Chapter 3 – THE MAN AT THE STUDY DOOR

“Open the door, sweetheart.”

Richard’s voice sent ice through my veins.

I backed away from the mahogany desk, pulling Katie up from the sofa. I shoved her behind me, keeping myself between her and the heavy oak doors.

“Where is Daniel?” I shouted, my voice cracking.

Richard chuckled on the other side of the wood.

“Daniel is currently taking a nap on the marble floor. My men are very efficient. Now, open the door before we have to break it down.”

My mind raced.

Luca was downstairs confronting Vanessa. Richard must have slipped away during the chaos.

“We don’t have anything you want!” I yelled.

“You have the photograph, Emma. Katie took it from my coat. That was very naughty of her.”

I looked around the study frantically.

There were no windows. It was a fortified panic room disguised as an office.

The heavy doors began to shudder as something heavy struck them from the outside.

Thud.

“Emma, I’m scared,” Katie sobbed, gripping my hand.

“I won’t let him hurt you,” I promised.

I ran behind Luca’s desk. I didn’t know what I was looking for. A weapon. A panic button.

I yanked open the top drawer.

Pens. Paperwork. A spare magazine of ammunition, but no gun.

Thud.

The wood around the hinges began to splinter.

I pulled open the bottom drawer.

It was locked.

I grabbed a heavy bronze paperweight from the desk and smashed it against the wooden lock. It cracked. I yanked the drawer open.

Inside was a small, locked metal safe, and sitting right on top of it was a heavy, silver rosary.

It was identical to the one Vanessa wore every Sunday.

I didn’t have time to process it. I pushed the rosary aside and lifted the safe. It was too heavy to move.

The doors burst open.

Richard walked in, flanked by two massive men in tactical gear.

He brushed dust off his expensive suit.

“Such a shame,” Richard sighed, looking at the ruined doors. “Luca loved those doors.”

He held out his hand.

“The photograph. Now.”

“I don’t have it,” I said fiercely. “Luca has it.”

Richard’s eyes narrowed.

“Is that so? Well, I suppose we’ll just have to take you two as collateral until he hands it over.”

He nodded to his men.

They stepped forward.

I raised the heavy bronze paperweight, ready to fight to the death.

But before they could cross the room, a shadow moved in the hallway behind them.

A silenced gunshot hissed through the air.

The man on Richard’s left dropped to the floor, dead instantly.

The second man spun around, raising his weapon.

Another shot. He fell beside his partner.

Richard froze, turning slowly.

Luca stepped into the doorway.

His charcoal suit was ruined, covered in dust and blood that wasn’t his. His eyes were devoid of any mercy.

“You shouldn’t have touched my doors, Richard,” Luca said softly.

Richard raised his hands, stepping away from me.

“Luca, let’s be reasonable. We can make a deal. The Commission doesn’t have to know about this.”

Luca raised his weapon, aiming directly at Richard’s chest.

“The Commission already knows. I sent the photograph to the heads of the Five Families ten minutes ago.”

Richard’s face went entirely gray.

“You’re a dead man, Richard,” Luca said.

But then, Richard did something unexpected.

He smiled.

“Am I? If you kill me, Luca, you’ll never find your nephew.”

Luca went completely still.

“My nephew died with my brother five years ago.”

Richard pulled a small, folded piece of paper from his pocket and tossed it onto the floor between them.

“Did he? Pick it up.”

Luca didn’t move.

He looked at me. “Emma. Open it.”

I stepped out from behind the desk, my hands shaking. I picked up the paper and unfolded it.

It was a child’s drawing. Stick figures. A boy and a dog.

But written at the top, in clumsy child’s handwriting, was a name.

Leo Moretti.

And the date on the drawing was from last week.

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