Chapter 6 – THE TICKET TO NOWHERE

The police arrived in force, but Luca’s lawyers made sure they only saw what Luca wanted them to see.

Victor was quietly hauled away in a private ambulance, guarded by ten of Luca’s most loyal men. He was going to a private facility. He would never see the sun again.

I sat in the grand foyer, wrapped in a blanket.

Leo was asleep upstairs, guarded by Daniel.

The sun was just beginning to rise over Chicago, casting a pale, cold light through the shattered windows.

Luca walked down the stairs. He had changed into a clean shirt, though he still looked exhausted.

He sat down on the marble steps next to me.

“Are you hurt?” he asked gently.

“I’m okay,” I said, pulling the blanket tighter. “Just tired.”

“I’m transferring you to a luxury hotel downtown. Full security. Until we rebuild the staff quarters, you won’t have to worry about a thing.”

“I don’t need a luxury hotel, Mr. Moretti. I just need my job.”

Luca looked at me.

“You aren’t a maid anymore, Olivia. You saved my son. You’re family now.”

I stared at him, stunned.

Before I could process the words, a guard walked into the foyer.

“Boss. We found Vanessa.”

Luca stood up, his posture instantly rigid. “Where?”

“She didn’t make it to the airport. She tried to hail a private charter out of Midway, but her credit cards were frozen. We caught her hiding in a motel near the airfield.”

“Bring her in.”

Ten minutes later, Vanessa was dragged through the front doors.

Her designer gown was ruined. Her hair was a mess. She looked pathetic.

She fell to her knees when she saw Luca.

“Luca, please! Victor forced me! He said if I didn’t help him frame the maid and get him inside the house, he would kill me!”

“You bought a ticket to Argentina,” Luca said coldly.

“To escape him!” she sobbed.

Luca looked down at her with absolute disgust.

“You planted a bomb in a twenty-five-year-old girl’s bedroom. You let a madman into the house where my son sleeps. You don’t deserve to breathe the same air as my family.”

He looked at the guards.

“Hand her over to the police. Give them the audio recordings she made. Let her rot in federal prison for domestic terrorism.”

“No!” Vanessa screamed as they dragged her away. “Luca, I love you! You need me!”

The heavy doors slammed shut, cutting off her cries.

The mansion was finally quiet.

Luca turned back to me.

“It’s over,” he said softly.

But as he reached into his pocket to pull out his phone, something fell onto the marble floor.

It was the heavy silver rosary we had found in Victor’s coat.

I bent down and picked it up.

As I handed it back to Luca, I noticed something strange about the cross.

The silver backing was slightly ajar.

“Mr. Moretti,” I said, pointing to the cross. “Look.”

Luca frowned. He took the rosary and pried the back of the cross open.

Inside was a tiny, tightly rolled piece of paper.

He pulled it out and unrolled it.

His face turned to stone.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Answer one,” Luca whispered. “Victor didn’t come here to steal my money.”

He held up the paper.

It was a printed list of names.

“Open two,” Luca continued, his voice dark. “He came here to retrieve this. A list of every corrupt politician, judge, and police chief on the Chicago syndicate’s payroll.”

I swallowed hard. “If that gets out…”

“The entire empire falls,” Luca said.

He looked at the bottom of the list.

“There’s a note,” he said.

He read it aloud.

The second copy is in the heirloom necklace.

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