Chapter 5 - The Man Luca Trusted Most
Luca hit the door once.
“Marco.”
No answer.
Again.
“Marco!”
Silence.
Elena stared at him.
Marco Bellini had been Luca’s security chief for twelve years.
His father had served Antonio Moretti.
His mother was Isabella’s closest friend.
Marco had eaten Sunday dinner with the family.
He had stood beside Luca at funerals.
He was supposed to stand beside him tomorrow at the wedding.
Now he had locked them inside a wine cellar.
Daniel Rizzo laughed bitterly.
“Told you.”
Luca turned.
“You knew?”
“I suspected.”
“Why?”
“Because he kept changing the camera rotations.”
Elena crouched near the door.
“There’s a gap.”
Luca joined her.
A thin draft entered from beneath the wood.
“This cellar connects to the old tunnels,” he said.
Daniel stared at him.
“What tunnels?”
“Prohibition routes. My grandfather used them.”
“Can we reach them?”
“If they haven’t been sealed.”
Elena looked around.
Wine racks.
Stone walls.
One antique cabinet.
She moved toward it.
The floor beneath the cabinet was scratched.
Recently.
“Luca.”
He saw it.
Together they pushed the cabinet aside.
A steel hatch sat beneath.
Locked.
Elena almost laughed.
“Please tell me you have the key.”
Luca pulled a small key ring from his pocket.
“Family house.”
He tried one.
Then another.
The third worked.
Cold air rose from below.
A narrow staircase descended into darkness.
Luca untied Daniel.
“You stay behind me.”
Daniel nodded.
Elena grabbed a flashlight.
They entered.
The tunnel smelled of stone and rust.
Twenty yards in, they found something on the floor.
A white rose.
Sofia’s favorite flower.
Luca picked it up.
A strip of lace was tied around the stem.
Elena recognized it.
The edge matched Sofia’s wedding veil.
“She came through here.”
Luca’s face changed.
“She left this.”
“To guide us.”
They continued.
Another rose.
Then another.
At the third, they found blood.
Only a drop.
Luca touched it.
Still wet.
They moved faster.
The tunnel emerged beneath an abandoned chapel at the edge of Moretti property.
Voices came from above.
Carlo Caruso.
Sofia.
Marco.
Luca held up one hand.
They listened.
Carlo’s voice echoed.
“You should have burned those papers.”
Sofia answered.
“And let you keep lying?”
“You don’t understand what those papers will do.”
“They’ll tell the truth.”
“The truth gets people killed.”
“So do you.”
Luca’s face hardened.
Marco said, “Enough.”
Sofia snapped, “You too?”
Marco’s voice was strained.
“You think I wanted this?”
“You locked Luca in a cellar.”
“To keep him alive.”
Luca looked at Elena.
That changed things.
Marco had betrayed him.
But maybe not for the reason they thought.
Carlo continued.
“Tomorrow’s wedding cannot happen.”
Sofia said, “It will.”
“No.”
“I love him.”
“Love is irrelevant.”
“You arranged this marriage.”
“I arranged peace.”
“Then why are you destroying it?”
Carlo was silent.
Sofia answered her own question.
“Because Luca found Dominic’s name.”
Luca’s eyes narrowed.
Carlo said, “Dominic is alive.”
Sofia’s breath caught.
Even she had not known.
“Where?”
“He’s coming.”
A sound came from the chapel entrance.
Another voice.
Old.
Rough.
“Actually, Carlo.”
Everyone fell silent.
“I’m already here.”
Dominic Vescari stepped into view.
He was seventy-five.
Thin.
Silver-haired.
Scar across the jaw.
Alive.
Carlo raised a gun.
Marco raised his.
Sofia stood between them.
Luca climbed through the trapdoor.
“Enough.”
Every head turned.
Sofia’s face changed.
“Luca.”
He looked at her.
Not coldly.
Not warmly.
Just deeply hurt.
“You knew.”
She understood.
“Yes.”
“You knew who your grandfather was.”
“Yes.”
“And you were going to marry me without telling me.”
“I was going to tell you tonight.”
Carlo laughed.
“Convenient.”
Sofia turned on him.
“Shut up.”
Dominic watched Luca.
“You look like Antonio.”
Luca stared.
“You knew my father.”
“I loved him like a brother.”
“Then why did he try to kill you?”
“He didn’t.”
Carlo’s face tightened.
Dominic looked at him.
“Tell him.”
Carlo said nothing.
Dominic smiled sadly.
“Still a coward.”
Luca stepped closer.
“What happened?”
Dominic took a breath.
“Your father and I discovered someone stealing from both families. Money. Weapons. Names. That man sold information to federal agents and rival crews.”
“Who?”
Dominic pointed toward Carlo.
Sofia stared at her father.
“No.”
Carlo’s gun shifted.
Marco immediately aimed at him.
Carlo said, “Don’t.”
Dominic continued.
“Carlo framed me. Your father believed him for three days. Then Antonio discovered the truth.”
Luca’s voice dropped.
“So why did my father never clear Dominic’s name?”
“Because Carlo had leverage.”
“What leverage?”
Dominic looked at Isabella.
Luca understood before he answered.
“My mother.”
“Yes.”
Carlo had threatened Isabella.
The war became a cover.
Dominic faked his death.
Antonio publicly blamed him.
Privately, the two men remained in contact.
Until Antonio died eleven years ago.
Luca looked at Carlo.
“You killed my father?”
Sofia whispered, “Dad?”
Carlo’s face hardened.
“No.”
Dominic said, “Not directly.”
Luca stepped closer.
“What does that mean?”
“Carlo gave the order to sabotage Antonio’s car.”
Sofia staggered backward.
Carlo raised his gun.
Marco fired first.
The shot struck Carlo’s weapon.
It flew across the floor.
Sofia screamed.
Daniel rushed in behind Luca.
Dominic lowered his head.
Carlo stared at his wounded hand.
“You think this ends anything?”
Luca looked at him.
“No.”
Carlo laughed.
“You still don’t understand.”
Dominic’s expression changed.
Carlo continued.
“The suit wasn’t mine.”
Everyone stopped.
Luca stared.
“What?”
“I knew about the thread. I knew about Bianchi. But I didn’t build it.”
“Then who did?”
Carlo smiled.
“Ask the woman who has spent twenty-eight years protecting the secret.”
Luca slowly turned.
Isabella stood in the chapel doorway.
She was holding the second black phone.
May you like
And on its screen was one final message.
THE WEDDING STARTS AT MIDNIGHT.
