Chapter 2 - Six Grocery Bags and a Loaded Gun
The second motorcycle pass never came.
Sirens appeared first.
Natalie remained crouched behind the stairwell, staring at Luca's gun as though it were a snake.
"Put that down."
Luca glanced at her.
"No."
"That wasn't a request."
"Neither was mine."
Her mother hurried downstairs.
"Natalie!"
"I'm okay."
Elena grabbed her daughter.
Then she looked at Luca with naked fear.
"You need to leave."
"Elena—"
"Don't say my name."
Natalie looked between them.
"You know him?"
Elena said nothing.
Luca holstered the weapon.
Natalie stepped away from him.
"Who are you?"
"Luca Moretti."
"I already know your name."
"No. You don't."
Police cars stopped outside.
Marco arrived minutes later with two men in dark suits.
Natalie watched the officers speak to Luca differently.
Respectfully.
Carefully.
One officer even looked nervous.
She searched Luca's name on her phone.
The first result made her stomach drop.
MORETTI SHIPPING HEIR LINKED TO ORGANIZED CRIME INVESTIGATION.
Another headline followed.
MORETTI FAMILY EMPIRE: BUSINESS DYNASTY OR CRIMINAL LEGACY?
Natalie slowly lifted her eyes.
"Mafia?"
Luca's face remained unreadable.
"My family has a history."
"That's a very elegant way to say mafia."
"Natalie," Elena warned.
"No. He showed up outside your home with groceries and a gun. I think we're past polite conversation."
Luca almost respected the anger.
Almost.
"I didn't arrange the shooting."
"Wonderful. You're clearing a very low bar."
Marco looked away, hiding a smile.
Elena demanded Natalie go upstairs.
Natalie refused.
Finally Luca said, "The shooter may have followed me."
"Then leave."
"I will."
He turned.
Elena spoke before he reached the door.
"Does the name Gabriel Vescari mean anything to you?"
Luca stopped.
Marco's expression changed instantly.
Natalie noticed.
"Who is Gabriel?"
Elena looked terrified by her own question.
Luca turned slowly.
"He's dead."
Elena shook her head.
"No."
"Fifteen years."
"I saw him three weeks ago."
Silence filled the stairwell.
Luca stepped toward her.
"Where?"
"He came into the grocery store."
"What did he say?"
Elena's hands trembled.
"He asked about Natalie."
Luca went still.
Natalie felt suddenly cold.
"Why would some dead man ask about me?"
Elena closed her eyes.
"I hoped this would never happen."
"Mom."
"I wanted you away from them."
"From who?"
Elena looked directly at Luca.
"The Morettis."
Luca's phone rang.
Marco answered instead.
His face hardened.
"We found the motorcycle."
"Rider?"
"Gone."
"Plate?"
"Stolen."
Marco hesitated.
"There was something under the seat."
He held out a clear evidence bag.
Inside was a photograph.
Natalie recognized herself.
It had been taken yesterday at the restaurant.
A red X had been drawn across her face.
On the back were four handwritten words.
Luca read them.
His blood went cold.
Natalie reached for the bag.
"What does it say?"
Luca didn't want to tell her.
She took it anyway.
The words were simple.
PAY YOUR FATHER'S DEBT.
Natalie looked at Elena.
"My father?"
Elena backed against the wall.
Natalie had grown up with one version of her father.
David Brooks left when she was eight.
No goodbye.
No letters.
No explanation.
Her mother had always said some men were better remembered than found.
Now Natalie understood there had been another reason.
"Tell me."
Elena's eyes filled.
"Not here."
They went upstairs.
Luca remained despite Elena's objections.
The story came in pieces.
David Brooks had not been David Brooks when Elena met him.
His real name was David Caruso.
He had worked for Luca's father.
Not as a soldier.
As an accountant.
He knew where money moved.
Who was paid.
Who disappeared.
And one night, David discovered someone stealing millions from the Moretti organization.
Gabriel Vescari.
Instead of reporting him, David tried to escape with evidence.
"He told me the files could destroy both families," Elena whispered.
"What files?" Luca asked.
"I never saw them."
"Where did David go?"
Elena shook her head.
"He disappeared."
Natalie felt anger replacing shock.
"You told me he abandoned us."
"I was trying to keep you alive."
"For twenty years?"
"Yes."
Natalie stood.
"I need air."
Luca followed her into the hallway.
"Don't."
She turned.
"You don't get to follow me anymore."
"Someone shot at you."
"Because of you."
"Maybe."
"Maybe?"
"That photograph mentions your father."
Natalie folded her arms.
"And somehow that makes me feel much better."
Luca studied her.
"I'll put security outside."
"No."
"That wasn't—"
"If you say 'not a request,' I'll throw you down these stairs."
For the first time that day, Luca smiled.
Natalie hated that she noticed.
"I can protect myself."
"I believe you."
"Then leave."
Luca did.
But before entering the Bentley, he looked back.
Natalie stood at the window.
Watching.
Marco entered the car.
"You like her."
Luca said nothing.
"That's inconvenient."
"Find Gabriel."
"He's dead."
"Apparently not."
"And Natalie?"
Luca looked toward the window again.
"Nobody touches her."
That evening, Natalie helped her mother clean the broken glass.
At eleven, Elena went to bed.
Natalie couldn't.
She opened a bottle of wine.
Then heard something.
A knock.
Three slow taps.
She froze.
Her phone was across the room.
Another knock.
Natalie approached the door.
"Who is it?"
No answer.
She looked through the peephole.
Empty hallway.
Then she noticed an envelope had been pushed underneath.
Her name was written across it.
Natalie opened it.
Inside was an old photograph.
Her father stood beside a much younger Elena.
Beside them stood another man.
Natalie recognized him immediately.
Luca's father.
On the back was a date.
And beneath it:
ASK LUCA WHAT HIS FATHER DID TO YOURS.
Natalie's phone rang behind her.
Unknown number.
She answered.
"Hello?"
A man's voice whispered:
"Your father didn't leave you, Natalie."
She couldn't breathe.
"Who is this?"
The man laughed softly.
Then he said:
"Ask your mother where they buried him."
The hallway light outside suddenly went dark.
May you like
Someone touched the doorknob.
And began turning it.
