Chapter 9 - The Dogs Knew First
The dogs heard them before we did.
That saved our lives.
Luca pulled my mother behind the kitchen island.
Marco moved toward the hallway.
Three men entered.
Dante attacked the first man’s arm, knocking his weapon away.
Bruno, old and weak, blocked the hallway long enough for security to respond.
The fight lasted less than a minute.
When it ended, two attackers were captured.
One escaped.
Bruno collapsed.
“Bruno!”
Luca dropped beside him.
The dog was conscious but breathing hard.
Dr. Monroe met us at the veterinary hospital.
His heart was strained.
His dehydration had weakened him more than we realized.
Luca sat beside the examination table.
“He saved us.”
Dr. Monroe nodded.
“He needs rest now.”
Luca touched Bruno’s gray muzzle.
The dog licked his hand.
I had never seen grief look so quiet.
Outside, federal agents arrived.
The evidence had been delivered.
Carlo Bellini and Anthony Russo were officially wanted.
Vanessa agreed to cooperate.
In exchange, she demanded protection.
“For yourself?” Luca asked.
“For my younger sister.”
That surprised everyone.
Vanessa’s sister Sofia lived in Rome.
Carlo controlled her finances.
Her apartment.
Even her passport.
Vanessa had spent years trying to keep Sofia away from him.
Luca studied Vanessa.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Would you have believed me?”
“Maybe.”
“No.”
She smiled sadly.
“You would have looked at me exactly the way you’re looking at me now.”
He didn’t deny it.
Carlo sent another message.
He knew federal agents had the archive.
So the game changed.
He no longer wanted evidence.
He wanted revenge.
His message contained one sentence.
YOU TOOK MY DAUGHTER.
I’LL TAKE YOURS.
Luca stared at it.
“I don’t have a daughter.”
Vanessa looked at me.
Then everyone did.
My stomach dropped.
“No.”
Luca’s expression hardened.
Carlo didn’t mean a biological daughter.
He meant someone Luca had protected.
Me.
For the first time, I realized my role had changed.
I was no longer the maid who accidentally rescued a dog.
I was a witness.
A key.
And a target.
That night Luca moved my family into his mansion.
Ryan complained until he saw the bulletproof windows.
My mother complained until she saw me shaking.
Then she stopped.
Bruno returned two days later.
He moved slowly.
But he came home.
Luca carried him through the front doors.
Exactly as he had carried him the night of the engagement dinner.
Only this time there were no guests.
No champagne.
No Vanessa in a red gown.
Just me.
Luca.
Dante.
And Bruno.
The old shepherd looked at me.
Then he walked directly past Luca.
Toward the grandfather clock in the foyer.
He scratched at the base.
Luca and I exchanged a look.
Not again.
Behind the clock was one final hidden compartment.
Inside sat a sealed photograph.
Salvatore.
Michael.
And two newborn babies.
On the back my father had written:
LUCA AND EMMA.
I dropped the photograph.
“That’s impossible.”
Luca picked it up.
The date was twenty-eight years earlier.
The year I was born.
The year Luca’s younger sister had supposedly died shortly after birth.
My mother entered the room.
She saw the photograph.
And her face collapsed.
“Mom?”
She began crying.
“Emma.”
“What?”
She looked at Luca.
May you like
Then back at me.
“You’re not Michael Sullivan’s biological daughter.”
