Chapter 5 – THE POCKET WATCH THAT STOPPED TIME

Gunfire echoed through the mansion.

“Protect the girl!” Luca roared at Daniel.

Luca sprinted up the cellar stairs, moving with terrifying speed.

Daniel grabbed my arm, pulling me behind a massive rack of vintage Bordeaux.

“Stay down, Olivia!”

The heavy iron door at the top of the stairs burst open.

A body tumbled down the stone steps, landing with a sickening thud at the bottom.

It was one of Luca’s guards.

Footsteps echoed on the stairs. Slow. Deliberate.

A man walked into the dim light of the cellar.

He looked older than the photograph, his hair completely gray, a jagged red scar cutting across his throat.

Victor.

He was holding a suppressed submachine gun.

And in his other hand, he was holding Leo by the collar of his pajamas.

The little boy was crying silently, too terrified to make a sound.

“Hello, Daniel,” Victor smiled, his voice raspy and destroyed from the old wound. “Where is my nephew?”

“Drop the weapon, Victor!” Daniel shouted, stepping out from behind the wine rack, aiming his pistol directly at the older man’s head.

“Ah, loyalty,” Victor chuckled. “Such a fragile thing.”

Victor raised his free hand.

He was holding an antique gold pocket watch.

“Do you know what this is, Daniel?” Victor asked. “It belonged to my brother. Luca’s father.”

Victor flipped the watch open.

“I rigged the entire foundation of this house with C4 yesterday afternoon. The timer is connected to the heartbeat sensor on this watch. If my heart stops, or if I push this button…”

Victor smiled a terrible, jagged smile.

“The house, and everyone in it, falls into the earth.”

Daniel froze. His finger hovered over the trigger.

“Let the boy go,” a voice said from the shadows.

Luca stepped out from behind a stone pillar, his gun aimed steadily at Victor’s chest.

“Luca,” Victor breathed, his eyes lighting up with manic joy. “Look at you. The great boss of Chicago. Reduced to hiding in a basement.”

“You want me, Victor,” Luca said, his voice deadly calm. “Let Leo go. Take me.”

“I don’t want you, Luca,” Victor spat. “I want what was stolen from me! I want my empire back!”

“You lost the empire when you betrayed my father!”

“Your father was weak!” Victor roared. “He wanted to go legitimate! He wanted to be a businessman! We are wolves, Luca!”

Victor pressed the barrel of his gun against Leo’s small head.

“Transfer the offshore accounts to my Swiss banker. Now. Or the boy dies, and the house burns.”

I watched from behind the wine rack, my heart pounding so hard it hurt my ribs.

Luca lowered his gun slightly.

“Okay,” Luca said softly. “You win. I’ll make the transfer.”

“No tricks,” Victor warned.

“No tricks.”

Luca reached into his jacket, pulling out his phone.

But as he did, I noticed something about Victor’s pocket watch.

The dim light from the cellar caught the glass face.

I squinted.

The second hand wasn’t moving.

“Mr. Moretti,” I yelled, stepping out from behind the wine rack.

“Olivia, get back!” Luca shouted.

“The watch is broken!” I screamed at Luca. “The glass is cracked, the hands aren’t moving! It’s a bluff!”

Victor’s eyes widened in sheer panic.

He had relied on the threat of the bomb to keep them at bay.

For a fraction of a second, Victor looked down at the broken watch in his hand.

That was all Luca needed.

Crack.

Luca fired a single shot.

The bullet struck Victor perfectly in the right shoulder.

Victor screamed, dropping the gun and the watch. He fell backward onto the stone floor.

Leo scrambled away, crying.

Luca sprinted forward, scooping his son into his arms, burying his face in the boy’s neck.

Daniel kicked Victor’s gun away and pinned the older man to the floor, zip-tying his wrists.

I leaned against the wine rack, gasping for air, sliding down to the floor.

Luca stood up, holding Leo tightly.

He looked at me.

The fierce, untouchable mafia boss had tears in his eyes.

“You saved him,” Luca whispered. “You saved my son.”

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