Chapter 2 - THE MESSAGE FROM THE GRAVE
Luca stared at the cracked screen of his dead brother’s phone.
The engagement dinner had faded into a backdrop of absolute silence. Forty-eight guests held their breath.
“Read it, Luca,” Rachel whispered, her voice trembling. “What did Michael try to tell you?”
Luca’s jaw tightened. The muscles in his neck strained against his collar. When he finally spoke, his voice was hollow.
“He wrote… If I don't make it home tonight, it wasn't an accident. Dominic cut the brakes. The proof is stitched inside the lining of my blue flight jacket.”
The room completely shattered.
Dominic Rossi was Luca’s underboss. He was standing ten feet away, near the fireplace, still holding his crystal champagne flute.
Vanessa backed away from Luca, her hands raised in pure panic.
“I didn't know!” she cried out. “Luca, I swear to God, I didn't know what was in the jacket!”
“But you knew Dominic was looking for it,” Rachel said, stepping forward. Her grief had instantly transformed into a terrifying, maternal rage. “You let him into my house. You let him into my dead husband’s bedroom.”
Answer one: Vanessa wasn’t cheating with a tailor. She was trading Michael's jacket to Dominic Rossi.
“He said it was just business!” Vanessa shrieked, pointing at Dominic. “He said Michael stole money from the family and the proof was in the coat! He promised me if I got the jacket, he would make sure the syndicate backed our wedding!”
Luca slowly lowered the phone.
He didn't look at his fiancée. He looked at the man who had stood by his side for a decade.
Dominic didn't run. He calmly set his champagne glass on the mantelpiece.
“Michael was weak, Luca,” Dominic said smoothly. “He was trying to take the family legitimate. He wanted to sell the shipping routes. He would have ruined us.”
Open two: If Dominic murdered Michael for the business, why did Michael pay Vanessa $75,000 days before he died? What did she know?
“You killed my brother,” Luca said, his voice dropping to a lethal whisper.
“I protected this family,” Dominic corrected.
He reached inside his tailored suit jacket.
Several of Luca’s loyal guards immediately drew their weapons, but Dominic wasn't pulling a gun.
He pulled out Michael’s blue Navy flight jacket.
Ben gasped, grabbing his mother’s hand.
“I removed the lining twenty minutes ago in the guest bedroom,” Dominic smiled, holding up a folded piece of heavy parchment. “You’re too late, Luca.”
He tossed the ruined blue jacket onto the floor.
Ben broke away from his mother. “Don't touch my dad’s coat!”
The ten-year-old boy ran forward to grab the jacket.
“Ben, no!” Rachel screamed.
May you like
As the child knelt to pick up the blue fabric, Dominic grabbed him by the collar, pulling a silver pistol from his waistband and pressing it against the boy’s head.
TITLE: THE WATCH ON THE FLOOR
