Chapter 4 - The Grave Beneath St. Anne's
Luca walked out of the farmhouse with empty hands.
Elena followed before Marco could stop her.
Adrian stood beside two police vehicles.
He smiled.
"Luca."
The brothers looked nothing alike except around the eyes.
Adrian was cleaner.
Smoother.
The kind of man who could discuss destroying someone's life while adjusting his cuff links.
Luca stopped ten feet away.
"You brought police."
"You're accused of kidnapping a woman."
Elena stepped forward.
"He didn't kidnap me."
Adrian looked at her.
"Ms. Brooks, you don't have to protect him."
"I'm not."
"You disappeared from your studio after gunshots were reported."
"Because somebody tried to kill me."
Adrian gave an expression of concern so polished Elena wanted to throw paint at him too.
"Did Luca tell you who?"
"No."
"Interesting."
Luca's voice sharpened.
"What do you want?"
Adrian spread his hands.
"To make sure everyone is safe."
"Try again."
For a moment, the smile disappeared.
Then Elena remembered the message.
"Who is buried under St. Anne's?"
Adrian went pale.
Only for half a second.
But Elena saw it.
So did Luca.
Adrian recovered.
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
Luca smiled without warmth.
"Now I know where we're going."
They weren't arrested.
Not yet.
The local police had only received a welfare request.
Elena made it clear she was with Luca voluntarily.
Adrian couldn't force anything.
He left after telling Luca the board meeting would be held in forty-eight hours.
"If you show up," Adrian said quietly, "bring a lawyer."
Luca stepped close.
"If you touch Elena, bring a priest."
Adrian looked at Elena.
Something calculating passed through his eyes.
Then he left.
St. Anne's was an old Catholic church on Chicago's southwest side.
Luca remembered attending funerals there as a boy.
The basement had been sealed during renovations years earlier.
Marco found a former caretaker willing to meet them after dark.
Elena followed Luca down stone stairs beneath the church.
Dust coated everything.
The caretaker pointed toward a bricked section of wall.
"Your father paid for that wall in 1999."
Luca stared.
"Why?"
"Never knew."
Marco brought tools.
It took nearly two hours.
Behind the wall was a narrow chamber.
Inside lay an old wooden coffin.
Elena's heart pounded.
Luca stood frozen.
Marco looked at him.
"You want me to—"
"Open it."
The lid groaned.
Inside were skeletal remains.
A silver necklace lay across the ribs.
Luca picked it up.
A small charm carried the initials C.R.
"Celeste Rinaldi," he whispered.
Adrian's mother.
Elena understood.
"If Celeste is here..."
"Then she didn't disappear," Luca said.
"Your father killed her."
"Or someone did."
A police report eventually confirmed the remains belonged to Celeste.
But Luca didn't go public.
Not yet.
He wanted proof connecting Adrian.
The evidence came from Thomas.
He woke that night.
"Adrian was thirteen," Thomas whispered from the bed.
Elena sat beside him.
"What did he see?"
"Everything."
Luca stood near the window.
Thomas continued.
"Carlo killed Celeste because she tried to blackmail him. Adrian saw his mother dragged into the basement."
Luca looked sick.
"He was a child."
"Yes."
"So why is he doing this now?"
"Because Carlo convinced Adrian that Isabella caused Celeste's death."
Luca closed his eyes.
Thomas explained that Adrian grew up believing Luca's mother destroyed his.
Carlo had fed the hatred carefully.
After Carlo died, Adrian inherited his secrets.
And his enemies.
"And Isabella?" Elena asked.
Thomas hesitated.
"I think Adrian found her."
Luca looked up.
"When?"
"Years ago."
"Where is she?"
Thomas shook his head.
"I don't know."
Elena remembered the recent portrait.
The messages.
Someone knew Isabella's story.
Maybe Isabella herself.
The next day, Elena insisted on returning to her studio.
Luca refused.
She won.
Mostly because he discovered that arguing with her only made her more determined.
The broken window had been boarded.
Blue paint still stained the floor.
Luca's ruined white shirt remained folded on the chair.
Elena picked it up.
"You left this."
"Keep it."
"Why would I keep your destroyed shirt?"
"First thing you ever gave me."
Elena looked at him.
"I assaulted you with paint."
"Memorable gift."
She laughed despite herself.
Luca stared.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"You looked surprised."
"I've never heard you laugh."
"You've known me three days."
"Feels longer."
"It does."
The silence changed.
Elena suddenly became aware of how close they were standing.
Luca's gaze moved from her eyes to her mouth.
Then back.
"Elena."
She stopped him.
"This is a terrible idea."
"I didn't say anything."
"You were about to."
"Maybe."
"Your family is trying to kill us."
"Technically, my half brother."
"That doesn't improve it."
"No."
Neither moved away.
Elena touched the blue stain on his shirt.
"You came here to take everything from me."
"I know."
"And now?"
Luca looked around the studio.
"Now I think this place may have saved my life."
She met his eyes.
He kissed her.
It wasn't soft at first.
Too much fear.
Too much anger.
Too many hours wondering whether the next phone call would bring another body.
Then it slowed.
Elena's fingers curled into his shirt.
Luca's hand touched her cheek with surprising care.
When they separated, both were breathing harder.
"This changes nothing," Elena whispered.
"Of course."
"You still can't buy my studio."
"I withdrew the offer."
She blinked.
"When?"
"This morning."
"What about the development?"
"Canceled."
Elena stared.
"You're walking away from hundreds of millions."
"Yes."
"Because of me?"
"Because it was wrong."
That answer affected her more than if he'd said yes.
Then Marco entered.
His expression ended the moment.
"We have a problem."
"What?"
"The board moved the meeting up."
Luca checked the time.
"To when?"
"Thirty minutes ago."
Adrian was already speaking to reporters when they arrived at Moretti Tower.
He announced that Luca had officially been removed.
Then he released photographs.
Luca carrying a gun inside Elena's studio.
Elena being pulled into his SUV.
Thomas bleeding outside the theater.
The images had been chosen carefully.
They looked damning.
Reporters shouted.
Police arrived.
Luca's lawyers rushed in.
Adrian smiled.
Elena understood the plan.
He wasn't just taking the company.
He was turning Luca into the monster everyone already expected him to be.
Then Adrian saw Elena.
His smile faltered.
She walked straight toward the microphones.
"My name is Elena Brooks."
The room quieted.
"I was not kidnapped by Luca Moretti."
Reporters exploded with questions.
She kept speaking.
"The shots fired into my studio were not fired by him. The man injured at the theater was trying to help us. And the person behind this knows exactly why a twenty-eight-year-old portrait matters."
Adrian stepped toward her.
"Elena, this isn't the place."
She looked at him.
"Then where is Celeste Rinaldi's grave?"
Silence.
Cameras turned toward Adrian.
His face changed.
Luca saw victory.
Too early.
Adrian smiled again.
"I'm glad you asked."
He motioned toward the building entrance.
Two detectives walked in.
One held an evidence bag.
Inside was a handgun.
Adrian faced Luca.
"That weapon was recovered beside Celeste Rinaldi's remains."
Luca stared.
Adrian continued.
"Ballistics link it to Carlo Moretti."
"Then it proves our father killed her."
Adrian shook his head.
"Fingerprints survived inside the protected grip."
A detective stepped forward.
"Mr. Moretti, we need you to come with us."
Elena looked at Luca.
"Whose fingerprints?"
May you like
The detective answered.
"Luca Moretti's."
