Chapter 6 - A MOTHER’S PRICE
Mara became terrifyingly calm.
Adriano would remember that forever.
No screaming.
No collapse.
No hysterics.
She simply looked at him and said:
“Get my son back.”
Adriano mobilized everyone.
Roads.
Airports.
Train stations.
Cameras.
Victor had prepared too carefully.
No trace.
Then Mara’s phone rang.
Victor.
“Alone,” he said.
“Where?”
“Daniel’s old office.”
Adriano shook his head.
Mara ignored him.
“When?”
“Midnight.”
“If Luca has one scratch—”
“He doesn’t.”
“Let me hear him.”
A pause.
Then:
“Mom?”
Mara closed her eyes.
“Baby.”
“I’m scared.”
“I know. Listen to me. Remember what we say when storms get loud?”
Luca sniffled.
“Storms run out of rain.”
“That’s right.”
Her voice almost broke.
“So you wait. Mommy is coming.”
The call ended.
Adriano said, “You’re not going alone.”
“Yes, I am.”
“It’s a trap.”
“Obviously.”
“Mara—”
“My child is inside the trap.”
Nothing could answer that.
At 11:58, Mara entered Daniel’s abandoned accounting office.
She carried the original drive.
No visible weapons.
No wire.
Victor waited.
Luca sat behind him.
Mara’s heart nearly stopped.
“Mom!”
She moved forward.
Victor raised a pistol.
“Stay.”
Mara stopped.
“Drive.”
She held it up.
“Luca first.”
Victor smiled.
“You’ve become difficult.”
“I’m a mother. Difficult is the factory setting.”
Even Victor laughed.
“Daniel said things like that about you.”
“Don’t say his name.”
“He admired you.”
“You murdered him.”
Victor’s smile disappeared.
“Yes.”
Mara’s stomach twisted.
“Why?”
“He refused to understand business.”
“You cut his brakes.”
“He should have given me the files.”
“You killed my husband because of a spreadsheet?”
“No.”
Victor stepped closer.
“I killed Daniel because he discovered who really controlled Valenni’s empire.”
Mara frowned.
“You?”
Victor laughed.
“Adriano still thinks this is about his mother.”
He leaned closer.
“It’s about his father.”
“His father is dead.”
“Is he?”
Mara’s expression betrayed her.
Victor smiled.
Then the lights went out.
Glass shattered.
Adriano’s men entered.
Mara dropped.
Luca screamed.
Gunfire erupted.
Victor grabbed Luca.
Adriano emerged from darkness.
“Let him go.”
Victor held the gun against Luca’s head.
Adriano stopped.
Mara crawled behind a desk.
“Drop it,” Victor ordered.
Adriano placed his weapon down.
“Kick it away.”
He obeyed.
Victor smiled.
“The great Adriano Valenni.”
His gun remained against Luca.
“On your knees.”
Adriano slowly knelt.
Luca was crying.
Adriano looked directly at him.
“Hey, buddy.”
Victor frowned.
“Quiet.”
Adriano ignored him.
“Remember the pool?”
Luca nodded shakily.
“You still haven’t tried it.”
“Adriano.”
Victor cocked the weapon.
Adriano smiled at Luca.
“So we can’t let this idiot ruin tomorrow.”
Luca laughed through tears.
Victor glanced down.
That was the mistake.
Mara slammed a metal wastebasket into Victor’s knee.
His gun fired upward.
Adriano lunged.
They hit the floor.
Mara grabbed Luca and covered him.
Adriano’s men restrained Victor.
It was over in seconds.
Mara held her son.
Adriano remained kneeling nearby.
Blood ran from his eyebrow.
Luca suddenly reached for him.
Adriano hesitated.
Then Luca hugged him.
The feared Adriano Valenni looked completely helpless.
Mara began crying.
Adriano held Luca with one arm and reached toward her.
She joined them.
For one strange moment, they were exactly what they had pretended to be at the gala.
A family.
Police arrived.
Victor was taken away.
Before entering the cruiser, he looked at Adriano.
“You still don’t understand.”
Adriano stopped.
“Understand what?”
Victor smiled through blood.
“Ask your mother where your father is buried.”
Then he was gone.
At dawn, Isabella arrived.
Adriano confronted her immediately.
“My father.”
Isabella went pale.
“Victor said he’s alive.”
Silence.
“Mother.”
Isabella sat down.
“He was.”
Adriano stared.
“What does that mean?”
“He survived the heart attack.”
Adriano’s face emptied.
“You buried an empty coffin?”
“I buried the identity he used.”
“Where is he?”
Isabella began crying.
“I don’t know anymore.”
“When did you last see him?”
“Six years ago.”
“Where?”
“A private clinic in Switzerland.”
Mara watched Adriano absorb another betrayal.
Then Isabella said something worse.
“Your father wasn’t hiding from you.”
May you like
She looked toward Luca.
“He was waiting for you to have something worth losing.”
