Chapter 8 - The Enemy Inside the Family
Margaret Hale had vanished.
The woman who had protected Kate through months of pregnancy.
The woman who had just helped keep Luciano’s son alive.
Luciano wanted every road closed.
Kate wanted something else.
“Find out who hired her.”
Marco searched financial records.
Margaret had been recommended by a private maternal-care agency.
The agency existed.
Its clients existed.
But the person who requested Margaret specifically had used a shell company.
The payment originated from Switzerland.
Matteo recognized the bank.
“Vittorio.”
Luciano shook his head.
“Too obvious.”
He was right.
Further tracing revealed another name.
Sofia Aruri.
Luciano's aunt.
Vittorio's younger sister.
She had supposedly lived quietly in Florence for twenty years.
Luciano called her.
She answered immediately.
“I wondered when you'd find me.”
“Did you hire Margaret?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To protect Kate.”
“From Vittorio?”
“From you.”
Luciano went silent.
Sofia told him Elena had feared both sons would inherit the violence surrounding the family.
Matteo had escaped.
Luciano had not.
When Sofia learned Kate was pregnant, she feared Luciano might treat the child as an heir before treating him as a son.
Kate listened from the bed.
Luciano did not defend himself.
“Where is Margaret?”
“With me.”
“Why did she leave?”
“Because Vittorio discovered her.”
“Put her on.”
Margaret came to the phone.
She explained that her credentials had been stolen to alter the hospital record.
She had fled after recognizing the intruder in the house.
Not Celia.
Someone else.
“Who?”
“I couldn't tell Kate while that person was nearby.”
Luciano looked around.
“Name.”
Margaret spoke.
Marco Bellini.
Luciano slowly turned.
Marco stood ten feet away.
His face went blank.
Matteo reached for his weapon.
Marco did not.
“She's wrong.”
Luciano said nothing.
“Luciano.”
“Give me your gun.”
Marco stared.
“Now.”
Marco slowly removed it and placed it on the table.
Kate watched.
Fifteen years of trust stood between two men.
“Did you enter the house?”
“No.”
“Did you alter the record?”
“No.”
“Did you intercept Kate's calls?”
“Yes. I admitted that.”
“Did you know about my brother?”
“No.”
“Did you work for Vittorio?”
Marco’s eyes flashed.
“Never.”
Luciano wanted to believe him.
That was precisely why he couldn't.
Marco was confined to a guarded room until they could verify everything.
Matteo said what Luciano would not.
“If he's guilty, he has been beside you for fifteen years.”
Luciano looked toward the door.
“If he's innocent, I just imprisoned the man who saved my life six times.”
“Then find the truth.”
They did.
Security footage showed a figure matching Marco's height entering the medical wing.
But the timestamp overlapped with a verified call Marco had made from Milan.
Impossible.
Unless the footage was manipulated.
Matteo examined the metadata.
It was.
Someone wanted Luciano to turn against Marco.
Again, the same method.
Separation.
Distrust.
Isolation.
Vittorio did not defeat people by attacking them.
He made them attack one another.
Luciano released Marco personally.
“I should hit you,” Marco said.
“Why?”
“For doubting me.”
“I did more than doubt you.”
“Yes.”
“You lied to me about Kate.”
Marco looked away.
Luciano continued.
“You thought you were protecting me.”
“I was.”
“You don't get to decide what I lose.”
Marco nodded slowly.
“I know that now.”
Luciano extended his hand.
Marco looked at it.
Then ignored it and hugged him.
Luciano stiffened.
Kate laughed from the bed.
It was the first real laugh anyone had heard in days.
For a moment, the house felt almost human.
Then the power died.
Every light went black.
Backup generators should have activated instantly.
They did not.
Marco shouted orders.
Luciano reached Kate.
Matteo locked the bedroom.
Outside, glass shattered.
Men moved through the lower floor.
This was not surveillance anymore.
It was an assault.
Luciano gave Kate a small emergency flashlight.
“Stay behind me.”
“No.”
“Kate.”
“You promised to stop deciding.”
Even in darkness, he nearly smiled.
“Then please stay behind me.”
“Better.”
Gunfire erupted downstairs.
Matteo covered the corridor.
Marco coordinated guards.
Luciano remained with Kate.
Then her water broke.
Kate stared down.
“No.”
Luciano saw the terror in her face.
“Margaret!”
No response.
She was miles away.
Dr. Bennett rushed in.
“We're delivering.”
“Here?”
“We don't have a choice.”
Kate began shaking.
Luciano held her.
“Look at me.”
“Twenty-nine weeks.”
“I know.”
“He's too early.”
“He's our son.”
“What if—”
“No what if.”
She cried.
“I’m scared.”
“So am I.”
It was the first time she had ever heard Luciano Aruri admit fear.
She gripped his hand.
Outside, another shot.
Inside, Bennett prepared for birth.
Minutes stretched.
Kate screamed.
Luciano stayed.
Then a tiny sound entered the room.
A cry.
Thin.
Fragile.
Alive.
Luciano stopped breathing.
Their son.
Bennett immediately transferred the baby to the neonatal team.
Kate sobbed.
“Let me see him.”
For one second, they brought him close.
Tiny face.
Tiny hands.
Luciano touched one finger.
The baby's hand closed around it.
The most feared man in the room broke.
Tears filled his eyes.
“Hello, son.”
Kate watched him.
Then the neonatal doctor turned urgently.
“We need to move him.”
A portable incubator was prepared.
Luciano kissed Kate’s forehead.
“I'll go with him.”
“No.”
She grabbed his sleeve.
“Stay until they secure the hallway.”
Marco entered.
Blood on his shirt.
Not his.
“We have the attackers contained.”
“Vittorio?”
“No sign.”
A radio crackled.
One guard shouted from downstairs.
“They've breached the east entrance!”
Then another voice came through.
“They aren't coming for Mrs. Aruri.”
Luciano looked at the incubator.
The hallway doors burst open.
May you like
The lights returned.
And the portable crib was suddenly empty.
