Chapter 5 - THE POCKET WATCH
Rosa’s scream echoed through the nursery, a sound of absolute, raw agony.
She dropped the gold pocket watch as if it had burned her skin.
It hit the wooden floor, popping open further to reveal an inscription inside the lid.
Luca was beside her in a second, supporting the frail woman.
“Mama Rosa, what is it?”
She couldn’t speak. She just pointed at the watch on the floor.
I knelt down and carefully picked it up.
The gold was heavy, antique. Inside the lid, engraved in cursive, were the words:
To Tomas. Forever mine.
“Tomas,” I whispered.
Rosa wept against Luca’s chest. “It’s my husband’s watch. He was wearing it the night he disappeared. The night your mother was murdered.”
Luca froze.
He slowly turned his head to look at Vanessa.
“How does this boy have a watch that belonged to a man murdered twenty-six years ago?”
Vanessa was shaking so violently her teeth chattered.
“I… I don’t know! He found it in my father’s vault! I just let him play with it!”
The pieces clicked together in Luca’s mind. You could see the devastating realization wash over him.
“Your father,” Luca said, his voice a lethal whisper. “The Bellini family didn’t just blackmail Rosa. They ordered the hit on my mother. And they murdered Rosa’s husband to cover their tracks.”
Vanessa backed against the wall. “It was before my time, Luca! I was a child! I had nothing to do with it!”
“But you knew,” Luca stepped closer to her, his shadow swallowing her. “You knew who killed my mother. You knew who killed Tomas. And you kept this boy—my son—in a cage for six years as an insurance policy.”
The little boy, Leo, retreated behind my legs.
I put a protective hand on his small shoulder. He leaned into my apron, terrified of the yelling.
“Luca, please,” Vanessa begged, dropping to her knees. “I love you! I brought you your son!”
“You used my son,” Luca corrected, cold and unyielding. “Carlo. Take her down to the basement. We are going to have a long talk about what else her family is hiding.”
Carlo stepped forward.
He reached for Vanessa.
But as he did, his coat swung open.
Leo gasped and pointed at Carlo.
“He’s the bad man,” the little boy said, his voice ringing clearly in the quiet room.
Carlo stopped.
Luca turned slowly. “What did you say, Leo?”
Leo gripped my apron tighter.
“He’s the bad man who hits Mommy Vanessa when she cries. He told her to marry you so they could take all the money.”
Carlo’s hand slowly reached inside his jacket.
May you like
Not for handcuffs.
For a gun.
