Chapter 3 – THE BLOOD ON THE COAT
“Leo?” I whispered, taking a step toward my brother.
The coat on the floor belonged to him. The dark crimson stains crusted on the sleeves were impossible to ignore.
“What is this?” Nonna Gabriella demanded, her authoritative facade finally cracking.
Luca closed his eyes, rubbing his temples as if trying to hold the crumbling walls of his life together. “Leo, I told you to stay at the safe house.”
“I couldn’t,” Leo said, his eyes locked on me. “Emma, I’m so sorry. Last Thursday, I was at a bar downtown. A guy started insulting our family. Insulting you. I got angry. We fought in the alley.” Leo swallowed hard. “He pulled a knife. I fought back. He… he didn’t make it.”
My knees nearly gave out. My sweet, quiet brother.
“The man he killed was Vanessa’s cousin,” Luca explained softly. “Vanessa’s family has the security footage from the alley. They came to me Thursday night. Vanessa offered a trade. She’d destroy the footage and keep the police away from Leo, but only if I started bringing her into the family. Only if I pushed you away, Emma.”
The pieces violently snapped together.
Luca hadn’t been pushing me out of the picture because he didn’t love me. He was pushing me out to save my brother’s life, bearing the weight of the blackmail alone.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I cried, tears streaming down my face. “We are supposed to be a team, Luca!”
“How could I tell you?” Luca’s voice broke. “You had already lost a child. You lost your career to support me. I wasn’t going to let you lose your brother to a concrete cell for the rest of his life. I had to protect you.”
Vanessa clapped slowly. The sound echoed mockingly in the silent room.
“Touching,” Vanessa sneered. “But it doesn’t change anything. I still have the footage of Leo in the alley. And I still have the original footage of Emma on the stairs. Luca, you are going to announce our engagement tonight, or your wife’s brother goes to prison and I walk away with half your territory.”
She reached into her designer purse and pulled out a small silver flash drive.
“The only copies,” Vanessa smiled.
Before anyone could react, a small figure darted from the hallway.
It was my seven-year-old niece, Mia, Rebecca’s daughter. She had been playing upstairs with the nanny, but the shouting must have drawn her down.
She ran straight toward Vanessa, her small hands grabbing the red silk of Vanessa’s dress.
“You’re a bad lady!” Mia yelled, her high voice piercing the room. “You made my mommy cry!”
“Get off me, you little brat!” Vanessa hissed, shoving the child backward.
Mia stumbled and fell hard against the edge of the mahogany table. She cried out, holding her forehead.
Everything stopped.
Luca didn’t yell. He didn’t threaten.
He moved with a terrifying, absolute stillness. He walked over to Vanessa, gripped her wrist with one massive hand, and squeezed until she dropped the flash drive.
He picked it up, slipping it into his pocket.
“You just assaulted a child in my home,” Luca whispered, his dark eyes devoid of any mercy.
Vanessa massaged her wrist, trying to hide her sudden panic. “You think that drive is the only leverage I have? You’re a fool, Luca. Look at your grandmother’s neck.”
We all turned.
Nonna Gabriella was clutching her throat. Her beautiful, vintage pearl necklace—the one she wore every day—was gone.
“Where is it?” Gabriella gasped.
Vanessa smiled triumphantly. “I took it from her dressing room before dinner. If you destroy that flash drive, Luca, I’ll sell the necklace to the Russian syndicate. They’d love to have the Moretti matriarch’s most prized possession as a trophy.”
I looked at Vanessa, then at the floor where Mia was crying.
I knelt down, picked up my niece, and handed her to Rebecca.
Then I walked up to Vanessa and slapped her across the face so hard the sound echoed off the crystal chandelier.
“You don’t have the necklace,” I said quietly.
Vanessa touched her red cheek, her eyes blazing. “I put it in my coat pocket myself!”
“No, you didn’t,” I replied. I reached into my own pocket and pulled out a string of gleaming pearls. “Because I found you in Nonna’s room an hour ago. And I switched it with a fake.”
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