Chapter 9 - The Man Who Came Back From the Dead
Natalie tried to jump from the moving boat.
Samuel stopped her.
She hated him for ten minutes.
Then Luca called.
Alive.
Wounded, but alive.
Marco had arrived through the rear entrance.
Natalie returned and found Luca bleeding from his shoulder.
She hit him.
Then kissed him.
"Never do that again."
"I'll try."
"Wrong answer."
"I'll never do that again."
"Better."
The bank vault opened the following morning.
Inside were records capable of destroying Gabriel.
Bribes.
Murders.
Shell companies.
Judges.
Police officers.
Politicians.
And one signed statement from Sofia Moretti.
But they found something else.
David's original evidence.
It proved Luca's father had discovered Gabriel's betrayal and intended to expose him.
Gabriel murdered Sofia before she could testify.
David witnessed it.
That was why he disappeared.
Luca read the statement alone.
Natalie found him afterward.
For years he had blamed his father for his mother's death.
Now he learned his father had been trying to protect her.
Not a good man.
But not guilty of that crime.
Natalie held him.
Their families had been connected by lies for decades.
They decided the truth would end it.
David agreed to testify.
Samuel agreed too.
Federal investigators became involved.
Gabriel's empire began collapsing.
Then David disappeared from the hospital.
No forced entry.
No struggle.
A nurse reported he left voluntarily with a visitor.
Security footage showed the visitor.
Daniel Price.
Natalie's ex-boyfriend.
Natalie stared at the screen.
Daniel had supposedly moved to Chicago eight months earlier.
Luca asked one question.
"What did Daniel do for work?"
"Financial compliance."
Silence.
Daniel had access to corporate investigations.
Including Moretti Holdings.
Natalie remembered how obsessed he had been with her mother's past.
Questions she'd mistaken for curiosity.
Daniel had never loved her accidentally.
He had been watching her.
Luca found his current address.
They drove there.
The apartment was empty.
On the wall were photographs of Natalie spanning three years.
Restaurant.
Office.
Mother's apartment.
Even photographs of Luca.
Natalie felt sick.
Then she found a wedding invitation.
Her name was printed beside Daniel's.
A wedding that had never happened.
Across it Daniel had written:
SHE WAS SUPPOSED TO LEAD ME TO DAVID.
Luca's phone buzzed.
A video arrived.
David sat tied to a chair.
Daniel stood behind him.
Then Daniel leaned toward the camera.
"Natalie, you always complained I needed everyone's approval."
He smiled.
"I only ever needed Gabriel's."
Someone entered the frame.
Natalie recognized the face.
May you like
And Luca whispered:
"Enzo."
