Chapter 5 - The Man Who Came Back From the Dead
The guards surrounded the laundry building.
Luca stood in front of Luna, his gun raised.
“Identify yourself!”
A figure emerged from the darkness.
He wore a dark overcoat and carried no visible weapon. His hair was silver at the temples, his face lined with age.
But his eyes were unmistakable.
Luca lowered his gun by an inch.
“Rafael?”
The man smiled sadly.
“Hello, Luca.”
Luna stared at him.
The man who had supposedly died before she was born was standing ten feet away.
“Is he my father?” she whispered.
Rafael looked at her.
For the first time, his expression broke.
“Lunita.”
He took one step forward.
Luca immediately raised his weapon again.
“Don't.”
Rafael stopped.
“I know you have questions.”
“Twenty-five years of questions.”
“Then let me answer them.”
Luca's jaw tightened.
“First, explain why my mother died.”
Rafael lowered his eyes.
“Because I failed to protect her.”
He explained that Isabella had discovered a secret network operating within the Moretti organization. Someone was using the family’s legitimate shipping companies to move weapons and launder money.
She had found evidence that could expose several powerful families.
Before she could deliver it to Salvatore, she was murdered.
Rafael had tried to save her.
He arrived at the hospital too late.
But Isabella had given birth to twins.
Luca survived.
Luna was taken to another room.
And someone ordered the newborn girl killed.
Rafael had stolen her from the clinic and given her to his sister, Rosa, to raise in Mexico.
“Why didn't you tell us?” Luca demanded.
“Because the person responsible was inside your father's organization.”
Salvatore stepped into the doorway.
“Who?”
Rafael looked directly at him.
“You.”
The guards raised their weapons.
Luca turned sharply.
“What?”
Rafael continued.
“You signed the orders that moved the shipment. You gave the man who killed Isabella access to the hospital.”
Salvatore's face hardened.
“That is a lie.”
“I have the documents.”
“Then why did you disappear?”
“Because I knew you would kill me before I could expose the truth.”
Salvatore gripped his cane.
“You betrayed this family.”
“I saved my daughter.”
Luna stepped forward.
“Stop.”
Both men looked at her.
She was crying, but her voice was firm.
“I don't care what either of you thinks you did twenty-five years ago. I want to know why I spent my entire life believing I was someone else's child.”
Rafael lowered his head.
“Because I thought it was the only way to keep you alive.”
“You could have visited.”
“I did.”
Luna stared at him.
“What?”
“From a distance. I watched your first day of school. I watched you learn to ride a bicycle. I watched you bury your grandmother's dog.”
Her expression crumpled.
“And you never came near me?”
“I couldn't.”
Luna slapped him.
The sound echoed through the building.
“Twenty-five years,” she whispered. “You watched me grow up from a distance, and you let me think I was alone.”
Rafael accepted the blow without moving.
“I deserve that.”
Luca turned toward Vincent.
“Take him into custody.”
Two guards stepped forward.
Rafael raised his hands.
“Before you do that, ask your father what happened to Isabella's second medical file.”
Salvatore went pale.
Luca looked at him.
“Father?”
The old Don said nothing.
Rafael continued.
“The records prove that Isabella was not killed by an outside enemy. She was poisoned before delivery.”
Salvatore gripped his cane harder.
“And the person who administered it was the doctor who signed your mother's death certificate.”
Luca stared at his father.
“Who hired him?”
Rafael's voice dropped.
“Your grandfather.”
Silence filled the room.
Salvatore shook his head.
“My father died fifteen years ago.”
“His orders didn't.”
Rafael reached inside his coat and produced a small envelope.
“Isabella left this for her children.”
He held it toward Luca.
Inside was a handwritten letter.
The first line read:
To my beautiful twins, if you are reading this, someone has finally discovered what our family has done.
Luca began reading.
But before he could reach the second paragraph, the lights went out.
A series of gunshots erupted outside.
Vincent shouted.
“Ambush!”
Luca grabbed Luna and pulled her behind the washing machines.
Someone had breached the security perimeter.
When the emergency lights flickered on, Rafael was gone.
So was the envelope.
Luca rushed outside.
A black SUV was speeding toward the estate gates.
“Get the cars!”
Vincent ran after him.
But Luna remained beside the doorway, staring at the ground.
There was something lying near her shoe.
A small silver key.
May you like
And attached to it was a note in familiar handwriting.
Your grandmother kept the other half.
