Chapter 2 - The Man Everyone Feared
Emma expected Luca Moretti to disappear from her life as suddenly as he had entered it.
He did not.
The next morning, she found a car seat outside her hospital room.
Not an ordinary one.
The nurse stared at the box and said, “I think this costs more than my first car.”
A note rested on top.
Transportation requires equipment. This is not charity. Consider it an argument I refused to lose.
No signature.
None was necessary.
Emma shook her head.
“Absolutely not.”
Marco, Luca's security man, sat across the corridor reading a newspaper.
Without looking up, he said, “Mr. Moretti predicted those exact words.”
Emma stared at him.
“Does he predict everything?”
“Unfortunately, he thinks so.”
“What did he tell you to do when I refused?”
Marco folded the newspaper.
“He said to tell you the hospital cannot legally discharge an infant into a vehicle without an approved car seat.”
Emma looked at the box.
Then at Marco.
“I dislike him.”
Marco's expression remained completely serious.
“Many people do.”
Emma could not tell whether he was joking.
Her phone buzzed.
Derek.
For one foolish second, hope rose inside her.
Then she opened the message.
My attorney will contact you today. Please communicate through him regarding paternity and support.
No apology.
No question about Lily.
Nothing.
A second message arrived.
Also, don't involve strangers in our private business.
Emma's stomach tightened.
How did he know about Luca?
She typed, You made our private business public when you brought Brittany to the hospital.
She deleted it.
Then typed, Did you tell your attorney Lily needs a pediatric appointment Tuesday?
Deleted.
Finally she locked the phone.
No response.
She was done begging.
At noon, a woman named Sofia Moretti appeared at Emma's doorway.
She was perhaps thirty-two, with Luca's dark eyes and a much warmer smile. She moved slowly, one hand pressed against her abdomen.
“You must be Emma.”
Emma stood.
“You should be in bed.”
“So should you.”
Fair point.
Sofia looked toward Lily.
“Oh.”
The single syllable contained more tenderness than Derek had shown in three days.
“May I?”
Emma hesitated, then carefully transferred Lily into Sofia's arms.
Sofia's eyes immediately filled with tears.
“My son is in NICU.”
Emma's heart dropped.
“I'm sorry.”
“He's improving.”
“What's his name?”
“Matteo.”
Sofia smiled down at Lily.
“Luca told me about her.”
Emma raised an eyebrow.
“Did he also tell you he attempted to put his name on her birth certificate?”
Sofia laughed, then winced.
“He did what?”
“Apparently it was a badly delivered promise.”
“That sounds exactly like my brother.”
Emma studied her.
“Why are people afraid of him?”
Sofia's smile faded slightly.
“Because Luca has spent fifteen years making sure they are.”
“That isn't comforting.”
“It wasn't meant to be.”
Sofia returned Lily.
“My brother is complicated, Emma. But children are his weakness.”
“Why?”
Sofia looked toward the hallway.
“That is his story to tell.”
Before Emma could ask more, her phone rang.
Unknown number.
“Ms. Carter? This is Daniel Price, representing Derek Morrison.”
Emma closed her eyes.
“Of course it is.”
The attorney spoke smoothly.
Mr. Morrison was requesting DNA testing.
Temporary confidentiality.
No public statements.
No social media discussion.
Emma almost laughed at the irony.
Brittany had announced their affair and pregnancy online, yet Emma was expected to remain silent.
Then Price mentioned something that changed everything.
“Mr. Morrison is also contesting financial responsibility until paternity is established.”
Emma's hand tightened around the phone.
“My daughter needs medical coverage now.”
“Once paternity—”
“He knows she's his.”
“I cannot comment on that.”
“Then comment on this. Who paid for her delivery?”
Silence.
Emma already knew.
Derek had removed her from his employer-sponsored insurance two weeks before Lily was born.
He had told her it was a clerical mistake.
The hospital bill was more than forty thousand dollars.
Emma ended the call shaking.
Sofia had heard enough.
“My brother needs to know.”
“No.”
“Emma—”
“I am not running to Luca every time Derek hurts me.”
“This isn't about being hurt.”
“It's my problem.”
Sofia looked at her for a long moment.
Then she said something Emma would remember.
“Independence and isolation are not the same thing.”
That afternoon, Emma was discharged.
Marco drove.
Emma complained for the first ten minutes and then fell asleep in the back seat with Lily beside her.
When she woke, they were parked outside her apartment.
Derek's name had been removed from the mailbox.
Inside, half the furniture was gone.
The television.
Coffee machine.
Dining chairs.
Even the framed photograph from their first vacation had disappeared.
Emma walked into Lily's nursery.
The crib remained.
For the first time that day, she was grateful Derek had left something behind.
Then she noticed an envelope on the changing table.
Inside was a notice from the landlord.
Rent had not been paid.
Two months.
Emma's heart began pounding.
Derek had always handled the rent from their joint account.
She checked the banking app.
The account balance was $18.42.
Every meaningful withdrawal had been made over the previous six weeks.
Emma sat on the floor.
Lily began crying.
Emma picked her up.
“It's okay.”
But Emma was no longer sure who she was comforting.
That evening someone knocked.
She expected Marco.
Instead, Luca stood outside holding two grocery bags.
Emma stared.
“Do feared men usually deliver groceries?”
“No. It damages the brand.”
She almost smiled.
Then she remembered the empty bank account.
Her expression collapsed.
Luca saw it.
“What happened?”
“Nothing.”
“Emma.”
She hated how gently he said her name.
She stepped aside.
Luca entered.
His eyes swept across the half-empty apartment.
“Derek?”
“He took his things.”
“And yours.”
Emma looked at him.
“How do you know?”
“The missing television bracket is centered above the wall. People don't usually take half a shared household during a breakup unless they're trying to create pressure.”
Emma folded her arms.
“You notice too much.”
“Occupational hazard.”
“What occupation exactly?”
“Investment.”
“That's not what everyone says.”
“Everyone says many entertaining things.”
Lily cried from the bedroom.
Luca immediately looked toward the sound.
Emma returned with her.
“Would you like to hold her?”
The question surprised both of them.
Luca froze.
“You said you respect babies.”
“From a safe distance.”
Emma extended Lily.
“Mr. Moretti, are you scared?”
He gave her a warning look.
Emma waited.
Finally Luca removed his jacket, rolled his sleeves slightly, and accepted Lily with astonishing care.
His entire body changed.
The feared man became motionless.
Lily opened her eyes.
Luca looked down at her.
“Hello, piccola.”
Emma watched.
“You've done this before.”
“My sister was twelve when our mother died.”
“You raised her?”
“Mostly.”
Lily wrapped her tiny fingers around Luca's index finger.
He stopped breathing for a second.
Emma saw something unguarded pass across his face.
Loss.
Love.
Fear.
Then his phone rang.
He ignored it.
“Luca.”
He looked up.
“What?”
“You're allowed to answer.”
“Not important.”
The phone rang again.
He sighed and handed Lily back.
“What?”
His expression changed as he listened.
“Send it to me.”
He ended the call.
Emma noticed the sudden tension.
“What happened?”
Luca looked at her.
“Did Derek ever mention a company called Northstar Development?”
Emma thought.
“No.”
“Any investment accounts? Properties? Business partnerships?”
“No. Why?”
Luca walked toward the window.
“Because Derek isn't merely refusing to acknowledge Lily.”
Emma's pulse quickened.
“What are you talking about?”
“He's moving money.”
“What money?”
“Yours.”
Emma stared.
“I don't have money.”
Luca turned.
“Yes, Emma.”
His voice became very quiet.
“You do.”
“What?”
“Your grandmother's trust.”
Emma stopped breathing.
“My grandmother's trust doesn't release until I'm thirty-five.”
“Correct.”
She was twenty-nine.
“Then what are you saying?”
“Someone attempted to borrow against it.”
Her face went cold.
“Who?”
Luca did not answer immediately.
He did not need to.
“Derek?”
“We're verifying.”
Emma shook her head.
“He couldn't. He doesn't have authority.”
“Unless someone forged it.”
The room suddenly felt smaller.
Emma remembered documents Derek had asked her to sign during pregnancy.
Insurance forms.
Tax papers.
A refinancing package he claimed related to his business.
She had signed without reading everything.
She had trusted him.
“How much?”
Luca's jaw tightened.
“How much, Luca?”
“Eight hundred thousand dollars.”
Emma sat down.
Lily stirred against her.
“Why do you know this?”
Luca looked at her.
“Because Northstar tried to move the money through a Moretti-controlled bank.”
Emma stared.
“And your people flagged it?”
“Yes.”
“So you knew who I was before the hospital.”
A pause.
“Yes.”
The betrayal felt immediate.
“You lied.”
“I withheld information.”
“That is what liars call lying.”
“Emma—”
“Were you watching me because of Derek?”
“I was watching him.”
“And I was collateral?”
“No.”
“You knew my name.”
“Yes.”
“You knew about the trust.”
“Yes.”
“And you stood there pretending we were strangers.”
“I didn't know what Derek intended to do at the hospital.”
“But you knew he was stealing from me.”
“I suspected it.”
Emma pointed toward the door.
“Leave.”
Luca did not move.
“Emma.”
“Get out.”
He picked up his jacket.
At the door, he stopped.
“There is one more thing.”
“I don't want another thing.”
“You need this one.”
Emma looked at him.
Luca's expression was harder now.
“Derek's request for a paternity test isn't about doubt.”
Her heart sank.
“Then what is it about?”
“He needs time.”
“For what?”
“To finish moving the money before you realize what he's done.”
Emma looked at Lily.
Suddenly Derek's cruelty at the hospital seemed different.
Still cruel.
But calculated.
The affair.
The abandoned apartment.
The missing money.
The unsigned certificate.
All of it had pushed Emma toward exhaustion and confusion at exactly the moment Derek needed her weakest.
She looked back at Luca.
“Prove it.”
He nodded.
“I will.”
“And then?”
Luca's eyes became cold.
“Then you decide what happens to Derek Morrison.”
For the first time since Lily was born, Emma felt something stronger than heartbreak.
May you like
Anger.
And anger, she discovered, could be useful.
