Chapter 4 - THE FIRE AND THE WATCH
I stared at Luca, my heart pounding so hard it hurt my ribs.
My father had died in a tenement fire eighteen months ago. The police said it was faulty wiring. The landlord vanished, and my mother and I were left with a mountain of medical debt from his two days in the burn unit.
That was why I had dropped out of college. That was why I was wearing a maid's uniform.
"Mr. Moretti," I repeated, stepping toward him. "Did you own that building?"
Luca’s jaw clenched. The powerful, commanding boss suddenly looked like a man standing on the edge of a cliff.
"I bought the 4th Street block two years ago," Luca said, his voice tight. "It was supposed to be redeveloped into affordable housing. But there was a tenant strike. People refused to leave."
"My father was the one leading the strike," I whispered, the realization hitting me like a physical blow. "He said the new owners were trying to force them out into the winter cold."
"I never ordered the fire, Hannah," Luca said fiercely, stepping toward me. "I swear to you on my life. I gave strict orders to negotiate. To double their relocation payouts."
"Then who set the fire?" I cried.
"I did."
The voice came from the doorway.
We all turned.
Marcus stood there, wiping blood from his lip. Daniel was right behind him, holding a weapon, but Marcus had stopped walking.
He smiled a cruel, crooked smile.
"I set the fire, little brother," Marcus laughed. "You were too soft. You wanted to pay those rats to leave. I decided a match was cheaper."
I felt the room spin. The man who burned my father alive was standing ten feet away from me.
With a roar of pure rage, Luca crossed the room in a blur. He slammed his fist into Marcus’s jaw. The sound of breaking bone echoed off the marble walls. Marcus crumpled to the floor.
Luca dragged him up by the collar of his shirt, pulling his gun and pressing it directly beneath Marcus’s chin.
"You burned a building full of families?" Luca snarled.
"It got the job done," Marcus choked out, blood pouring from his nose. "And it got me Vanessa. She knew I did it. She found the accelerant receipts. She blackmailed me into paying for her fake life, until she ran out of money and needed to cash in her old man’s insurance policy."
Luca’s finger tightened on the trigger.
"No!" I screamed.
Luca froze.
I ran forward and grabbed his arm. "If you kill him, he doesn't suffer. If you kill him, I don't get justice for my father. Call the police."
Luca looked at my tear-stained face. He slowly lowered the gun.
"Daniel," Luca ordered. "Lock him in the vault. Call the Detective. Tell him I have a confession for the 4th Street arson."
As they dragged a laughing Marcus away, I collapsed into a dining chair, burying my face in my hands. I couldn't stop shaking.
A gentle, trembling hand touched my shoulder.
I looked up. Arthur was standing beside me, holding little Leo’s hand.
"Hannah," Arthur whispered.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a heavy, antique gold pocket watch.
It was tarnished, the glass slightly cracked.
I recognized it instantly.
"That's my father's watch," I gasped. "He was wearing it the night he died. The hospital said it was lost in the fire."
Arthur nodded slowly. "Vanessa... gave it to me."
"Why did Vanessa have my father's watch?" I asked, my blood running cold.
Arthur looked at the silver key I was still clutching in my hand.
"Because your father... didn't die in the fire," Arthur said, his voice breaking. "He found out... who set it. He had proof."
Luca stepped closer, his dark eyes wide. "Arthur, what are you saying?"
"Vanessa took the watch... as a trophy," Arthur wept. "She and Marcus... they didn't just burn the building."
May you like
The old man looked at me with absolute heartbreak.
"They murdered your father, Hannah. And the key in your hand... it opens the locker where he hid the proof."
