Chapter 6 - The Brother Who Was Protecting Me
Luca Moretti stood in the chapel doorway with a gun pointed at me.
My first thought was betrayal.
My second thought was anger.
But then I saw his eyes.
And I realized my brother wasn’t aiming at me.
He was aiming at the person standing behind me.
Victor Bellini.
"Move away from him, Alessandro."
Luca's voice was calm.
Too calm.
The kind of calm that came before violence.
I stepped slightly to the side, never taking my eyes off him.
"You came here with a gun."
Luca looked at Victor.
"Because I knew he would come for you."
Victor smiled.
Not surprised.
Not afraid.
Almost amused.
"Still pretending to be the loyal brother?"
Luca's jaw tightened.
"Still pretending you didn't destroy this family?"
The chapel became silent.
For twelve years, Luca had hidden things from me.
He had lied.
He had kept secrets.
But this was the first time I saw him openly stand against someone.
Not beside someone.
Against someone.
Victor looked at me.
"Do you see now?"
I didn't answer.
"He always wanted you to believe he was protecting you."
Victor lifted the notebook slightly.
"But your brother has been hiding the truth since the night your father died."
My eyes moved toward Luca.
"Is that true?"
Luca lowered the gun slightly.
"Yes."
The answer hit harder than I expected.
Not because I was surprised.
Because I was tired.
Tired of secrets.
Tired of everyone deciding what I could handle.
"What did you hide?"
Luca looked at Maria.
Then at Victor.
Then finally at me.
"The truth about that night."
I waited.
"The night father died."
The chapel felt colder.
I had spent twelve years hearing different versions.
A business deal gone wrong.
An enemy attack.
A random betrayal.
But no one had ever told me the complete story.
Luca took a breath.
"Father wasn't killed because someone wanted his money."
He looked at Victor.
"He was killed because he discovered who was trying to take control of everything."
Victor laughed softly.
"And you still don't understand."
I turned toward him.
"Understand what?"
Victor walked closer.
"Your father didn't discover a traitor."
He looked at me.
"He discovered a plan."
I stared at him.
"What plan?"
Victor's smile disappeared.
"A plan to remove every Moretti who stood in the way."
My hand tightened.
"Who created it?"
No one answered.
That silence was enough.
Because I already knew the answer was going to hurt.
My phone vibrated.
I looked down.
A message.
From Isabella.
Please come alone. I found something your father left behind.
I showed Luca.
His expression changed.
"Where is she?"
"I don't know."
Victor looked at the phone.
"Don't go."
I looked at him.
"You don't get to tell me what to do."
"No."
His voice became serious.
"But I know what she found."
The room froze.
"What?"
Victor looked at the notebook.
"The final page."
My eyes narrowed.
"What final page?"
"The page your father wrote before he died."
I stepped forward.
"You said the notebook was complete."
Victor looked away.
"Most of it."
"Most?"
Luca interrupted.
"Alessandro, listen to me."
I turned toward him.
"You knew about the final page?"
He hesitated.
Again.
That hesitation was becoming unbearable.
"Yes."
"Where is it?"
Luca looked down.
"I hid it."
The anger came instantly.
"You hid my father's last message?"
"I hid it because I wasn't sure who I could trust."
I stared at him.
"And you decided that person wasn't me?"
"No."
His voice cracked slightly.
"I decided I couldn't lose you."
The words stopped me.
Because they sounded real.
Not like an excuse.
Like a confession.
Luca stepped closer.
"Father knew someone inside the family was working with Victor."
Victor shook his head.
"Careful."
Luca ignored him.
"He wrote one final warning."
"What warning?"
Luca looked at me.
"That the person behind everything was not the person we suspected."
I frowned.
"What does that mean?"
"It means..."
Luca stopped.
His phone suddenly rang.
Everyone looked at it.
Unknown number.
The same type of call that had started this nightmare.
Luca answered.
No one spoke.
Then his expression changed.
The color disappeared from his face.
"What happened?"
A pause.
Then:
"No."
He looked at me.
"That's impossible."
I stepped closer.
"Who is it?"
Luca slowly lowered the phone.
His eyes were filled with something I had never seen before.
Panic.
"Alessandro..."
"What?"
He swallowed.
"Isabella is gone."
Everything stopped.
"What do you mean gone?"
"She was taken."
My chest tightened.
"By who?"
Luca looked toward Victor.
But Victor wasn't looking at him.
He was looking at me.
"You still don't understand."
I turned.
"What?"
Victor pointed at the notebook.
"She wasn't meeting that man to betray you."
I stared at him.
"Then why?"
Victor's voice became quieter.
"Because she discovered who was trying to kill you."
A thousand thoughts collided.
The secret meeting.
The hidden passage.
The lies.
The notebook.
Isabella had been hiding something.
But maybe not from me.
Maybe for me.
My phone vibrated.
A new message.
This time from Isabella's number.
I opened it immediately.
One sentence.
No explanation.
No words of fear.
Only a location.
And below it:
Don't trust Luca.
I looked up.
Luca saw the message.
His face changed.
Not anger.
Not surprise.
Pain.
"Alessandro..."
I stepped back.
Everything inside me wanted to believe him.
But everything I had learned told me one thing.
Someone was lying.
Maybe everyone.
Victor watched silently.
Maria covered her mouth.
And then my phone received one final message.
A photo.
I opened it.
My blood ran cold.
It was Isabella.
Sitting in a dark room.
Alive.
Terrified.
And beside her was the person holding the camera.
The person who had taken her.
The person I trusted more than anyone.
May you like
Because written beneath the photo was a single name.
Luca Moretti.
