Chapter 7 – THE SHOT IN THE DARK

Time seemed to slow down.

I saw Vanessa’s finger tighten on the trigger. I saw Luca, completely unaware, holding his daughter, his broad back a perfect target.

I didn’t scream. There was no time.

I threw myself across the kitchen.

I slammed into Luca’s shoulder, knocking him and Lily to the floor just as the deafening CRACK of the gunshot echoed off the granite countertops.

A searing, blinding pain exploded in my side.

I hit the floor hard, the breath knocked completely out of my lungs.

“Hannah!” Luca’s voice sounded muffled, like I was underwater.

Vanessa stood in the doorway, staring in shock at what she had just done. She hadn’t meant to shoot the maid. She wanted the boss.

She raised the gun again, her hands shaking violently now.

But before she could fire a second time, the heavy oak doors of the kitchen were kicked open.

Three of Luca’s security men swarmed into the room, their weapons raised.

“Drop it!” the lead guard roared.

Vanessa looked at the men, then at Luca, who was already on his feet, shielding Lily behind him. The madness in her eyes finally broke, replaced by the terrifying realization that she had lost.

The silver pistol slipped from her fingers, clattering onto the tile floor. She raised her hands, bursting into frantic, pathetic tears.

“Get her out of my house,” Luca snarled, his voice vibrating with lethal intent. “And the trash on the floor. Take them to the warehouse. The police can have whatever is left when I’m done with them.”

The guards dragged a screaming Vanessa and an unconscious Marcus out the door.

The kitchen fell silent, save for the sound of my ragged breathing.

“Hannah.”

Luca was beside me, his hands pressing down hard on my side. I looked down. The white fabric of my uniform was rapidly turning a dark, terrible red.

“Mr. Moretti,” I gasped, the pain finally cutting through the shock. It felt like a hot iron was buried in my ribs.

“Don’t talk,” he commanded, his hands applying intense pressure. “Lily, get a towel! Now!”

Lily ran to the sink, her small hands shaking as she grabbed a stack of dish towels and brought them to him. She knelt beside me, her brown eyes wide with terror.

“Hannah’s bleeding, Daddy,” she cried.

“I know, sweetheart. She’s going to be okay.” Luca pressed the towels against my wound. He looked down at me, his dark eyes filled with an emotion I had never seen in him before. Absolute terror.

“You took a bullet for me,” he whispered, his voice cracking. “Why did you do that?”

“You’re… her dad,” I managed to say, coughing slightly. “She needs you.”

The sound of sirens finally breached the estate walls, growing louder as they sped up the long driveway.

“The ambulance is here,” Luca said, smoothing the hair back from my forehead. His hand was warm, stained with my blood. “Stay with me, Hannah. You hear me? You don’t get to quit today.”

“I’m not… fired?” I managed a weak smile.

Luca let out a wet, choked laugh. “You’re never fired. You’re family now.”

The paramedics rushed into the kitchen. They quickly pushed Luca aside, lifting me onto a stretcher. The bright fluorescent lights of the ceiling blurred into a continuous white line as they wheeled me out.

The last thing I saw before I passed out was Luca holding Lily’s hand, walking right beside my stretcher.

I woke up to the steady, rhythmic beeping of a heart monitor.

My mouth felt like cotton. I slowly opened my eyes, blinking against the soft sunlight filtering through the blinds of a private hospital room.

My side ached with a dull, throbbing pain, but I was alive.

I turned my head.

Sleeping in a chair beside my bed, his massive frame looking incredibly uncomfortable, was Luca.

He was wearing a fresh shirt, but he looked like he hadn’t slept in days.

Sitting on his lap, also fast asleep, was Lily. She was clutching her silver locket in one hand, and my hand in the other.

I squeezed her fingers gently.

Luca’s eyes snapped open instantly. He sat up, carefully shifting Lily so he didn’t wake her.

He leaned over the bed, a look of profound relief washing over his face.

“You’ve been asleep for two days,” he said softly, his voice thick with emotion.

“Two days?” I croaked.

He poured a cup of water from a plastic pitcher and held a straw to my lips. I drank greedily.

“The bullet passed clean through,” Luca explained, setting the cup down. “Missed your vital organs by an inch. The doctor said you were incredibly lucky.”

“What happened to Vanessa? To Marcus?”

Luca’s expression hardened for a moment, then softened. “They are in federal custody. The financial documents Elena hid were enough to put them away for laundering and racketeering. The attempted murder charges will keep them there for life. They will never hurt this family again.”

I closed my eyes, letting out a long breath. It was really over.

“Hannah,” Luca said.

I opened my eyes. He was looking at me with an intensity that made my heart race faster than the monitors.

He reached into his pocket and pulled something out.

He placed it on the tray table in front of me.

It was a small, velvet jewelry box.

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