Chapter 5 - The Brother Who Knew Everything
The attack lasted seven minutes.
Marcus remembered every second.
Security lights returned first. Then communications.
His men secured the west entrance and discovered the shattered window had been a diversion. No intruder had entered.
Giovanni wanted fear, not blood.
At least not yet.
Amelia refused to release Marcus's hand.
That surprised everyone, including Marcus.
Especially Marcus.
When Raymond declared the mansion secure, Veronica reached for her daughter.
Amelia went willingly but looked back at Marcus.
"Are you coming?"
The question hit him strangely.
"Yes."
Only after Amelia was asleep did Veronica confront him.
"What did Giovanni mean?"
"I don't know."
"Don't do that."
"Do what?"
"Become Marcus Duca."
His expression sharpened.
"I am Marcus Duca."
"No. You're becoming the man who gives half an answer and expects everyone else to be too frightened to ask for the other half."
He stared at her.
Six years earlier, that courage had fascinated him.
It still did.
"I don't know why Giovanni claimed responsibility."
"But you believe him."
"I believe he wants us confused."
Veronica folded her arms.
"Then congratulations. It's working."
Raymond entered carrying a laptop.
"We traced the speaker intrusion."
"Giovanni?"
"Not directly. But he left something."
A video appeared.
Giovanni Duca sat in a dim room.
He looked older than Marcus remembered.
Tired.
"Hello, brother."
Marcus's jaw tightened.
"If you're watching this, you've found Veronica. Which means you've found Amelia."
Veronica went rigid.
Giovanni continued.
"Before you decide I'm the villain in this story, ask yourself why I stole forty thousand dollars when I had access to millions."
Marcus leaned closer.
"Because I needed Veronica gone."
Giovanni looked directly into the camera.
"Father discovered she was pregnant. He ordered me to arrange an accident."
Veronica stopped breathing.
Marcus's face went blank.
"I couldn't do it," Giovanni continued. "So I created the theft. I made Veronica look guilty because I knew Marcus would fire her but wouldn't hurt her without proof."
Marcus whispered, "You bastard."
"I told Veronica to disappear. I thought that would be enough."
Giovanni paused.
"It wasn't."
The video cut to old surveillance footage.
Veronica gasped.
It showed a younger Veronica leaving the estate carrying her suitcase.
A sedan followed.
Then another vehicle intercepted it two blocks later.
Marcus turned toward Raymond.
"Who was in that car?"
Raymond was already searching.
Giovanni's video resumed.
"Father sent two men after her. I stopped them. That was the beginning of my betrayal, Marcus. Not stealing from you. Saving your daughter from our father."
The video ended.
Silence.
Veronica sat down.
Marcus looked physically ill.
"All these years," she whispered.
"He saved you."
"And framed me."
"Both can be true."
She laughed bitterly.
"Your family is exhausting."
Marcus almost agreed.
Raymond found the vehicle record.
"It belonged to Vittorio's personal security unit."
Marcus closed his eyes.
His father had tried to kill Veronica.
And Amelia.
Something inside him broke quietly.
Veronica watched him.
"You didn't know."
"No."
"I know."
He looked at her.
Those two words were more mercy than he deserved.
Raymond's phone rang.
He answered, listened, then held it toward Marcus.
"Giovanni."
Marcus took it.
"Where are you?"
"Still giving orders before asking useful questions."
"Come here."
"So you can kill me?"
"So I can decide."
Giovanni laughed.
"Some things never change."
"Why now?"
Silence.
Then Giovanni said, "Because Father wasn't working alone."
Marcus looked toward Veronica.
"Who?"
"Someone still inside your organization."
"Name."
"I don't have one."
"You expect me to believe that?"
"I expect you to look at Amelia and decide whether being wrong is worth the risk."
Marcus said nothing.
Giovanni continued.
"The person who helped Father has spent six years waiting for proof the child survived. Now they have it."
"Why do they care?"
"Because Vittorio's will has a sealed provision."
Marcus froze.
"What provision?"
"If you had a biological child before your forty-first birthday, controlling ownership of the Duca family trust transfers through your bloodline."
Marcus stared at Amelia's photograph on the desk.
His forty-first birthday was in five weeks.
Giovanni spoke softly.
"Amelia isn't just your daughter."
Marcus felt sick.
"She's worth almost two billion dollars."
Veronica heard.
Her face changed.
"No."
Marcus raised a hand.
Giovanni continued.
"If Amelia is legally acknowledged before your birthday, the trust becomes untouchable by anyone outside your direct line."
"And if she isn't?"
"It passes to the secondary beneficiary."
"Who?"
Giovanni hesitated.
"Me."
Marcus went silent.
There it was.
Motive.
Perfect, obvious motive.
"Marcus," Giovanni said, "I don't want it."
"Convenient."
"I spent six years making sure Veronica stayed invisible."
"Then how did the photographs get here?"
"I didn't send them."
"Who did?"
"I think the same person who just made sure you learned about the trust."
Marcus understood.
Someone wanted him to believe Giovanni had exposed Amelia for money.
Divide the brothers.
Expose the child.
Force Marcus to move.
"Come home," Marcus said.
"No."
"Giovanni."
"I'll contact you."
The line went dead.
Veronica stood near the doorway.
"Two billion dollars?"
"Approximately."
"She's six."
"I know."
"She thinks twenty dollars is rich."
Marcus looked at her.
"That may be the healthiest financial perspective anyone in my family has ever had."
Veronica almost smiled.
Almost.
Then Raymond's phone rang again.
This time his face changed immediately.
"What?"
He listened.
Marcus stepped forward.
"What happened?"
Raymond lowered the phone.
"Amelia's school."
Veronica went pale.
"What about it?"
"Someone requested her records yesterday."
"Who?"
Raymond swallowed.
"A law firm."
Marcus knew the name before Raymond said it.
"Whose?"
"Your father's estate attorneys."
Marcus stared.
Vittorio had been dead for four years.
Dead men did not request school records.
Someone was still using his authority.
Someone who had been inside the family long enough to know every hidden door.
And Marcus suddenly knew where to look.
"Get me the original will."
Raymond hesitated.
"It's in the family vault."
"Then open it."
"Marcus, there's a problem."
"What?"
"The vault was accessed twenty minutes ago."
Marcus's expression hardened.
"By whom?"
Raymond looked at the security log.
May you like
Then slowly raised his eyes.
"Your mother."
