Chapter 7 - The Man Luca Trusted
Elias Grant disappeared before police reached his apartment.
His bank accounts were empty.
His passport had been used at JFK.
But not to leave the country.
It was a decoy.
“He’s still here,” Luca said.
We had been moved to a secure penthouse owned by Daniel’s family.
My due date was three weeks away.
Luca refused to be more than thirty feet from me.
It should have irritated me.
Sometimes it did.
Mostly, it didn’t.
Elias had manipulated both sides of the divorce.
He told Luca I refused mediation.
He told me Luca refused contact.
He intercepted correspondence.
He authenticated the forged signature.
Vanessa had not simply planted evidence.
She had built two separate realities and placed us inside them.
That realization hurt more than I expected.
Because our marriage had not ended from one lie.
It ended because neither of us crossed the distance to verify the truth.
One evening Luca brought me tea.
“You hate chamomile,” I said.
“It’s not chamomile.”
I smelled it.
Peppermint.
My favorite.
“You remembered.”
“I remember everything about you.”
“That’s inconvenient.”
“Extremely.”
He sat opposite me.
“I canceled the divorce settlement.”
I frowned.
“What?”
“Not the divorce. I can’t unilaterally do that.”
“Good.”
“The property arrangement. Elias manipulated it.”
“I don’t want your money.”
“I know.”
“Then why?”
“Because half the townhouse was always yours. So was the Hamptons property.”
“I don’t want that either.”
He smiled slightly.
“There she is.”
“Who?”
“The woman who once threatened to divorce me because I bought her a $70,000 car.”
“I didn’t threaten divorce.”
“You slept in the guest room.”
“It was an obnoxious car.”
“It had heated seats.”
“It was fluorescent red.”
“It was burgundy.”
“It could be seen from space.”
He laughed.
The sound caught me off guard.
I started laughing too.
For a few seconds, we were us again.
Then he became serious.
“I don’t want to buy you back.”
“You can’t.”
“I know.”
“I’m not coming back because Vanessa lied.”
“I know.”
“Our marriage had problems before her.”
“I know.”
I studied him.
“You keep saying that.”
“Because seven months ago I thought knowing everything made me powerful.”
“And now?”
“Now I know how expensive being wrong can be.”
That stayed with me.
Two days later, police found Elias.
Dead.
An apparent suicide.
Except Daniel found something police initially missed.
A scheduled email.
Sent to Luca.
It contained a confession.
Elias admitted Vanessa paid him.
He admitted forging documents.
He admitted intercepting my pregnancy letter.
Then came the final paragraph.
Vanessa knows the child makes Isabella legally untouchable under the trust once born. She will act before delivery.
My blood turned cold.
“Why before delivery?”
Adrian explained.
“Once your daughter is born, the trust automatically divides beneficial ownership between you and her. Vanessa would have to eliminate two beneficiaries instead of one.”
Luca’s face became stone.
I hated the word eliminate.
The baby kicked.
I touched my stomach.
“No one is touching her.”
“No,” Luca said.
For once, there was no anger in his voice.
Only certainty.
That night, my father called from the hospital.
He wanted to speak to me.
I almost refused.
Then answered.
“Bella.”
I hadn’t heard him call me that since childhood.
“I’m sorry.”
“That doesn’t cover it.”
“I know.”
“Why did you do it?”
“Debt.”
“You sold your daughter because you owed money?”
“I thought Vanessa only wanted to break you and Luca apart.”
“That makes it better?”
“No.”
He cried.
I felt nothing.
Then he said:
“There’s one thing you need to know.”
“What?”
“Vanessa isn’t working alone.”
My pulse changed.
“Who?”
“I never met him. But she called him M.”
Luca was listening.
My father continued.
“She said once the trust was hers, M would take care of Moretti.”
Luca frowned.
“What does that mean?”
“I don’t know.”
Then my father whispered:
“Wait.”
A sound came through the phone.
A hospital door opening.
“Who are you?”
Then a crash.
“Dad?”
The line went dead.
Luca was already calling security.
We learned the truth eight minutes later.
My father had vanished from a guarded hospital room.
And on his pillow someone had left a black envelope.
May you like
Inside were three words.
BRING ISABELLA HOME.
