Chapter 6 - THE CONFESSION
Carlo pulled the heavy black pistol from his jacket.
He didn’t aim it at Luca.
He aimed it directly at the little boy hiding behind my legs.
“Quiet down, you little brat,” Carlo snarled, his loyal-underboss facade completely gone.
“Carlo,” Luca said. He didn’t reach for a weapon. He stood perfectly still, a predator calculating the distance. “You put that down. Now.”
Vanessa scrambled to her feet, running behind Carlo.
“I told you we shouldn’t have brought the kid here tonight!” she hissed at him.
Carlo kept the gun leveled at us. “It was your stupid idea to force the engagement early. You wanted the ring before he found out the kid existed.”
I pulled Leo entirely behind me, shielding his small body with mine. My heart hammered against my ribs, but I couldn’t let this man hurt a six-year-old.
Rosa stood beside Luca, wiping her tears, her spine stiffening with sudden bravery.
“You,” Rosa said, staring at Carlo. “You’re a Bellini dog. You always were.”
“Shut up, old woman,” Carlo spat. He glanced at Luca. “Nothing personal, boss. But the Moretti era ends tonight. Vanessa and I take over the territory. The boy comes with us as the rightful heir, under our ‘protection.’”
“You’re not taking my son,” Luca said softly.
“I have the gun, Luca. You’re fast, but not faster than a bullet.”
Carlo took a step backward toward the exit, dragging Vanessa with him.
“Vanessa, get the boy.”
Vanessa stepped toward me.
I didn’t think. I just reacted.
I grabbed the heavy wooden block Leo had been playing with and hurled it as hard as I could.
It struck Vanessa squarely in the forehead. She cried out, stumbling backward.
As she fell, her designer clutch spilled open on the floor.
Lipstick, a compact mirror, and a small envelope scattered across the rug.
Rosa lunged forward, surprisingly fast, and snatched the envelope.
She tore it open.
Two first-class plane tickets to Switzerland fell out.
But they weren’t for Vanessa and Carlo.
“Look,” Rosa said, her voice shaking with a new, horrifying realization.
She held up the tickets for Luca to see.
The first ticket had Vanessa’s name on it.
The second ticket didn’t say Carlo.
May you like
It said Antonio Moretti.
Luca’s dead brother.
