Chapter 3 - The Man Who Was Supposed to Be Dead
Luca knew the man.
Emma saw it before anyone said his name.
The recognition was immediate.
And impossible.
The newcomer looked close to seventy, with thick silver hair and a face that had once been handsome but was now marked by age and something harsher.
Luca whispered:
“Dad?”
Emma turned toward him.
She had seen photographs of Luca’s father.
Antonio Moretti.
Dead for fourteen years.
At least, that was what Luca believed.
Antonio looked at his son.
“I’m sorry.”
Luca did not move.
Emma had never seen him speechless.
“Your funeral,” Luca finally said.
Antonio nodded.
“You buried an empty coffin.”
Isabella crossed the ballroom and slapped him.
The sound echoed.
Then she grabbed him and buried her face against his chest.
Her shoulders shook.
Antonio closed his eyes.
“I’m sorry, Bella.”
“You promised me fifteen years.”
“I know.”
“You said fifteen.”
“I know.”
Luca stared at both of them.
“You knew?”
Isabella turned.
“No. I knew he might still be alive. I didn’t know where.”
Emma felt increasingly detached from reality.
“You’re saying Luca’s father is my father?”
Antonio looked at her.
“No.”
Her breath escaped.
She had not realized how terrified she was of that answer until she heard it.
Salvatore looked disappointed.
Antonio turned toward his younger brother.
“You’re still cruel when you’re cornered.”
“You’re still dramatic when you’re late.”
Luca crossed the room and seized his father’s coat.
“You let me bury you.”
Antonio didn’t resist.
“You let me watch Mom fall apart.”
“I know.”
“You let Marco think you were dead.”
“I did.”
“Why?”
“Because someone tried to kill me.”
Luca looked at Salvatore.
Antonio nodded.
“Exactly.”
Salvatore rolled his eyes.
“You have no proof.”
“Not yet.”
Antonio looked at Emma.
“But Rachel did.”
The key in Emma’s hand suddenly felt heavier.
Antonio continued.
“And the man who fathered Emma helped her collect it.”
“Who was he?” Emma asked.
Antonio hesitated.
Gabriel answered.
“Daniel Russo.”
The name meant nothing to Emma.
Luca, however, reacted.
He looked at Gabriel.
“No.”
“Yes.”
Emma turned.
“Who was Daniel Russo?”
Luca rubbed one hand over his face.
“He was my father’s closest friend.”
Antonio spoke quietly.
“He was more than that. Daniel was the reason I was able to turn much of the family business legitimate.”
Salvatore laughed.
“And he slept with Rachel while her husband raised the result.”
Emma wanted to hit him.
Luca moved first.
He crossed the distance between them and punched Salvatore once.
Hard.
Salvatore collapsed against a table.
Champagne glasses crashed to the floor.
“Luca!” Isabella shouted.
Luca stood over his uncle.
“Say one more thing about Emma or her mother like that.”
Salvatore wiped blood from his mouth.
There was hatred in his eyes now.
No pretense.
No family civility.
“You think she belongs beside you?”
Luca stepped closer.
“She belongs wherever she chooses to stand.”
Salvatore smiled.
“Then ask her why Daniel died.”
Emma froze.
Antonio said, “Enough.”
Salvatore looked at Emma.
“Your biological father died six months before your mother.”
Emma swallowed.
“How?”
“Officially?”
Salvatore smiled again.
“Robbery.”
“And unofficially?”
Nobody answered.
She looked at Antonio.
“You know.”
“Yes.”
“Tell me.”
“Daniel discovered Salvatore had ordered attacks against witnesses.”
Salvatore shrugged.
“Allegedly.”
Antonio ignored him.
“He was gathering evidence. Rachel helped him. Isabella helped Rachel.”
Emma turned toward Isabella.
“That photo.”
Isabella nodded.
“We were friends before any of this.”
Emma’s anger softened for one second.
“You loved her?”
“Very much.”
“Then why did you leave me alone?”
Isabella’s face crumpled.
“I didn’t.”
Emma stared.
“David made me promise not to contact you.”
“My dad?”
“He knew people were watching. He believed the only way to protect you was to make you completely separate from us.”
“That actually makes sense,” Luca said quietly.
Emma looked at him.
He seemed hurt when she didn’t respond.
She hated that.
She hated all of it.
This morning, her biggest worry had been meeting Luca’s family.
Now her dead mother had hidden evidence.
Her biological father had been murdered.
Luca’s dead father was alive.
And the man who had insulted her all evening might have ordered more than one killing.
Emma held up the brass key.
“Then we go to the vault.”
Antonio nodded.
“I’ll come.”
Luca finally looked at him.
“No.”
“Luca—”
“You don’t get to return from the dead and start giving orders.”
Antonio took the hit without arguing.
“You’re right.”
“We go without you.”
“Then take Gabriel.”
“I was already going,” Gabriel said.
Isabella stepped forward.
“So am I.”
Luca shook his head.
“Mom—”
“Rachel trusted me with that box.”
Emma looked at Isabella.
“Come.”
Luca didn’t argue again.
Within fifteen minutes, the Moretti gala was over.
Nobody announced it.
Nobody had to.
Guests understood when armed security quietly began guiding them toward the doors.
Bianca found Emma near the staircase.
“Emma.”
Emma turned.
Bianca looked embarrassed.
“I owe you an apology.”
“For which part?”
A faint smile appeared.
“Fair.”
She glanced toward Luca.
“I spent years assuming I’d eventually be the woman standing beside him.”
Emma waited.
Bianca looked back at her.
“I’m not angry that I’m not.”
Emma raised an eyebrow.
“You looked angry.”
“I was.”
“At me?”
“At myself.”
Bianca swallowed.
“I realized tonight that I was waiting for someone who never looked at me the way he looks at you.”
Emma didn’t know what to say.
Bianca continued.
“When you told him not to touch you, I thought he’d be furious.”
“Why?”
“Because nobody talks to Luca Moretti that way.”
Emma almost laughed.
“Apparently I do.”
Bianca’s smile became real.
“Yes.”
Then it vanished.
“Be careful.”
Emma studied her.
“What do you know?”
“Nothing specific.”
“That sounds specific.”
“Salvatore has been nervous for three weeks. Since your name appeared.”
“Appeared where?”
Bianca looked toward the ballroom.
“On a list in my father’s office.”
Emma’s stomach tightened.
“What list?”
“Names connected to an old account.”
“What account?”
“I don’t know.”
“You’re sure?”
“My father caught me looking.”
“Who is your father?”
“Matteo DeLuca.”
Luca appeared behind Emma.
“What old account?”
Bianca jumped.
“You need to stop doing that.”
“Answer.”
Bianca sighed.
“A numbered account. Switzerland, I think. There were six names.”
“Who?”
“I only saw three.”
“Tell me.”
“Rachel Parker.”
Emma went still.
“Daniel Russo.”
Luca’s eyes narrowed.
“And the third?”
Bianca looked at Emma.
“Emma Parker.”
Luca’s hand immediately went to the small of Emma’s back.
“When did you see that?”
“Three weeks ago.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because my father told me it was an inheritance issue.”
Emma laughed once.
“Of course.”
Bianca shook her head.
“There was a number beside your name.”
“How much?”
“I don’t think it was money.”
“What was it?”
“47-B.”
Gabriel, who had approached from behind them, stopped walking.
“What did you say?”
Bianca repeated it.
“47-B.”
Gabriel turned toward Antonio.
For the first time, both men looked alarmed.
Luca noticed.
“What is 47-B?”
Antonio answered.
“A vault designation.”
Emma held up the key.
“This key?”
“No.”
Antonio stared at her locket.
“Your key opens 47-A.”
Silence.
Emma’s fingers closed around it.
“What’s in 47-B?”
Antonio whispered:
“The reason Salvatore thought Rachel had to die.”
They left immediately.
Moretti Trust occupied an eleven-story stone building downtown.
At midnight, the bank was empty except for security.
Luca’s team cleared the underground vault.
The elevator descended.
Emma stood between Luca and Isabella.
Gabriel and Antonio were behind them.
Nobody had allowed Salvatore to come.
He had been placed under guard at the mansion.
At least, that was what Emma believed.
The elevator doors opened.
A bank manager waited.
“Mr. Moretti.”
Luca nodded.
“Take us to 47-A.”
The manager hesitated.
“Sir.”
“What?”
“We have a problem.”
Luca’s expression changed.
“What problem?”
“Someone accessed the private vault level twenty-three minutes ago.”
Isabella whispered, “Who?”
“We don’t know.”
“You have cameras.”
“They were disabled.”
Luca looked at his security chief.
“Salvatore?”
“He’s still at the mansion.”
Antonio stepped forward.
“Then he has someone inside.”
They hurried down the corridor.
Vault 47-A was at the end.
Emma inserted the brass key.
It turned.
Luca opened the metal door.
Inside was a small safe-deposit box.
Emma pulled it out.
Empty.
She stared.
“No.”
Isabella stepped forward.
“That’s impossible.”
Then Emma saw something scratched into the bottom.
Not old.
Fresh.
Three words.
CHECK 47-B.
Gabriel whispered, “Don’t.”
Emma turned toward the adjacent vault.
May you like
Its door was already open.
From the darkness inside came the sound of someone breathing.
