Chapter 2 – THE RUSTED KEY

The heavy iron key rested in Helen’s trembling palm, its jagged teeth dark with age.

Luca stared at it as if it were a loaded gun.

“My wife’s key,” Luca whispered, his voice barely audible over the ringing silence of the dining room. “How do you have this?”

Helen looked down at the key, her eyes filled with a deep, crushing sorrow.

“Caroline gave it to me,” she said softly.

Vanessa let out a frantic, shrill laugh. “She’s lying! She’s a senile old woman! Luca, don’t listen to her!”

“Shut up,” Luca commanded, not taking his eyes off Helen. “When did Caroline give this to you?”

“Three years ago. The night she passed away.” Helen’s voice broke. “I was working the night shift at St. Jude’s Hospital. I was the cleaning lady on her floor.”

My heart hammered against my ribs. I kept my arms wrapped securely around little Lily, who had buried her face in my apron, terrified of her mother’s screaming.

“Caroline was recovering from a minor procedure,” Helen continued, tears spilling down her wrinkled cheeks. “She was so kind to me. She used to ask about my arthritis. But that night… she was terrified. She told me someone in the family was trying to kill her.”

Julian shifted uncomfortably. His eyes darted toward the exits. The security guards tightened their grips on their weapons.

“She said she had proof locked in a safety deposit box at the central station,” Helen said. “She begged me to take the key and hide it. She said if anything happened to her, I had to give it to you. Only you.”

“Then why didn’t you?” Luca asked, his voice cracking with a grief so profound it made my chest ache.

Helen looked at Vanessa.

“Because before I could contact you,” Helen whispered, “my daughter came to my apartment. She found the key on my kitchen counter. She took a picture of it. And then she told me that if I ever tried to contact the Moretti family, she would tell the police I was the one who tampered with Caroline’s brakes.”

The room gasped.

I stared at Vanessa in horror. She had blackmailed her own mother to cover up a murder.

“You bitch,” Luca breathed, stepping toward Vanessa.

“It wasn’t me!” Vanessa shrieked, backing into the wall. “Luca, I swear to God! I didn’t touch her car! I just wanted the key because Julian told me there was five million dollars in bearer bonds inside that box!”

Luca stopped. He turned his head slowly toward Julian.

“You knew about the box?”

Julian swallowed hard. “Luca… you have to understand. The syndicate—”

“Did you kill my wife?”

The question hung in the air, heavy and lethal.

Julian raised his hands. “No! Luca, I swear on my life! I only found out about the money after she died. I didn’t touch her!”

“Then who did?”

Julian hesitated. He looked at the security guards. He looked at the forty terrified guests still huddled near the walls.

Then he looked at me.

Or rather, he looked at something behind me.

“You’re asking the wrong person, Luca,” Julian said, a sick smile spreading across his face. “Ask the maid.”

Every eye in the room suddenly turned to me.

My breath caught in my throat. “What?”

Luca frowned, stepping between me and Julian. “Leave Hannah out of this. She has nothing to do with my past.”

“Doesn’t she?” Julian laughed. “Ask her what her mother’s maiden name is.”

I froze. My hands went numb.

Luca turned to me. His dark eyes were searching my face, looking for a betrayal he couldn’t bear to find.

“Hannah?” he asked gently. “What is he talking about?”

My mouth felt like cotton. “My… my mother’s maiden name is Romano.”

A collective gasp echoed through the older guests in the room.

Luca’s face went completely slack.

“Romano,” Luca repeated. The name of the rival syndicate family. The family that had waged a bloody war against the Morettis ten years ago. The family that had been completely wiped out.

Or so everyone thought.

“Her mother is Sofia Romano,” Julian said, his voice dripping with venom. “The widow of the rival boss. And Hannah isn’t just a maid, Luca. She’s the heir to the Romano family. They’ve been hiding in plain sight. And she’s the one who cut Caroline’s brakes to get revenge for her father.”

“No!” I screamed, stepping forward. “That’s a lie! I didn’t even know your wife! I didn’t know who my father was until last year! My mother kept it a secret to protect me!”

“She’s a rat, Luca!” Vanessa yelled, suddenly finding her courage. “She infiltrated your house to destroy you!”

Luca looked at me. The betrayal in his eyes was shattering.

“Hannah,” he whispered. “Is it true? Are you a Romano?”

Tears streamed down my face. “Yes. But I swear to you, Mr. Moretti, I am just a maid. I needed the money for my mother’s surgery. I have never hurt anyone in my life.”

Julian took a sudden step forward. “Kill her, Luca. Before she kills you.”

Luca stared at me for a long, agonizing moment.

Then, he looked down at Lily, who was still clutching my apron, trembling violently.

Luca slowly raised his hand.

But he didn’t signal his guards to take me.

He pointed directly at Julian.

“You’re lying,” Luca said coldly.

Julian blinked. “What?”

“Hannah’s mother had surgery last month,” Luca said, his voice ringing with absolute certainty. “I know, because I anonymously paid the medical bills when I saw Hannah crying in the kitchen.”

My head snapped up. I stared at him in shock. He paid the bills?

“Hannah doesn’t care about syndicate wars,” Luca continued, stepping closer to Julian. “She cares about her family. But you, Julian… you care about money.”

Luca turned to Helen. “Mrs. Bellini. The night my wife died… did she mention a name?”

Helen gripped the iron key tightly. She looked at Julian, her eyes hardening with sudden resolve.

“Yes,” Helen said. “She said the man who was threatening her wore a gold watch with a cracked face. A watch he broke hitting the steering wheel of his car in a fit of rage.”

Luca went completely still.

He slowly looked down at Julian’s left wrist.

Peeking out from beneath the cuff of Julian’s tailored suit was a heavy gold watch.

The glass face was shattered.

Julian realized his mistake a second too late.

Before the guards could move, Julian reached under his jacket, pulled a silver handgun, and grabbed the nearest person to him.

He wrapped his arm around little Lily’s neck and pressed the barrel of the gun to the child’s head.

“Nobody move!” Julian roared.

TITLE: The Gold Watch

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