Chapter 3 – A WARNING IN GOLD
The temperature in the room plummeted.
Vincent stared at the gold watch dangling from the little boy’s wrist. Time is up.
He stood slowly, his imposing frame blocking the doorway. He didn’t look at Caroline. He looked straight at the security guard who had brought the boy inside.
“Lock down the estate,” Vincent ordered. “Nobody leaves. Nobody enters.”
The guard nodded sharply and tapped his earpiece. The heavy front doors shut with a final, echoing thud. The deadbolts slid into place automatically.
“Vincent, you’re scaring him,” Caroline stepped forward, reaching for Leo.
Before she could touch the boy, I moved. I didn’t think about the fact that she was my boss. I didn’t think about my daughter’s tuition or my precarious paycheck. I just stepped between Caroline and the child, pulling Leo gently against my apron.
“He’s fine right here,” I said calmly.
Leo didn’t resist. He leaned into my side, his small fingers gripping the fabric of my dress. He felt trembling and exhausted.
Caroline glared at me, her eyes flashing with pure hatred. “Get your hands off my son, you glorified maid.”
“She stays,” Vincent snapped, his voice a whip crack. He turned to me, his eyes softening just a fraction. “Thank you, Nora.”
He turned back to Caroline, and the softness vanished.
“Who gave him the watch, Caroline?”
“I don’t know!” she shrieked. “I swear to God, Vincent, I’ve never seen that watch before in my life!”
“Liar,” Helen said from her wheelchair.
We all looked at her. Helen was leaning forward, her knuckles white as she gripped the armrests.
“She’s lying, Vincent,” Helen said. “I saw her talking to a man at the edge of the property on Tuesday. The day she tried to convince the agency to fire Nora. The day she told me I was being sent away.”
Vincent walked over to his mother. “Who was the man, Mom?”
Helen swallowed hard. “He was missing half his left ear.”
A deadly silence fell over Vincent. The guests—the aunts, uncles, and cousins who knew exactly what that meant—began to murmur in genuine panic.
I didn’t know the names of the rival families in the city. I was just a caregiver. But I knew the look on a man’s face when he realized a war had just walked into his living room.
“The Moretti family,” Vincent whispered.
He slowly turned to face his fiancée.
“You weren’t just stealing from my mother,” Vincent said, piecing it together in real-time. “You were selling us out. You brought a Moretti to my gates.”
“They found me!” Caroline cried, backing away again. “They knew about Michael! They said if I didn’t get your mother out of the house, they would kill Leo! They needed the house empty for… for…”
“For what?” Vincent roared, grabbing a crystal glass off a tray and hurling it into the fireplace. It shattered into a thousand pieces.
Caroline fell to her knees, sobbing violently. “They’re coming tonight, Vincent! They wanted the old woman gone so there would be no crossfire! They’re coming for you!”
The room erupted into chaos. Aunts screamed, uncles reached inside their tailored jackets.
But I wasn’t looking at Caroline.
I was looking at Mark.
The ‘confused’ husband. The man who had seemingly stumbled into this party by mistake.
While everyone was focused on Caroline’s confession, Mark had quietly backed himself against the far wall. He wasn’t looking at his crying wife. He wasn’t looking at his terrified son.
He was pulling a pair of thick, black leather gloves out of his overcoat pockets.
I felt a cold sweat break out on the back of my neck.
“Mr. DeLuca,” I said. My voice wasn’t loud, but it cut through the panic.
Vincent snapped his head toward me.
I didn’t point. I just kept my eyes locked on Mark.
“The lease agreement he dropped on the floor,” I said steadily. “It doesn’t have a company logo on it.”
Vincent followed my gaze. He saw Mark slipping the second glove onto his hand.
Mark smiled. It wasn’t an apologetic, confused smile anymore. It was cold and practiced.
“You’re a very observant nurse, Nora,” Mark said.
He reached inside his overcoat.
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