Chapter 8 - The Truth About Luca Castellano
Ava walked back into Rachel's office.
Luca saw her face.
"What happened?"
"Where were you the night my mother died?"
Silence.
Rachel looked up.
Luca didn't answer.
Ava's heart sank.
"Where were you?"
"In Seattle."
"That's not what I asked."
He looked at Rachel.
Then back at Ava.
"I was with Elaine."
Ava stopped.
"You were in the car."
"No."
"Elena Ruiz says you were."
"Elena saw me near the car."
"Explain."
Luca sat.
He suddenly looked tired.
Not powerful.
Not dangerous.
Just tired.
"Your mother called me."
"You were twenty-eight."
"Yes."
"Why you?"
"Because my father wouldn't listen to her anymore."
Ava sat across from him.
"Go on."
"She believed Thomas had infiltrated our companies again. She wanted records."
"Did you give them to her?"
"Yes."
"That night?"
"Yes."
Luca swallowed.
"We met in a parking garage. I gave her a drive containing financial records."
"And then?"
"She drove away."
"With damaged brakes."
"I didn't know."
Ava stared.
"Why did you never tell me?"
"Because my father ordered me not to."
"You're a grown man."
"I know."
"That's your excuse?"
"No."
Luca's eyes met hers.
"It's my shame."
That silenced her.
"I should have gone to the police. I should have told you. I spent years telling myself I was protecting the investigation."
"But?"
"I was protecting my family name."
There it was.
Not a heroic explanation.
Not protection.
Cowardice.
A different kind from Jake's, but cowardice all the same.
Ava appreciated the truth even while it hurt.
"Did your father kill her?"
"I don't believe so."
"Belief isn't evidence."
"No."
Rachel leaned forward.
"There's more."
She displayed the bank authorization.
"The signature is Luca's father's, but the digital approval came from Thomas's credentials."
Luca looked up.
"So Thomas used my father's signature."
"Likely."
Ava asked, "Can you prove it?"
"We're getting closer."
Elena Ruiz agreed to meet.
She had been Elaine's coworker.
She saw Luca hand Elaine a flash drive.
She also saw another man near Elaine's car.
Thomas.
That broke the case open.
The mechanic confessed Thomas had paid him through an account disguised as Castellano money.
Thomas had arranged the sabotage.
Elaine's death hadn't been planned as murder, he claimed.
He wanted to frighten her.
The damaged brake line turned fatal.
Prosecutors didn't consider that much of a defense.
Thomas was charged.
Ava sat in her apartment after hearing the news.
Emma colored on the floor.
Luca stood near the window.
"So that's it?" Ava asked.
"For Thomas? The legal process is beginning."
"My mother finally gets the truth."
"Yes."
Ava looked at him.
"And what do you get?"
"I don't understand."
"You spent four years carrying this."
He said nothing.
"You could have told me."
"I know."
"I might never forgive that."
"I know."
She studied him.
"Why aren't you asking me to?"
"Because forgiveness isn't something I get to negotiate."
Ava looked down.
Jake had said something similar.
Maybe men could change.
Maybe change didn't erase damage.
Both could be true.
Weeks passed.
Ava's ankle healed.
The trust was restored to her control.
The land was valued at $14.8 million.
She nearly dropped the appraisal.
Her first decision surprised everyone.
She refused to sell immediately.
Instead, she commissioned an independent review.
Part of the property could be developed.
Part could become affordable housing.
Part could remain an investment for Emma.
Rachel helped.
Margaret advised only when asked.
Luca stayed out of it completely.
That impressed Ava more than if he'd offered a hundred experts.
Jake pleaded guilty to several fraud-related charges in exchange for cooperation.
His sentence was reduced.
Before reporting, Ava allowed him to see Emma.
Supervised.
Emma stared at him for a long time.
Then asked:
"Why did you leave?"
Jake cried.
Ava didn't rescue him.
He had to answer his daughter.
"I was scared."
Emma frowned.
"Mommy gets scared."
"I know."
"She stays."
Jake closed his eyes.
"You're right."
Emma hugged him anyway.
Children could do things adults couldn't.
Ava cried in the hallway.
Luca found her there.
He didn't touch her.
He simply stood beside her.
"She's better than all of us," Ava whispered.
"By a considerable margin."
Ava laughed through her tears.
Months later, Marino's closed.
Thomas's shell company lost control.
The building was sold.
Ava thought she'd feel relief.
Instead she felt strange grief.
That terrible restaurant had also been the place where everything changed.
Then Marco called.
He wanted to meet.
Ava almost refused.
Eventually she agreed.
Marco looked ten years older.
"I'm not asking forgiveness."
"Good."
He slid an envelope toward her.
Ava stared at it.
"I'm developing an allergy to envelopes."
He almost smiled.
"This belonged to your mother."
Ava froze.
"How?"
"Thomas kept it in the restaurant safe."
"Why?"
"I don't know."
Ava opened it.
Inside was a handwritten letter.
Not to Ava.
To Luca.
She looked up.
"Have you read this?"
"No."
She called Luca.
He arrived twenty minutes later.
Ava handed him the letter.
He recognized Elaine's handwriting.
His face changed.
"Read it."
He opened it.
Luca, if something happens to me, don't spend your life believing you failed. Protecting Ava does not mean controlling her choices. Tell her the truth, then let her decide what to do with it.
Luca stopped.
Ava's throat tightened.
There was one final paragraph.
He read it silently.
"What does it say?"
Luca looked at her.
Then handed her the page.
And if Samuel's second ledger ever appears, destroy nothing. That ledger proves the Carter property was never the real target.
Ava stared.
"What second ledger?"
Marco went pale.
Luca noticed.
"You know."
Marco stepped backward.
"No."
Ava stood.
"Marco."
He looked toward the locked restaurant office.
Then toward Ava.
"Thomas kept something else in the safe."
"What?"
Marco swallowed.
"A ledger."
Ava's pulse accelerated.
"Where is it?"
Marco pointed toward the office.
"The safe was empty this morning."
Luca turned sharply.
"Who has access?"
"Only me."
"Then who opened it?"
Marco stared at the security panel.
A single access record glowed on the screen.
The safe had been opened at 4:13 a.m.
Using a code belonging to someone who should not have known it.
Ava leaned closer.
May you like
The name appeared.
ELAINE CARTER.
