My Mob Boss Employer’s Fiancée Broke Her 14-Month-Old Step-Son’s Arm and Framed Me — But She Didn't Know About the Clock on the Mantle
The ride back to my apartment was silent. The small spark of hope that had flickered within me was extinguished, replaced by a cold, hollow despair. Without the SD card, it was my word against Vanessa’s, amplified by Dominic’s power and the media’s hunger for scandal.
Detective Alvarez dropped me off with a somber look. “I’m sorry, Maya,” he said, his voice quiet. “We’ll continue to investigate, but without that evidence…” He trailed off, the unspoken implications hanging in the air.
I slumped into my apartment, feeling the full weight of Dominic’s ultimatum again. The Indiana dunes. It seemed like an increasingly likely destination.
Just then, my phone, which had been returned to me after the hospital visit, buzzed. It was a text message: “My driver will pick you up in ten minutes. Nonna.”
A sliver of curiosity cut through my despair. What could Nonna want now? Was it simply a gesture of comfort?
True to her word, a black sedan pulled up outside my building ten minutes later. It was Nonna’s driver, the same burly man who had accompanied her yesterday. He gave me a respectful nod and opened the back door.
The drive was short, taking me to a quiet, elegant residence on the North Side, far removed from the Moretti estate’s sprawling opulence. Nonna Rosa’s private home was smaller, older, filled with dark wood, antique furniture, and the scent of lavender.
She was waiting for me in her sunroom, a delicate porcelain teacup in her frail hands.
“Maya, dear,” she said, her voice gentle. “You look utterly distraught. Sit. Have some tea.”
I sat, my mind racing. “Nonna, the clock… the SD card. It was gone. Dominic’s men must have found it.”
She took a slow sip of her tea, her gaze fixed on a blooming orchid on the windowsill. “Yes, they are very thorough, Dominic’s boys. Especially Enzo. He leaves nothing to chance.”
My heart sank further. “So it’s truly gone?”
Nonna Rosa turned her piercing gaze on me. A faint, knowing smile played on her lips. She reached into the deep pocket of her apron, a simple, embroidered garment she wore over her dress.
Her hand emerged, holding something tiny, no bigger than my thumbnail. A small, black rectangle.
My breath hitched. My eyes fixated on the object.
“This, dear Maya,” she said, holding it out, “is what you are looking for, no?”
It was the 128GB micro-SD card. The very one from Leo’s bedside clock.
I gasped, reaching for it with a trembling hand. “Nonna! How… how did you get this?”
She chuckled softly, a dry, rustling sound. “When the paramedics arrived, they made quite a commotion. Everyone was focused on poor Leo, on Vanessa’s dramatics, on Dominic’s guards securing the house.”
She tapped her temple. “But an old woman, Maya, sees things others do not. I saw Enzo’s eyes dart to the clock. I saw him give a silent order to one of the younger guards.”
“You were there?” I whispered, astonished.
“Oh, yes. I insisted on being there for my great-grandson. I may be old, but I am still the matriarch. And I was quite certain that Vanessa, in her panic, would have forgotten something crucial.”
She leaned forward, her eyes bright with triumph. “I knew that clock was important. So, when the young guard went to fetch some of Leo’s favorite stuffed animals from the nursery for the ambulance, I told him I wanted to see the clock. I said it reminded me of my own grandmother’s clock.”
“And he just let you?”
“He was distracted, Maya. And who would question Nonna Rosa? While he gathered the toys, I simply reached into my pocket, pulled out a dummy card from an old digital camera, and made a quick swap.”
She mimed the motion with her frail fingers, her expression one of utter satisfaction.
“Dominic’s guards found the dummy card, of course,” she continued. “They thought they had destroyed the evidence. Fools. They underestimated an old woman and her sentimental attachment to a clock.”
Tears welled in my eyes. Nonna Rosa, the frail, quiet matriarch, had outsmarted a team of mob enforcers. She had physically retrieved the evidence, risking everything for a child she loved and a nanny she barely knew.
“You saved me,” I choked out, tears finally falling.
“We saved Leo,” she corrected gently, patting my hand. “And now, dear, we will use this to save your name. And to deal with that viper Vanessa once and for all.”
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