Chapter 4 - Handcuffs in the Moonlight
Within ten minutes, the Moretti estate was transformed from a glittering celebration into a heavily guarded crime scene.
However, the police who arrived were not standard precinct cops. They were detectives on the payroll of the Romano syndicate, led by Captain Thomas Vance—a man whose loyalty was bought and paid for years ago.
“Clear the room!” Vance barked, his voice echoing off the marble walls as his officers swarmed the ballroom.
Guests were pushed back, herded toward the exits like cattle. In the center of the chaos, Salvatore Romano stood over his daughter’s body, weeping tears of pure venom. He looked up, his eyes bloodshot, fixing a deadly glare across the room.
“She was poisoned,” Salvatore roared, pointing a shaking finger directly toward the servants’ entrance. “And I know exactly who did it!”
Before Sophia could turn and slip through the doorway with Emma, two heavy-set officers blocked her path.
“Hold it right there, maid,” one officer snarled, grabbing Sophia by the arm.
“Let go of me!” Sophia cried out, pulling away as Emma began to wail in terror. “We didn't do anything! We were leaving!”
“You had a public altercation with Miss Romano less than fifteen minutes ago,” Captain Vance declared, walking over with a pair of steel handcuffs swinging from his hand. He glanced down at Emma, then sneered at Sophia. “A maid humiliated by the bride, given a million-dollar payout out of spite by the groom, and holding a deep-seated grudge. Motive, opportunity, and means.”
“That’s insane!” Sophia sobbed as the cold metal cuffs were clamped violently around her wrists. “Ask anyone! We were nowhere near her glass!”
“Take her away,” Salvatore hissed, standing up from his daughter’s corpse. “Lock her in the underground holding cells. And throw the brat into the social services van. Let’s see how tough the maid is when her child is taken away.”
“No! Mommy! Mommy!” Emma screamed, thrashing as an officer scooped her up into his arms.
“Don’t touch her!” Sophia fought against the handcuffs, kicking and screaming like a trapped animal, but her efforts were useless against the brute strength of the officers.
Just as they began dragging Sophia toward the service elevators, the heavy oak doors of the grand study swung open with a resounding bang.
Aleandro Moretti stepped out.
The entire room went dead silent. Even Captain Vance seemed to shrink an inch under the absolute fury radiating from the mafia don. Aleandro walked down the stairs, his strides long and measured, his dark eyes locked onto Captain Vance’s hand, which was currently holding the sobbing, terrified child.
“Put the child down, Captain,” Aleandro said, his voice quiet, carrying a lethal, controlled menace that made the air feel thin.
Vance swallowed hard, forcing a fake smile. “Mr. Moretti, my condolences for your bride, but this is a police matter. The maid poisoned her—”
“I gave you an order, Vance,” Aleandro interrupted, stepping directly into the captain’s personal space. “Put my daughter down.”
The entire ballroom gasped. Even Salvatore Romano stared at Aleandro in stunned disbelief.
“Your... your daughter?” Vance stammered.
“If you ever put your hands on her, or her mother, again,” Aleandro whispered, leaning in so close Vance could smell the scotch on his breath, “you won’t live long enough to regret it.”
Vance nervously lowered Emma, who immediately bolted past the guards and threw her arms around Sophia’s handcuffed legs, sobbing uncontrollably.
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Aleandro looked down at Sophia, his eyes softening for a fraction of a second before hardening into steel. He turned to his head of security, Marco Rossi, who had just rushed into the room.
“Lock down the estate,” Aleandro ordered. “Nobody leaves. And bring the forensic logs to my study. We are going to find out who poisoned my house... tonight.”
