Chapter 5 – [THE BOY IN THE HALLWAY]

“Leo!” I screamed, throwing my weight against the locked mahogany doors. They didn’t budge.

“Open the door, Vanessa!” Matteo yelled, finally showing a shred of humanity. Leo was his sister’s child, an innocent boy who had just come downstairs for dessert.

Vanessa smiled, tapping her manicured nails against the wood of the table. “My men will bring him in. As soon as Claire signs the deed.”

Rosa gripped the wheels of her chair, her knuckles white. “If one hair on that boy’s head is harmed, I will burn your family to the ground.”

The door unlocked with a heavy click.

A massive man in a dark suit walked in, holding little Leo by the collar of his pajamas. Leo was clutching a small, crumpled drawing in his hand, tears streaming down his face.

I rushed forward and pulled Leo out of the man’s grip, shielding his small body behind mine. “It’s okay, sweetie. Auntie Claire is here.”

“He… he took my picture,” Leo sobbed, pointing a trembling finger at the guard.

I looked down at the drawing Leo had dropped on the floor. It was a crayon sketch he had made for Rosa. But underneath the messy lines of a house and a sun, there was writing. Distinct, elegant handwriting.

Vincenzo’s handwriting.

Dante saw it too. He moved faster than I thought possible, snatching the drawing from the floor before Vanessa’s guard could step on it.

Dante’s eyes scanned the back of the paper, his expression shifting from anger to absolute shock.

“Where did you get this paper, Leo?” Dante asked, his voice gentle but urgent.

“From Nonna’s room,” Leo sniffled. “In the old book with the leather cover.”

Dante looked at Rosa. “You kept Vincenzo’s final journal?”

Rosa nodded slowly. “He told me to hide it until the time was right.”

Vanessa rolled her eyes. “Enough of this sentimental garbage. Sign the deed, Claire, or the boy leaves with my men.”

“No,” Dante said, his voice echoing in the quiet room. He held up the child’s drawing. “You don’t want the deed anymore, Vanessa.”

“Excuse me?” Vanessa scoffed.

“Vincenzo didn’t just hide gold in Tuscany,” Dante read from the back of the paper. “He hid the Bellini syndicate’s original betrayal documents. The proof that your father was an informant for the FBI for twenty years.”

Vanessa’s face went chalk white. “You’re lying.”

“If these documents get out, every mafia family in the country will turn on the Bellinis. Your father won’t survive the week,” Dante said, a cruel smile touching his lips. “And the exact coordinates of those documents are written on this paper.”

Vanessa’s hands began to shake.

She reached into her purse, but she didn’t pull out a phone.

She pulled out a matte black handgun and aimed it directly at my chest.

“Give me the paper,” Vanessa ordered.

Before I could move, Matteo stepped directly in front of me, blocking her aim.

“Put the gun down, Vanessa,” my husband said quietly.

And in his hand, he held a weapon of his own.

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