Chapter 7 - The Enemy Inside the Family
Luca was already moving before Dmitri finished speaking.
“Vincent! Trace that call!”
Vincent grabbed his phone.
“I'm on it.”
Luna stared at the screen.
“Dmitri, don't touch her.”
He smiled.
“Still giving orders? That's adorable.”
Rosa tried to move toward the box, but Dmitri caught her wrist.
“Please,” Luna begged. “Whatever you want, take it. Just leave her alone.”
Dmitri's expression softened.
“That's the problem with you, Luna. You've always been willing to sacrifice yourself for people who don't deserve it.”
He opened the box.
Inside were several documents, an old photograph, and a small recording device.
Dmitri examined the contents.
Then he laughed.
“Twenty-five years. All this trouble for a few pieces of paper.”
He turned toward Rosa.
“Where's the original recording?”
Rosa remained silent.
Dmitri placed his hand on the table.
“Don't make me ask twice.”
Before he could continue, the hospital lights flickered.
A nurse entered with a security officer.
Dmitri looked toward the door.
For the first time, his confidence faltered.
The officer reached for his weapon.
Dmitri pulled Rosa in front of him.
“Back away!”
Luna screamed.
The video feed shook.
Then the screen went black.
Luca grabbed his coat.
“Get the aircraft ready.”
Within minutes, the private jet was prepared.
Luna insisted on going with him.
This time, he didn't argue.
They arrived in Mexico City shortly after midnight.
The hospital was surrounded by local security officers and Moretti personnel.
Rosa was safe.
Dmitri had escaped through a service entrance, leaving the wooden box behind.
Luna rushed into the room.
“Abuela!”
Rosa embraced her.
“My little girl.”
Luna held her tightly, afraid that if she let go, something else would happen.
Luca stood near the door.
Rosa looked at him.
“You have your mother's eyes.”
He swallowed.
“I'm sorry I didn't know.”
“You were a child. None of this was your fault.”
She opened the box.
Inside was an old cassette recorder.
Luna examined the photograph.
It showed Isabella holding both babies in a hospital bed.
On the back were two names.
Luca.
Luna.
Beneath them was a short message.
Whatever happens, never let them turn my children against each other.
Rosa inserted the cassette into an old player.
A woman's voice filled the room.
Isabella.
“If you're hearing this, then I wasn't able to protect you.”
Luna began crying.
“My babies, I want you to know that you were loved from the moment I first felt you move.”
The recording continued.
Isabella described the growing suspicion that someone in the family was arranging illegal shipments using the Moretti name.
She mentioned her father-in-law, Don Enzo Moretti.
Then she said something that made Luca go rigid.
“I found out that Enzo has been meeting with Dmitri Kosoff's father. They're planning to eliminate Salvatore and take control of the entire organization.”
Luca stared at the recorder.
His grandfather had been dead for years.
But his influence was apparently still alive.
Isabella continued.
“Rafael knows the truth. He's promised to protect our daughter. I pray that one day she and her brother will find each other.”
The recording ended with a long silence.
Then another voice appeared.
A man's voice.
Salvatore.
“I told you to destroy that recording.”
Luna looked at Luca.
The next voice belonged to Isabella.
“You knew?”
Salvatore answered quietly.
“I knew what my father was planning.”
“Then why didn't you stop him?”
“I was afraid.”
A chair scraped across the floor.
Then a loud crash.
The recording ended.
Luca stood motionless.
“My father knew.”
Rosa lowered her head.
“He was young. He thought obeying Enzo was the only way to keep the family alive.”
Luna looked at the old woman.
“Did he know about us?”
Rosa hesitated.
“Not at first.”
“What does that mean?”
“Your grandmother Isabella had arranged for both children to be moved. But someone changed the hospital orders.”
Luca's expression darkened.
“Who?”
Rosa opened the last document.
It was a hospital transfer form.
The signature at the bottom belonged to Vincent Torino.
Luna frowned.
“Vincent?”
Luca took the paper.
His face became unreadable.
Vincent had served the Morettis for twenty years.
He had been Salvatore's right-hand man.
He had also been the man assigned to protect Luca since childhood.
And now his signature appeared on a document connected to the disappearance of Luca's twin sister.
Luca called him immediately.
No answer.
He tried again.
Nothing.
Then a message arrived.
One photograph.
Vincent standing beside Salvatore.
May you like
And beneath it, a sentence:
Ask your father who really ordered the twins separated.
