Chapter 4 - The Housekeeper's Secret
Luna refused to believe it.
Maria had been the closest thing she had to family outside Mexico. The older woman had scolded her, protected her, and quietly slipped extra food into her bag whenever she worked late.
She couldn't be involved.
“She wouldn't do that,” Luna insisted.
Luca stood beside the study window, speaking into his phone.
“Search every exit. Nobody leaves this property without being identified.”
He ended the call.
“I'm not accusing her yet.”
“But the photograph—”
“Can be staged.”
Luna looked at him.
“You believe me?”
“I believe that someone wants us to suspect everyone.”
For the first time since the announcement, she felt a little less alone.
Then Luca turned toward Vincent.
“Find Maria. Alive.”
Vincent nodded and left.
Salvatore remained behind.
“You should send the girl away,” he said.
Luca's eyes narrowed.
“Her name is Luna.”
“This isn't a romance novel. Whoever is behind this has already reached your office and her grandmother. Keeping her here puts a target on her back.”
“She was a target before I chose her.”
“Then don't make the mistake of thinking love can protect her.”
Luca stepped closer.
“I didn't choose her because I thought this would be easy.”
Salvatore looked at his son.
“You sound exactly like your mother.”
Luca went silent.
It was the first time his father had mentioned Isabella without bitterness in years.
Luna looked between them.
“What happened to her?”
Salvatore sat down.
“Your future mother-in-law was killed because she discovered that someone inside our family was selling information to our enemies.”
“Who?”
“We never proved it.”
“Was it Rafael?”
Salvatore's face tightened.
“I believed so.”
Luna shook her head.
“My grandmother always said my father was a good man.”
“Good men can make terrible choices,” Salvatore replied. “And terrible men can sometimes do good things.”
He opened another folder.
Inside was a faded newspaper clipping about a fire at a private medical clinic in New Jersey.
Three people had died.
One of them was listed as an unidentified female patient.
The date was October 15, 2001.
The day after Luna's birth.
Salvatore pointed to the article.
“This clinic was connected to a doctor who treated Isabella during her pregnancy.”
Luca examined the photograph.
“Why was the clinic burned?”
“Officially, an electrical fault. Unofficially, someone wanted the records destroyed.”
Luna looked at the newspaper.
“What does this have to do with me?”
Salvatore hesitated.
“Your grandmother worked there.”
The room became silent.
Luna's mind raced.
Her grandmother had been a seamstress in Mexico. That was the story she'd heard all her life.
She had never mentioned working in a hospital.
Then Luca's phone rang.
Vincent.
“We found Maria.”
“Where?”
“In the old laundry building.”
“Is she alive?”
“Yes. But she's been beaten.”
Luca looked at Luna.
“Stay here.”
“No. I'm coming.”
“Luna—”
“She knows something about me. If she's been hurt because of this, I have a right to hear what she knows.”
Luca studied her face.
Then he nodded.
They crossed the grounds with four armed guards.
Maria was sitting on the floor of the laundry building, her hands tied behind her back. Blood darkened the sleeve of her uniform.
Luna rushed toward her.
“Maria!”
The older woman looked up.
“Don't come closer.”
Luna stopped.
“Who did this?”
Maria's eyes filled with tears.
“I tried to warn you.”
“Warn me about what?”
Maria looked at Luca.
“Leave us alone.”
Luca hesitated.
Then he stepped outside with Vincent.
Maria grabbed Luna's wrist.
“Listen to me. Your grandmother didn't steal you. She saved you.”
“From whom?”
“From Salvatore.”
Luna felt the world tilt.
Maria swallowed.
“Your mother was Isabella Moretti.”
Luna stared at her.
“You're saying I'm—”
“The daughter of Salvatore's wife.”
Maria nodded.
“And the sister of Luca.”
The words struck harder than any physical blow.
Luna stumbled backward.
“No.”
Maria began crying.
“I wanted to tell you years ago. But your grandmother begged me to stay silent.”
“Why?”
“Because the truth would have gotten you killed.”
Luna's voice broke.
“Why would anyone want to kill a baby?”
Maria looked toward the door.
“Because Isabella had twins.”
Luna went completely still.
“Twins?”
“One boy. One girl. Luca was the boy.”
The room seemed to lose its air.
Luca.
Her Luca.
The man who had just announced in front of a hundred families that he wanted her as his wife.
Maria gripped her hand.
“Luna, you have to understand. He doesn't know.”
Tears blurred Luna's vision.
“Who separated us?”
Maria looked down.
“Your father.”
“My father was Rafael Reyes.”
“Yes. Rafael was not your biological father. He was Isabella's brother.”
Luna's knees nearly gave way.
“Then who am I?”
Maria looked toward the door again.
“Your real father was a man named—”
A gunshot shattered the window.
Maria jerked.
Luna screamed and dropped beside her.
Outside, guards shouted.
Luca burst through the door, weapon drawn.
“Get down!”
He pulled Luna behind a concrete pillar as another bullet struck the wall.
Vincent fired toward the darkness.
Seconds later, the shooting stopped.
Luca turned toward Maria.
“Who fired?”
Maria was barely conscious.
Luna knelt beside her.
“Please. Finish what you were saying.”
Maria's lips moved.
She forced out three words.
“Your father... is alive.”
Then her eyes closed.
And from somewhere beyond the laundry building, a man's voice called out through the darkness.
“Hello, son.”
Luca froze.
He knew that voice.
It was the voice of a man he had buried twenty-five years ago.
May you like
His mother’s husband.
The man everyone believed had died the night the twins were born.
