Chapter 8 - The Evidence on the Screen
Salvatore Bellini scoffed. "My daughter is a refined, educated woman from one of the founding families of this city! Your maid made up a lie because she was caught stealing from the guest bedrooms!"
Vanessa nodded aggressively behind her father. "That's right! I caught Emma Reed stealing diamond cufflinks from the master suite during the party! When I threatened to call the police, she invented this story about Mrs. Alvarez to turn Luca against me!"
My heart hammered against my chest. A lie like that could land me in prison.
"Is that so, Vanessa?" Luca asked softly.
He gestured toward Marco Rossi, who was standing near the wall. Marco pulled out a small black remote control and pressed a button.
A large high-definition projection screen lowered slowly from the ceiling against the oak paneling. The lights in the chamber dimmed automatically.
"The Moretti estate is equipped with a state-of-the-art security system," Luca explained to the five seated bosses, his voice smooth and cold as steel. "Every hallway, foyer, and public room is monitored by forty-four high-resolution cameras with internal directional audio microphones."
Vanessa’s face instantly drained of all color. Her hands began to tremble against her father's chair.
"No..." she breathed softly.
"Video file 08-B," Luca commanded.
The screen flickered to life. The crystal clear, high-definition video showed the grand foyer of the Moretti estate from the previous evening.
There was Vanessa, standing near the archway in her red gown, looking down her nose at Rosa. The audio was flawless:
"She is not sitting with the guests," Vanessa's voice echoed loudly through the silent council room. "She was the help."
The video continued, showing Vanessa pulling a thick stack of hundred-dollar bills from her purse and shoving it toward Rosa's chest.
"Take five thousand dollars, get back on the bus, and don't ever come back here. If you tell Luca I saw you, I'll have your pension revoked."
Then the camera shifted, capturing the moment Vanessa turned to me in the service hallway, pointing a finger at my face:
"Put her in the staff dining room... And throw that apple pie away before Luca sees it. Nobody wants homemade apple pie beside a twelve-thousand-dollar engagement cake."
The video stopped. The lights came back on.
The five crime bosses sat in complete, stunned silence. Don Carmine Lucchesi looked at Vanessa with an expression of profound disgust, then turned his stern gaze to Salvatore Bellini.
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"Salvatore," Don Carmine said slowly, his voice dripping with icy contempt. "Is this the 'refined, educated' daughter whose honor was insulted?"
Salvatore Bellini stood frozen, his jaw working silently, unable to form a single word.
