Page 112 of The Hidden Heir

Luca grabs the gun from his hand and whacks him over the head with it, knocking him out, along with his teeth, then turns and shoots the petrified Mauro three times in the chest.

“PAPA!” Caroline screams and raises her gun, rage taking over.

Luca shoots her in the knee. I see the bones and cartilage exploding when the bullet passes through. She falls like a tree, chopped down and utterly destroyed, tears streaming down her cheeks.

It’s over.

As soon as I see Caroline on the floor, crumbling and weeping, a broken child without consolation, I stop fighting my restraints.

The silence that follows is so heavy, it damn near crushes my soul.

Luca rushes over. He cuts through the zip ties and frees me. I throw my arms around his neck and hold on for dear life, my heart thudding against his.

“You’re safe,” he whispers in my ear, then kisses me feverishly.

“Oh, Luca, I thought I’d never see you or my baby again.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t figure a few things out sooner,” he sighs, glancing back at his brother. “I could’ve saved him.”

“He couldn’t be saved,” I tell him. “Luca, I think Stefano died the night of the explosion. What was left of him was… that.” I pause as he looks at me with a deep frown. “He would’ve made his way back to you if he really wanted. There weren’t enough of Mancuso’s security guards on this earth to keep one Petrucci brother from another.”

It’s a bitter pill for him to swallow.

My heart leaps when the hired sitter comes downstairs with Michael in her arms. I take my boy and she runs as fast as she can from the scene.

“Mama,” Michael moans and hugs me tightly. I hold my boy and breathe him in, catching the hint of sweat and baby shampoo in his curly hair. I revel in the softness of his little frame, thankful to have found my way back to him.

“Oh, I missed you, too, honey, but we’re okay,” I mumble and cover his round, warm face with a flurry of loving kisses.

In the meantime, Solomon and the rest of Luca’s security team handle the aftermath. Caroline is tied up and taken away along with Detective Ethan Reece. I don’t know what will happen to them, but right now, I don’t think I really care. Judging by how they’re collecting IDs and wallets from everybody, I’m guessing they’re going to clean this place up and get rid of the bodies.

“It’ll be like we were never here,” Solomon says.

Luca’s gaze is soft. “It took me longer than I would’ve liked to put some of the pieces of this puzzle together. I kept hoping Caroline’s support and push for peace between our families was genuine, but the minute I considered it all to be an act, it all made sense. The timing. The incidents. The angle of every attack. My brother’s captivity and the way she led me to him.

“It was all part of her plan to inflict as much emotional damage as possible before she brought me here to force me to make an impossible choice, because she understood how much I love you, Valentina,” he says. “Caroline wanted power and control, and this was her sick way of getting it. It didn’t matter who got hurt in the process. The woman’s heart has been hollow for a long time.”

“I still can’t believe she was capable of something like this.”

I hear her whimpers as she’s carried out of the mansion. There’s no goodbye between us. There never will be. She doesn’t deserve that grace, yet I know she is who she is because of the man currently lying on the floor in front of the fireplace, the light gone from his eyes.

“He’s to blame,” I say, nodding at my stepfather. “He created that monster.”

“And he paid for it, for everything he’s done,” Luca says.

“What now?” I ask, while Michael melts in my arms.

“It’s time for a change,” Luca says.

34

VALENTINA

Forty-eight hours later, what’s left of the Camorra gathers again around the same conference table, except this time, Luca wants me by his side. To say I’m nervous would be an understatement. I’m not the only one who feels this way, judging by the looks on their faces.

I see senior dons, grieving widows, and seconds sons who have no idea what they’re getting themselves into, fearful souls who cannot fight the old mafia wars like their predecessors used to, and the silence is overwhelming.

Luca sits at the head of the table. “It’s been a crazy couple of days”