Chapter 6 - The Last Promise of a Grandmother
The hospital room smelled of antiseptic and fresh flowers.
Luna sat beside Maria's bed while Luca spoke with the attending physician.
The housekeeper had survived the shooting, but the doctor warned that she would need several days to recover.
Luna held Maria's hand.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
Maria opened her eyes.
“Because I promised your grandmother.”
“What promise?”
“That you would have a chance to live a normal life.”
Luna looked down.
“I don't even know who I am anymore.”
Maria squeezed her fingers.
“You are still Luna Reyes. A name doesn't change who you are.”
Luna smiled sadly.
“I'm apparently a Moretti, too.”
Maria looked toward the window.
“Your mother was a wonderful woman. She wanted her children to grow up far away from this life.”
“Did she know what was going to happen?”
Maria nodded.
“She suspected someone was planning to take the children. She made your grandmother promise to protect you.”
Luna remembered the silver key.
“Maria, did my grandmother ever give you something to keep?”
The older woman frowned.
“What kind of something?”
“A key.”
Maria's expression changed.
“Then you found it.”
She leaned forward carefully.
“Your grandmother kept a locked box. She told me never to touch it unless you were in danger.”
“Where?”
“Her house in Mexico.”
Luna immediately stood.
“I have to go.”
Luca entered the room.
“Absolutely not.”
She turned.
“That's my grandmother.”
“I know.”
“Someone shot her. I don't even know if she's alive.”
“We're sending people to find her.”
“I need to go myself.”
Luca approached her.
“Listen to me. Dmitri has people watching the airport, the highways, and every property connected to your family. If you travel now, you'll be walking straight into a trap.”
“Then what am I supposed to do? Sit here?”
“No. We're going to bring your grandmother here.”
Luna looked at him for a long moment.
Then she noticed something different in his expression.
He had been avoiding her eyes.
“Luca?”
He took a breath.
“We need to talk.”
They moved into the hallway.
Luca closed the door.
“Maria told me what she believes.”
“About us?”
He nodded.
“If she's right, we're twins.”
Luna looked away.
“I know.”
“I should have known. I should have asked more questions.”
“You didn't know.”
“But I chose you in front of everyone. I told the world you were going to be my wife.”
His voice cracked slightly.
“I have to live with that.”
Luna's eyes filled.
“So do I.”
He reached for her hand, then stopped.
“I won't ask you to forgive me for something neither of us understood. And I won't ever put you in a position where you feel obligated to stay beside me.”
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then Luna looked at him.
“I loved you.”
Luca closed his eyes.
“I know.”
“I loved the man who remembered my mother's arthritis. The man who brought me medicine when I was sick. The man who made me believe I mattered.”
“You did matter.”
“But now I need to find out who my family is.”
He nodded.
“Then we'll do that.”
Later that night, Vincent returned with news.
Rosa Reyes had been found alive.
She was being treated at a private hospital in Mexico City after an attack on her home.
Luna nearly collapsed with relief.
They arranged a secure video call.
When her grandmother appeared on the screen, Luna began crying.
“Abuela!”
“Mi niña.”
Rosa reached toward the camera.
“Are you safe?”
“Yes. Are you hurt?”
“Nothing that won't heal.”
Luna told her about the photograph, Rafael, and the revelation about Isabella.
Rosa listened without interrupting.
Then she nodded.
“It is time.”
“Time for what?”
“To tell you the truth.”
Rosa explained that Rafael had brought Luna to her when she was only a day old. He had begged her to raise the baby as her own and keep her away from the Morettis.
But he had also given her something.
A small metal box containing a letter, a photograph, and a second key.
“I kept it because I promised your mother,” Rosa said.
Luna's heart tightened.
“My mother?”
“Yes, sweetheart. Isabella was your mother.”
Rosa began crying.
“She wanted you to know she loved you.”
Luna covered her mouth.
“What's in the box?”
“Proof of what happened that night.”
Luca leaned toward the screen.
“Who ordered the attack?”
Rosa looked at him.
“Your grandfather.”
“But he's dead.”
“He died believing the evidence was destroyed.”
Rosa paused.
“Except it wasn't.”
She explained that the box had been hidden beneath a loose floorboard in her old sewing room.
Luna stared at the screen.
“Can someone retrieve it?”
“I already have.”
Rosa turned the camera slightly.
On the table beside her sat a small wooden box.
Then the hospital door opened.
A nurse entered.
“Mrs. Reyes, I'm sorry, but there's a visitor asking for you.”
Rosa frowned.
“I told everyone not to let anyone in.”
The nurse looked uncomfortable.
“He says he's family.”
Luna leaned closer to the screen.
“Abuela, don't open the door.”
The nurse stepped aside.
A tall man entered the room.
He wore an expensive gray suit and carried a bouquet of white roses.
Luna recognized him.
It was Dmitri Kosoff.
He smiled at the camera.
“Hello, little sister.”
Luna's blood turned cold.
Dmitri placed the flowers on Rosa's table.
May you like
Then he reached for the wooden box.
“I'm afraid your grandmother has something that belongs to me.”
