Chapter 7 - The Shot Beneath the Lake HouseThe gunshot deafened everyone in the basement.
The last thing she remembered was smoke.
Then Adrian.
He had grabbed her near the service staircase.
She had screamed.
He injected something into her neck.
Now she was lying on a narrow bed inside a room with boarded windows.
Her wrists were tied.
A lamp glowed in the corner.
“Awake?”
Bianca turned.
Salvatore Moretti sat in a chair.
Her terror turned to confusion.
“Uncle Sal?”
He smiled.
Everyone called him Uncle Sal.
Even people who weren’t family.
He removed the tape.
Bianca immediately shouted.
“Where is my father?”
“Probably blaming me.”
“You kidnapped me!”
“I relocated you.”
“You hit me!”
“Adrian can be enthusiastic.”
Bianca pulled at the ropes.
“What do you want?”
“Your father to behave.”
“My father?”
Salvatore sighed.
“Vittorio has forgotten the arrangement.”
“What arrangement?”
He studied her.
“You truly know nothing.”
Fear entered her eyes.
“About what?”
“Your marriage.”
Bianca stared.
Salvatore smiled.
“You thought Luca proposed because he woke up one morning overcome by your personality?”
She flinched.
“He respected me.”
“I’m sure.”
Salvatore crossed his legs.
“The marriage was a merger.”
“I knew that.”
“No. You knew the pretty version.”
He leaned forward.
“You were supposed to marry Luca, transfer Bellini political influence into the combined organization, then help us destroy him.”
Bianca stopped breathing.
“You’re lying.”
“Ask your father.”
“My father loves Luca.”
Salvatore laughed.
“Your father loves power.”
For the first time, Bianca remembered dozens of conversations differently.
Her father encouraging the relationship.
Her father insisting the wedding happen quickly.
Her father asking about Luca’s schedule.
His security.
His business records.
Questions Bianca had answered without thinking.
She felt sick.
“I didn’t know.”
“Of course not.”
Salvatore patted her cheek.
“That made you useful.”
Back at the mansion, Luca paced while Dominic traced the call.
Vittorio had arrived thirty minutes earlier with four guards.
Nobody trusted anyone.
Sofia sat with Lily in a secured basement room.
Vittorio demanded his daughter back.
Luca wanted Salvatore’s head.
For once they wanted the same thing.
“You expect me to believe you weren’t involved?” Luca asked.
Vittorio glared.
“I would sacrifice many things for business. Not Bianca.”
“You planned to use Sofia and Lily against me.”
Vittorio’s face changed.
Luca knew.
“You found the box.”
“Matteo left excellent records.”
Vittorio poured whiskey with an unsteady hand.
“Then you understand.”
“I understand you tried to kill the mother of my child.”
“I wanted her frightened, not dead.”
“Your recording said otherwise.”
“That was Salvatore.”
“You didn’t object.”
Vittorio looked down.
“No.”
Luca moved close enough that guards on both sides tensed.
“If Bianca weren’t missing, you’d be dead.”
Vittorio nodded.
“Fair.”
The admission surprised everyone.
Dominic set down his laptop.
“Found the phone.”
“Where?”
“Lake Geneva.”
Vittorio frowned.
“The old Moretti property?”
Luca nodded.
His father once owned a lake house in Wisconsin.
After Giovanni died, Salvatore managed it.
Matteo had hated the place.
Luca suddenly wondered why.
Vittorio said, “He’ll expect us.”
“Good.”
Sofia entered.
“No.”
Luca turned.
“You’re supposed to be downstairs.”
“I heard enough.”
“You’re not coming.”
“Salvatore asked for me.”
“Exactly.”
“He asked for Lily too.”
“And neither of you is getting within fifty miles.”
Sofia crossed her arms.
“You still think you can order me around?”
“I’m not debating this.”
“I survived four years without you.”
“That doesn’t mean you should have had to.”
Their eyes locked.
Vittorio looked away, almost embarrassed to witness something so personal.
Sofia lowered her voice.
“You need him talking.”
“Yes.”
“He won’t talk if he thinks he has nothing to bargain for.”
“No.”
“I’m not suggesting we bring Lily.”
“Good.”
“I’m suggesting you bring me.”
“No.”
“Luca—”
“No.”
Sofia stepped closer.
“Matteo died protecting me because he wanted evidence. Your father died because Salvatore thought nobody would expose him. How many more people die while we protect ourselves?”
Luca’s anger cracked.
“I just got you back.”
The room silenced.
His voice dropped.
“I spent four years waking up every morning wondering whether you screamed my name before you died.”
Sofia’s expression softened.
“I’m here.”
“And I’m not putting you in his hands.”
“You won’t.”
She took his hand.
“You’ll be beside me.”
Luca looked down at their fingers.
Four years disappeared for half a second.
Then Dominic interrupted.
“We might have another option.”
He placed a tiny transmitter on the table.
Sofia wore it beneath her blouse.
Vittorio would approach openly.
Luca’s team would enter from the woods.
Chicago police could not be trusted because they didn’t know which officers Salvatore owned.
Instead Dominic contacted Special Agent Rachel Monroe, an FBI investigator who had quietly pursued Bellini financial crimes for years.
Rachel listened to the recordings from Matteo’s drive.
Then she said something Luca never expected from a federal agent.
“You bring me Salvatore alive, talking, and I can dismantle half his network.”
Luca leaned toward her.
“If he touches Sofia, there won’t be enough left to arrest.”
Rachel stared back.
“Then make sure he doesn’t.”
At midnight, three vehicles drove toward Lake Geneva.
Lily remained with Maria under twenty-four-hour protection.
Before Sofia left, Lily hugged her.
“Come back.”
“I will.”
“Promise?”
Sofia looked toward Luca.
He held out his little finger.
“Pinkie promise.”
Lily hooked both parents’ fingers together.
“All of us.”
The lake house appeared through the trees at 1:12 a.m.
No lights except the porch.
Vittorio exited first.
Then Sofia.
Luca remained hidden near the tree line with Dominic and the federal tactical team.
Sofia climbed the steps.
The front door opened.
Adrian stood there.
His gun pointed directly at her chest.
“Come inside.”
Sofia obeyed.
The transmitter carried every sound.
Floorboards.
A lock.
Footsteps.
Then Salvatore’s voice.
“Welcome back from the dead.”
Sofia saw Bianca tied to a chair.
Her face was bruised.
Bianca’s eyes widened.
“Sofia?”
Salvatore smiled.
“So touching.”
“Let her go.”
“When Luca brings Lily.”
“He won’t.”
“Then Bianca dies.”
Bianca stared at Sofia.
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“The party.”
Tears filled Bianca’s eyes.
“I was cruel.”
Sofia said quietly, “Survive first. Apologize later.”
Outside, Luca heard everything.
Dominic whispered, “Positions ready.”
Inside, Sofia slowly moved closer to Salvatore.
“You killed Matteo.”
Salvatore smiled.
“Yes.”
Luca’s entire body went rigid.
The transmitter captured it perfectly.
Sofia continued.
“And Giovanni?”
“Also yes.”
Bianca stared at him in horror.
“Why?”
“Because both men confused morality with leadership.”
Salvatore stood.
“Luca has the same disease.”
Sofia glanced toward the window.
She needed one more confession.
“The trafficking?”
Salvatore smiled proudly.
“My idea.”
Outside, Agent Monroe nodded.
“That’s enough.”
Before they could move, Adrian suddenly grabbed Sofia.
He ripped open the collar of her blouse.
The microphone fell to the floor.
Salvatore’s face transformed.
“You stupid woman.”
The transmitter went dead.
Luca ran.
Gunfire erupted.
Windows shattered.
The tactical team breached the rear entrance.
Inside, Adrian dragged Sofia toward the basement.
Salvatore grabbed Bianca.
Vittorio fired through the front door.
Luca entered through smoke and glass.
“SOFIA!”
Her scream came from below.
He ran down the basement stairs.
Adrian stood beside an open trapdoor.
His pistol was pressed against Sofia’s temple.
Beneath the trapdoor, dark lake water moved through an old boathouse tunnel.
Adrian smiled.
“You searched four years for her.”
His finger tightened.
May you like
“Let’s see if you can find her twice.”
He pulled the trigger.
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