Chapter 3 - The Man Who Protected the Murderer
“Drop it.”
Luca's voice was quiet, but every man in the ballroom understood the command.
Dominic didn't move.
His gun remained pointed toward the floor.
“Boss, you need to hear me.”
“Put the weapon down.”
Dominic slowly placed it on a nearby chair.
Two guards approached him.
He didn't resist.
But before they could take him, he looked at Antonio.
“You should have stayed dead.”
The words sent a wave of horror through the guests.
Luca stepped forward.
“Three years.”
Dominic looked at him.
“What?”
“Three years you stood beside me. You attended my father's funeral. You helped me identify his belongings. You watched me visit his grave every anniversary.”
Dominic lowered his eyes.
“I did what I had to do.”
“You let me believe my father was dead.”
“I kept you alive.”
Luca struck him across the face.
Dominic stumbled but didn't fall.
Antonio grabbed his son's shoulder.
“Not here.”
Luca turned toward him.
“You want me to let him walk away?”
“No. I want him to tell you who gave the order.”
Dominic wiped blood from his lip.
“I can't.”
“Can't or won't?”
Dominic looked toward Vanessa.
She immediately stepped backward.
“Don't look at me,” she whispered.
But Dominic kept staring.
“Your father wasn't the only person who made a deal that night.”
Antonio's expression darkened.
“Shut your mouth.”
Luca turned sharply.
“What deal?”
Robert Hayes answered before Antonio could.
“Three years ago, your father discovered that someone had been using the Moretti shipping network to move money through companies registered under false identities.”
“Who?”
“Your uncle, Vincent Moretti.”
The name landed like a bomb.
Vincent was Antonio's younger brother. He had supposedly moved to Switzerland after the funeral, claiming he wanted nothing more to do with the family business.
Luca hadn't spoken to him in years.
“That doesn't make sense.”
Robert opened his briefcase.
“Vincent was supposed to inherit control of the organization if Antonio died and you were considered unfit to lead.”
Luca's face hardened.
“Unfit?”
Robert looked at Vanessa.
“Your engagement was part of that arrangement.”
Vanessa shook her head.
“No.”
“You were supposed to marry Luca, secure your family's business interests, and ensure the Moretti companies remained under Vincent's influence.”
Luca stared at her.
“Was any of it real?”
She looked devastated.
“At first, no.”
He looked away.
“And later?”
Vanessa took a trembling breath.
“Later, I fell in love with you.”
Luca laughed once, without humor.
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I know what I did was wrong.”
“You stood beside me while I buried my father.”
“I was afraid!”
“Of what?”
She swallowed.
“Vincent.”
Robert closed his briefcase.
“There's more. Vincent didn't simply want Antonio dead. He wanted the evidence Antonio had collected.”
Antonio nodded.
“The original files are hidden somewhere in this mansion.”
Luca looked at his father.
“Where?”
“Your mother's room.”
The room had remained locked since Elena Moretti died fifteen years earlier.
Luca had never allowed anyone to disturb it.
He turned toward Dominic.
“Who knew about those files?”
Dominic hesitated.
Then he looked at Vanessa.
“She did.”
Luca's eyes narrowed.
Vanessa shook her head.
“I never entered your mother's room.”
Antonio's expression changed.
“That's impossible.”
He reached inside his coat and removed a small silver key.
“Because someone opened it yesterday.”
Luca took the key.
A sudden crash echoed from the second floor.
Everyone looked upward.
A guard shouted.
Then came the sound of a gunshot.
Luca drew his weapon.
“Stay here!”
He ran toward the staircase, followed by two guards.
At the top of the stairs, the hallway was empty.
But his mother's bedroom door stood open.
Inside, every drawer had been pulled out.
The curtains were torn.
The mattress had been cut open.
And on the vanity lay a wedding invitation.
Luca picked it up.
Someone had written a message across the front.
YOU'RE LOOKING FOR THE WRONG MORETTI.
Beneath it was a small photograph.
A little girl stood between Antonio and Elena.
Luca recognized his mother.
He recognized his father.
But he had never seen the child.
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On the back, someone had written:
SHE IS YOUR SISTER.
