca said, walking toward his study.

I grabbed his arm before he could walk away.

“Luca, no! You can’t just send us away. You said we were family!”

Luca stopped. He looked down at my hand gripping his shirt, then up into my eyes.

“That is exactly why I am sending you away, Emily,” he said softly. “Because if New York finds out about you… if they realize you are the one thing I care about more than this city… they will use you to destroy me.”

Tears sprang to my eyes. “I don’t care. I’m not leaving you.”

“You have to,” Luca insisted, cupping my face in his hands. “For Nicholas. He needs you. He trusts you more than anyone.”

I looked at the little boy standing by his bedroom door. He looked terrified again.

I knew Luca was right. My job wasn’t just to love Luca; it was to protect Nicholas.

“Okay,” I whispered, my voice breaking. “Okay.”

Luca kissed my forehead, a long, lingering kiss that felt like a promise.

“I’ll come for you when it’s safe. I swear it on my life.”

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a delicate, solid gold bracelet. It had a small clasp shaped like a lion’s head—the Moretti family crest.

He fastened it around my wrist.

“My mother wore this,” Luca said, his thumb brushing over the gold. “Now you wear it. It means you are under my protection. Anyone who sees it will know exactly who you belong to.”

I touched the cold metal, a sob catching in my throat.

Within an hour, a black SUV was idling at the back door of the mansion.

Nicholas and I climbed into the backseat. My mother was already inside, having been picked up by Luca’s men twenty minutes earlier. She hugged me tightly, crying as I quickly explained the truth about the mortgage and my father’s bravery.

As the SUV pulled away from the mansion, I looked out the tinted window.

Luca was standing on the porch, surrounded by armed men in dark suits.

He watched the car until we disappeared into the night.

I touched the gold bracelet on my wrist.

I wasn’t a maid anymore.

But I was stepping into a world much darker than I ever imagined.

And as the driver turned onto the highway heading north, his phone buzzed.

He answered it on speaker.

A gravelly, unfamiliar voice filled the car.

“Did they leave the estate?” the voice asked.

The driver looked at me through the rearview mirror. His eyes were completely dead.

“Yes,” the driver said. “I have the girl and the boy.”

“Good,” the voice replied. “Bring them to New York.”

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