Chapter 7 - The Ultimatum
I dropped the phone, my entire body going numb.
Luca caught the device before it hit the floor and put it to his ear, but the call was disconnected.
"They have him," I choked out, fighting back a wave of nausea.
"David has my father."
The office phone on Luca's desk rang, jarring us all.
Luca hit the speaker button, his eyes locked on mine.
"Luca Moretti," a smooth, oily voice drifted from the speaker.
I recognized David's voice immediately, bringing back a flood of terrible memories.
"I have something that belongs to your new bride," David purred.
"If you want the old man to live, send Sophia to the old boathouse at the bottom of the mountain."
"Come near her, and I will tear your heart out," Luca growled, his voice vibrating with lethal promise.
"You have one hour," David replied calmly, and hung up.
Luca immediately began issuing orders to his men, planning a full assault on the boathouse.
"You stay here in the vault," Luca told me, grabbing heavily armored vests from a hidden compartment.
"No, he wants me," I argued, terrified for my father.
"I will not hand my wife over to a dead man," Luca said firmly, kissing my forehead before rushing out.
I was left alone in the hallway with Elena.
I knew I couldn't just sit there and wait for my father to be murdered.
I slipped out the back service door and began the long, treacherous hike down the mountain path in the dark.
I reached the rotting wooden boathouse, my dress torn and my feet bleeding.
I pushed the heavy door open, expecting to see David standing over my captive father.
Instead, the boathouse was completely empty, except for a single figure waiting in the shadows.
May you like
It wasn't David.
It was Elena.
