Chapter 8 - THE FEDERAL WINDBREAKER
The flashing police lights illuminated the airstrip in harsh bursts of red and blue.
Vanessa walked forward, looking completely untouched by the chaos of the night. The two men beside her wore FBI jackets, their hands resting cautiously on their holsters.
Luca didn't flinch. He stood over Adrian, his dark eyes locked on his former fiancée.
"You called the Feds, Vanessa?" Luca asked, his voice laced with dangerous amusement. "You just tried to orchestrate a kidnapping and an assassination."
Vanessa stopped ten feet away. "I didn't orchestrate anything, Luca. I'm a victim. I've been working as a confidential informant for the FBI for the last eight months."
The words hung in the cold air.
I gasped. Allison pulled Leo tighter against her chest, her eyes wide with disbelief.
"Informant?" Adrian choked out from the ground, holding his bleeding shoulder. "You're a liar!"
"Am I?" Vanessa looked at the lead FBI agent. "Agent Harris, would you care to explain?"
Agent Harris stepped forward, flashing a badge at Luca. "Mr. Moretti, put your hands where I can see them. Miss Bellini came to us months ago. She provided evidence that your brothers, Marco and Dante, were planning a hostile takeover of the port authorities. She also provided evidence that Adrian Romano was extorting her, threatening to kill her if she didn't help frame you for the embezzlement of the marital trust."
"That's a lie!" Allison screamed, stepping forward. "She blackmailed him! She poisoned him!"
"Miss Bellini reported that Adrian poisoned himself in a botched suicide attempt when he realized the feds were closing in," Harris said flatly. "She managed to escape the mansion and call us."
I felt nauseous. Vanessa had played everyone. She hadn't just planned to steal the money; she had planned to burn the entire Moretti family to the ground and walk away with federal immunity.
"And the boy?" Luca asked quietly, gesturing to Leo. "Did she tell you she kidnapped a child?"
"Miss Bellini informed us that Marco took the child as leverage against you," Harris replied. "She brought us here to save him."
Vanessa gave a small, theatrical sigh. "I tried to tell you, Luca. I tried to warn you about your brothers and Adrian. But you wouldn't listen. You trusted the wrong people."
She looked at me, shivering in my maid's uniform. "Even the help turned against you."
Luca looked at the ground. He looked at the blood on the tarmac. Then, slowly, a faint smile touched his lips.
It wasn't a smile of defeat. It was the smile of a predator who had just watched the prey walk into a trap.
"Agent Harris," Luca said smoothly. "If Vanessa is your star witness, you're going to have a very hard time making this case stick."
Harris frowned. "We have her testimony, financial records, and two of your brothers bleeding on an airstrip. I think we'll manage."
"You don't have the whole story," Luca said. He reached into his coat pocket.
The agents drew their weapons. "Hands where we can see them!"
Luca slowly raised his hands, holding a small, silver object.
It was the pocket watch. The one he had thrown at Marcus’s head earlier.
"This belonged to my father," Luca said. "But it hasn't kept time in ten years."
He pressed a small button on the side of the watch.
Suddenly, a voice echoed from the tiny speaker built into the antique casing.
“I needed leverage. You were getting cold feet, Adrian... I knew if I had the boy, you'd transfer the trust funds exactly like you promised. And I was going to take him with me to make sure you never came looking for the money.”
It was Vanessa’s voice. Crystal clear. Recorded during her villainous monologue in the dining room just an hour ago.
Vanessa’s face went chalk white. "That... that's doctored! He faked that!"
"I have thirty witnesses in my dining room who heard you say it, Vanessa," Luca said softly. "Including the part where you admitted to poisoning Adrian."
Agent Harris stared at Vanessa, his expression hardening. "Miss Bellini? You said you weren't present when the poison was ingested."
"He's lying! He's a mobster, Harris, he set me up!" Vanessa shrieked, her composure shattering completely.
Luca turned to Harris. "Arrest my brothers for the attempted murder of myself and Adrian Romano. Take Vanessa into custody for the attempted murder of Adrian, and the kidnapping of Leo Romano. If you want the port authority files, I'll hand them over tomorrow. But these three go to prison tonight."
Harris looked at the recording device, then at Vanessa's panicked face. He nodded to his partner. "Cuff her."
"No! Get your hands off me!" Vanessa screamed, thrashing wildly as the agent snapped the handcuffs around her wrists. She glared at Luca with pure hatred. "You're nothing, Luca! You'll die alone in that empty mansion!"
"Better alone than with a snake," Luca replied coldly.
As they dragged Vanessa away, kicking and screaming, the paramedics finally arrived, rushing toward Adrian and Marco.
Allison knelt beside Adrian as they lifted him onto the stretcher. She took his uninjured hand, her tears falling onto his skin.
"You faked the affair," she whispered, her voice breaking. "Why didn't you tell me?"
Adrian looked at her, his eyes heavy with painkillers and exhaustion. "I couldn't risk Marco hurting you. I'm sorry, Allie. I'm so sorry."
Allison kissed his forehead. "You're an idiot, Adrian Romano. But you saved Luca. And you saved our son. We're going to fix this. I promise."
I watched them load him into the ambulance. The nightmare was over. The villains were caught.
Luca walked over to me. He looked exhausted, the weight of the night finally showing on his face.
"Emily," he said quietly.
"Yes, sir?" I said, wiping my face.
"You saved my life tonight. You ran out here to warn me."
"I... I just didn't want the bad guys to win, sir."
Luca reached into his pocket and pulled out something small and shiny. He held it out to me.
It was the heavy gold key. The key to the downtown safety deposit box holding the bearer bonds.
"Take it," Luca said.
I stared at it. "Sir, I can't. That's millions of dollars."
"It's dirty money," Luca said. "But it can pay for your mother's nurse. It can pay for a house. It can buy you a life far away from people like me."
I looked up at him, my eyes filling with tears. "Are you firing me, Mr. Moretti?"
May you like
Luca smiled softly.
"No, Emily. I'm promoting you."
