Chapter 5 - The Brother Who Became the Enemy
Luca couldn't stop staring at the photograph.
Two identical men.
Two brothers.
One had been buried.
The other had returned.
And somewhere between them was a boy who had disappeared thirteen years earlier.
“Where is the real Antonio?”
Isabella looked toward the altar.
“Prison.”
“Which prison?”
“A private facility in Pennsylvania. He was transferred there after the accident.”
Luca frowned.
“What accident?”
“The one that supposedly killed him.”
She took a deep breath.
“Your father and Adrian were involved in a business arrangement with the Bellinis. They were transporting documents that could have destroyed several powerful families. Someone betrayed them.”
“Who?”
“Your grandfather.”
Luca stepped back.
His grandfather had died before Luca turned eighteen.
“You're telling me Grandpa ordered his own son killed?”
“He wanted control of the family. Antonio refused to surrender it.”
“And Adrian?”
“Adrian wanted everything Antonio had.”
Isabella's eyes filled with tears.
“He took his identity. He took his position. He took his family.”
Luca looked at the photograph again.
“Why did he let me grow up believing he was my father?”
“Because you were the only person who could recognize the difference.”
Luca frowned.
“What?”
“When you were nine, your father taught you a secret.”
Luca remembered the accident.
The scar.
His father's blood.
The words he had repeated throughout his childhood.
A Moretti never showed fear.
But there was something else.
A childhood game.
Whenever Antonio returned from a dangerous meeting, he would tap twice against Luca's bedroom door and whisper, The moon is watching.
It was their secret greeting.
“Adrian didn't know about the moon,” Isabella said.
Luca felt sick.
“Then how did he fool everyone?”
“Your grandfather helped him. The family doctor helped him. And Vanessa's family helped him.”
Luca stiffened.
“Vanessa?”
Isabella nodded.
“Her father worked for Adrian.”
Luca clenched his jaw.
“Was she involved in Michael's disappearance?”
“She was a child when it happened. But her father used her later.”
Luca looked at his mother.
“Why did you let me become engaged to her?”
“I tried to stop you.”
“You sent me letters?”
“Thirty-seven.”
Luca stared.
“I never received one.”
“I know.”
She reached into her purse and pulled out a small envelope.
It contained a photograph of Vanessa standing beside Adrian.
The date was only six months earlier.
On the back, Isabella had written:
Your engagement is not a marriage. It is a transfer of ownership.
Luca felt his stomach turn.
“Ownership of what?”
“Your father's empire.”
Isabella explained that Adrian had spent years building influence inside the Moretti organization.
He needed Luca's signature on a succession agreement.
The engagement party was supposed to be followed by a private legal ceremony the next morning.
Once Luca signed the documents, Vanessa would become his wife and gain access to the family's financial holdings.
“Where are the documents?”
“Your office.”
Luca immediately checked his phone.
Three missed calls from his lawyer.
Then a message appeared.
Mr. Moretti, please do not sign anything tomorrow. There is a serious problem with the succession papers.
He called immediately.
No answer.
A second message arrived.
They have replaced the original contract.
Luca looked at his mother.
“We need to go.”
Before they could move, the church doors slammed shut.
A voice came through the speakers.
“Family reunion?”
Luca turned.
Adrian stood in the doorway.
He was wearing a dark suit.
His face was identical to the man who had entered the mansion.
Only his eyes were different.
Colder.
He smiled at Isabella.
“Still hiding behind your children?”
Luca raised his gun.
“Step away from my mother.”
Adrian laughed.
“You really are your father's son.”
“Where is the real Antonio?”
“Somewhere he can't hurt anyone.”
“Take me to him.”
“Not yet.”
Adrian looked at Isabella.
“Did she tell you about the third grave?”
Luca's jaw tightened.
“What about it?”
Adrian smiled.
“That's where your mother belongs.”
He pulled out a phone.
A video began playing.
A teenage boy sat in a dark room.
His hands were tied.
His face was bruised.
But his eyes were unmistakable.
Luca stared.
“Michael?”
The boy looked directly into the camera.
“Luca?”
His voice cracked.
“Don't believe anything Mom tells you.”
Isabella covered her mouth.
Adrian ended the recording.
“Your brother has grown up quite well.”
“Where is he?”
“Alive. For now.”
Luca tightened his grip on the gun.
Adrian raised both hands.
“Careful. If you shoot me, your brother dies.”
“What do you want?”
Adrian stepped closer.
“Your signature.”
“On what?”
“The succession agreement.”
Luca laughed bitterly.
“You came back from the dead just to get a signature?”
“No, nephew.”
Adrian's smile disappeared.
“I came back because the real Antonio is about to be released.”
He looked at Isabella.
“And when he gets here, he'll tell Luca who his real mother is.”
Luca turned toward Isabella.
Her face had gone completely white.
Adrian slowly stepped backward.
“Ask her why she changed your birth certificate.”
Then the church lights went out.
A door slammed.
When the lights returned, Adrian was gone.
So was Isabella.
On the altar lay a single document.
A birth certificate.
Luca picked it up.
May you like
The mother's name was not Isabella Moretti.
It was Vanessa Hart.
