Chapter 5 – THE GOLD POCKET WATCH

The mansion felt like a war zone operating in absolute silence.

While the guards ushered Natalie and a frail, shivering Caroline up the grand staircase, I stayed close to them. My mind was reeling. Vanessa was Luca’s sister. She had staged a drowning, kept Caroline prisoner for six years, and orchestrated a twisted plan to marry her own brother just to possess him entirely.

We reached the master suite. It was massive, adorned with dark wood and velvet. They placed Caroline gently onto the edge of the California king bed.

“I need warm water, towels, and the medical kit from the first-floor bathroom,” Natalie instructed me, her hands hovering over her sister as if afraid she might break.

“Right away,” I said.

I hurried out of the room, passing the three armed guards stationed at the door. I rushed down the back servant stairs to avoid the dining room, where I assumed the forty guests were still locked in, probably terrified out of their minds.

As I reached the first-floor landing, I heard a sound coming from Luca’s office.

It wasn’t a scream. It was a low, desperate pleading.

Vanessa.

I froze. The heavy oak door to the office was cracked open just an inch. Against my better judgment, I crept closer.

Through the narrow gap, I saw Vanessa strapped to a heavy leather chair in the center of the room. Her beautiful red dress was torn at the shoulder, her perfectly styled hair a messy bird’s nest.

Luca stood in front of her. He wasn’t yelling. He was holding a small, gleaming gold pocket watch in his hand, letting it dangle by its chain.

“Do you recognize this, Vanessa?” Luca asked softly.

Vanessa’s eyes darted to the watch, and a fresh wave of panic hit her face. “Luca, please… I did it because I love you. You don’t understand, they kept me locked in that white room for ten years! I just wanted my family back!”

“Do you recognize the watch?” Luca repeated, ignoring her plea.

“Yes,” she sobbed. “It was Father’s.”

“It was,” Luca agreed, his voice frighteningly calm. “He gave it to me the night before he and Mother died in that car crash. The crash the police said was caused by cut brake lines.”

My blood ran cold.

Luca stepped closer to her, the gold watch swinging like a pendulum. “For twenty years, I thought a rival family killed our parents. I butchered three different mob bosses hunting down the ghost who cut those brakes. But today, Caroline’s file showed me something interesting. Your psychiatric release date from the Swiss clinic.”

Vanessa began to thrash against the bindings. “No! Luca, don’t say it!”

“You escaped the clinic exactly three days before the crash,” Luca stated, leaning down so his face was inches from hers. “You flew to Chicago. You cut the brakes. You killed them, Vanessa. You killed our parents because Father wouldn’t let you come home to me.”

“They were keeping us apart!” Vanessa screamed, her facade completely shattered, her voice shrill and psychotic. “They knew we belonged together! You are mine, Luca! You have always been mine!”

I clamped my hand over my mouth to stop a gasp. The sheer magnitude of her delusion was terrifying.

“You are a monster,” Luca whispered. He stood up straight. He slipped the gold watch into his pocket and pulled a suppressed handgun from the back of his waistband.

Vanessa’s screaming stopped. She stared at the barrel of the gun, her chest heaving. “You wouldn’t. You can’t. I’m your blood.”

“My blood is upstairs,” Luca said cold. “My blood is holding a blue teddy bear in the kitchen.”

He raised the gun.

I couldn’t breathe. I was about to watch an execution.

But before Luca could pull the trigger, the office door flew open, knocking me backward onto the hardwood floor.

I scrambled to my feet, terrified.

It was Marcus, the head of security. He looked frantic.

“Boss!” Marcus yelled, breathing heavily.

Luca didn’t lower the gun. “I told you not to interrupt me, Marcus.”

“You need to hear this, Boss,” Marcus said, his voice strained. “The guests in the dining room… they aren’t just socialites. I just ran facial recognition on the men Vanessa invited tonight.”

Luca finally lowered the weapon, turning his head. “Who are they?”

“They’re the Commission,” Marcus swallowed hard. “The heads of the Five Families from New York. And they aren’t here for a wedding, Luca. They’re heavily armed. They just took the dining room guards hostage.”

Vanessa suddenly started laughing. It was a wet, hysterical sound that sent shivers down my spine.

“Did you really think I came back to Chicago without a backup plan, little brother?” she mocked, her eyes wide and manic. “If I couldn’t have you… I was going to hand your territory over to the Commission. Tonight.”

Luca stared at her, then looked at Marcus. “How many men inside?”

“Forty,” Marcus said grimly. “We have twelve guards on duty. We’re outmanned.”

Vanessa smiled, a cruel, bloody grin. “They’re going to kill you, Luca. They’re going to kill you, and then they’re going to go upstairs and finish off that pathetic wife of yours and the little bastard child.”

Luca’s jaw locked. He looked down at the gun in his hand, then holstered it. He wasn’t going to give her a quick death anymore.

He turned to me. “Emily.”

I jumped, realizing he knew I was there the whole time. “Y-Yes, sir?”

“Go to the kitchen. Take Leo and Maria down the servant tunnels to the carriage house. Then get to the master suite and tell Natalie to barricade the door.”

“What are you going to do?” I asked, my voice trembling.

Luca pulled off his tie and threw it on the desk. He rolled up his sleeves, revealing the dark ink wrapping around his forearms.

“I’m going to the dining room,” Luca said, his eyes burning with a lethal fire. “To cancel dinner.”

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