Chapter 14 - The Ultimatum
The digital clock on the bedside table flipped to 11:59 PM.
I sat rigidly on the edge of the mattress, wrapped tightly in a thick blanket. Luca stood by the window, entirely consumed by the shadows of the room, holding a silenced pistol by his side. A team of tech experts was stationed in the basement, ready to trace the call the second the burner phone connected.
At exactly midnight, the cheap plastic phone vibrated violently against the glass nightstand.
I flinched, my eyes darting to Luca. He gave me a sharp, definitive nod. Answer it.
I picked up the device with trembling fingers and pressed it to my ear.
“Hello?” I whispered.
“My beautiful niece,” a gravelly, chilling voice echoed through the static. “I knew my brother's sacrifice wasn't in vain. You have his exact eyes.”
My breath hitched. Hearing a blood relative speak to me for the first time in my life sent a confusing shockwave of emotion and terror through my chest.
“Who is this?” I asked, forcing my voice to sound terrified and confused, exactly as Luca would expect from Avery the waitress.
“Stop acting for the dead man in the room,” Dante hissed, his tone dripping with malice. “I know he is listening. But he cannot stop what is already in motion.”
Luca stepped closer, his eyes burning with silent fury as he motioned for me to keep the man talking so the trace could complete.
“What do you want?” I demanded, gripping the phone tight enough to crack the plastic casing.
“Justice,” Dante spat. “Luca Moretti slaughtered our family. He burned your true legacy to the ground. But you are inside the walls. You share his bed. You have the ultimate access.”
“I don't know what you are talking about,” I replied desperately.
“Look in the pocket of your winter coat, Isabella. The one you wore in the garden yesterday.” Dante’s voice dropped into a sinister, commanding whisper. “There is a small glass vial. Tasteless. Odorless. Three drops in his whiskey, and the Moretti empire crumbles tonight.”
My blood ran absolutely cold. Someone on Luca’s trusted staff was a traitor. Someone had slipped poison into my pocket right under Marco's nose.
“I won't do it,” I said fiercely, meaning every single word.
Dante let out a dark, menacing laugh. “Oh, you will, little bird. Because if Luca is still breathing at dawn, my sniper team will put a bullet through the window of the nursery. The Moretti bloodline ends tonight. Either the father dies by your hand, or the son dies by mine. You choose.”
The line went dead.
I dropped the phone as if it had caught fire, my hands shaking violently. Luca immediately crossed the room, pulling me into a protective embrace as the tech team radioed in—the call was bounced through a dozen servers. Untraceable.
“What did he say to you?” Luca demanded gently, brushing away the tears escaping my eyes.
May you like
I looked up at the man I loved, knowing the vial of poison was sitting in the closet just ten feet away. I had to make the most horrifying choice of my life.
“He said he wants a ransom,” I lied, condemning my uncle to death.
