Chapter 6 - A Revelation in Blood
Ten minutes later, the East Wing was flooded with loyal Romano enforcers.
Marco, bleeding from a superficial graze on his forehead, swept into the room with six armed guards, securing the hallway and executing the remaining wounded traitors. Capo Vincent had managed to flee into the stormy night, but his identity as the traitor was now fully exposed.
In the suite's private bathroom, Mara worked with the fast, clinical precision of her former medical training. She had stripped Luca’s shirt off, exposing his massive, muscular torso covered in dark tattoos and old bullet scars.
She used clean towels to apply heavy, direct pressure to his shoulder wound while Marco prepared a field surgical kit.
"The bullet went straight through the meat of the deltoid," Mara reported, her voice steady despite her trembling hands. "It missed the main subclavian artery by two inches. He’s losing blood, but he doesn't need emergency vascular surgery."
Luca sat on the edge of the marble bathtub, his jaw set like stone as Mara poured antiseptic directly into the wound. He didn't even flinch; he merely closed his eyes, his deep breathing steady and controlled.
"You're very good at this, house cleaner," Luca grunted, a faint, dark smirk touching his lips despite the pain.
"I was a licensed physical therapist before I met your brother, Mr. Romano," Mara said sharply, wrapping a heavy elastic bandage tightly around his torso. "I’ve patched up plenty of injuries. Though usually, they don't involve 9mm submachine guns."
She pinned the bandage in place, then stepped back, wiping her blood-stained hands on a towel. She looked down at him—this terrifying man who had just taken a bullet to save her life.
"Why did you do that?" Mara asked softly, her blue eyes glistening with unshed tears. "You could have stayed behind the armchair. You took a bullet for me."
Luca opened his dark eyes, looking up at her with an intensity that made her breath catch in her throat.
"Because for three years, I carried the guilt of failing my brother," Luca said softly, his voice thick with raw emotion. "I thought I was the strong one. I thought I was the protector. And while I was sitting in this mansion counting millions, Matteo was hunted down and murdered by my own capos. I couldn't save him, Mara."
He reached out his uninjured left hand, his warm, rough fingers gently grasping her wrist.
"But I can save you. And I can save his daughter. If I have to bleed out on this floor to keep you both safe, I will do it gladly."
Mara stared at him, the last lingering walls of suspicion around her heart crumbling away. She realized then that Luca wasn't the cold, heartless monster she had imagined during her three years in hiding. He was a man burdened by deep grief, fiercely loyal, and willing to sacrifice everything for the people he loved.
Suddenly, little Sophie peeked her head into the bathroom door, holding her stuffed brown teddy bear tightly against her chest.
"Uncle Luca?" Sophie whispered softly. "Are you okay?"
Luca’s ruthless expression melted instantly. He offered his niece a warm, gentle smile, extending his left arm. "I’m okay, sweetheart. Come here."
Sophie ran across the tiled floor and climbed onto his left knee, being very careful not to touch his bandaged shoulder. She held up her brown teddy bear.
"Mr. Brown was scared of the loud noises," Sophie said innocently. "So I gave him Daddy’s key."
Luca and Mara both froze.
"What did you say, Sophie?" Mara asked, dropping to her knees beside her daughter. "What key?"
Sophie reached her tiny fingers into a small, zippered pouch stitched into the back of the teddy bear’s neck—a pouch Mara had never noticed before. She pulled out a small, flat silver key stamped with a three-digit number: 408.
Luca picked up the key, his eyes widening in shock. "It’s a safety deposit key for the First National Bank of Chicago. Matteo kept a private box there."
Mara gasped. "The night before he died... Matteo told me he put all the evidence against the traitors in a safe place. He must have hidden the key inside Sophie’s bear before he left for Chicago!"
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Luca looked at the key, then looked at Mara, his eyes burning with lethal determination.
"This is it," Luca growled quietly. "This is the evidence that buries Vincent Rossi forever."
