Chapter 2 - THE GUN BENEATH THE TABLE|
The first thing I noticed was the way Matteo Moretti's hand disappeared beneath his black suit jacket.
The second was the terrified expression on his face when he realized I had seen him.
“LUCA, WATCH OUT!” I screamed.
Matteo pulled out a black handgun.
Everything happened so quickly that I barely understood what I was seeing.
Luca lunged toward his brother.
I threw myself in front of Oliver, pulling the little boy against my chest.
A gunshot exploded through the dining room.
Crystal shattered above us.
Someone screamed.
A chandelier trembled violently as broken glass rained across the polished marble floor.
“GET DOWN!” Luca roared.
I fell to my knees, wrapping both arms around Oliver's head.
He was sobbing so hard that he could barely breathe.
“Claire, please don't let them hurt Mommy!”
His tiny hands tightened around Mr. Buttons.
“Please don't let them take her away again!”
My heart broke at those words.
His mother was already dead, yet somehow this little boy was being forced to lose her all over again.
Across the room, Luca had seized Matteo's gun hand.
The two brothers struggled beside the enormous dining table.
“YOU KILLED HER!” Luca shouted.
Matteo's face twisted with hatred.
“You have no idea what you're talking about!”
“Isabella knew!”
“She knew enough to get herself killed!”
The words seemed to freeze Luca in place.
For one terrible second, he simply stared at his younger brother.
Matteo used that hesitation to slam his elbow into Luca's chest.
Luca stumbled backward.
Matteo broke free and raced toward the service corridor.
“STOP HIM!” Luca thundered.
Two security guards ran after him.
But before they reached the doorway, another gunshot echoed from the hallway.
The guards dropped behind a marble column.
By the time they moved again, Matteo was gone.
I remained on the floor, holding Oliver so tightly that my arms ached.
Then I heard the clicking of expensive heels behind me.
“Give me the boy, Claire.”
Vivienne stood over us.
Her beautiful red gown was untouched by the chaos.
Her expression was strangely calm.
“Oliver needs his mother,” she said.
I looked up at her.
“His mother is the reason we're all standing here.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“Don't become another problem.”
I felt the threat beneath her words.
Before I could answer, Luca appeared beside us.
“Get away from my son.”
Vivienne turned toward him, instantly changing her expression.
“Darling, I was only trying to comfort him.”
“Don't call me darling.”
His voice was so quiet that it frightened me more than his shouting.
Vivienne swallowed.
“Luca, that recording proves nothing.”
“Then explain why you tried to destroy it.”
“It was obviously manipulated.”
“By my dead wife?”
She said nothing.
Luca slowly extended his hand.
“Your phone.”
“What?”
“Give me your phone.”
Vivienne stepped backward.
“You have no right to treat me like a criminal.”
“No?”
Luca looked toward the doorway where his brother had disappeared.
“My wife is dead.”
“My brother just tried to shoot me.”
“And you knew exactly what was on that recording before anyone else heard it.”
Vivienne suddenly turned and ran.
One of Luca's guards moved to intercept her.
She struck him with her jeweled handbag and disappeared through the servants' entrance.
Luca shouted for someone to follow her.
Then he turned back toward Oliver.
For the first time since I had known him, Chicago's most feared man looked completely helpless.
“Oliver,” he whispered.
His son buried his face against my shoulder.
“Daddy, don't let her come back.”
Luca crouched beside us.
“I won't, buddy.”
Oliver shook his head.
“You said that before.”
Those four words hit Luca harder than Matteo's gun ever could.
I watched his face collapse.
He reached toward his son, but Oliver flinched.
Luca slowly lowered his hand.
“I'm sorry,” he whispered.
“I should have listened to you.”
Oliver looked at him through his tears.
“I told you she was mean to Mommy's things.”
“I know.”
“And you told me to be nice to her.”
Luca closed his eyes.
“I know, son.”
The room fell silent.
Then Oliver lifted Mr. Buttons between us.
“Mommy said you would believe me when you heard her.”
Luca gently touched the bear's torn ear.
“I believe you now.”
Oliver finally reached for his father's hand.
The gesture was small, almost invisible.
But I saw Luca begin to cry.
Not the angry tears of a betrayed husband.
The broken tears of a father realizing how badly he had failed his child.
A few minutes later, Gabriel Rios, Luca's head of security, returned from the hallway.
“Matteo escaped through the underground garage.”
Luca's face hardened.
“Find him.”
Gabriel hesitated.
“Sir, there's something else.”
He held out his phone.
A photograph filled the screen.
It showed me kneeling beside Oliver, holding the teddy bear.
The picture had been taken inside the dining room only minutes earlier.
Beneath it was a message from an unknown number.
THE BEAR ISN'T THE ONLY THING ISABELLA HID.
A second message appeared while we watched.
ASK CLAIRE WHAT SHE SAW THE NIGHT YOUR WIFE DIED.
May you like
Luca slowly turned toward me.
And suddenly, the secret I had carried for two years felt heavier than the frightened little boy in my arms.
