Chapter 3 - THE BROTHER WHO DIED
Luca did not raise his voice.
That frightened Emma more than shouting would have.
“Start talking.”
Enzo looked toward Daniel’s weapon.
“Can we do it without him pointing that at me?”
“No,” Daniel said.
Enzo sighed.
“Fair.”
Bruno walked toward him.
The old dog pressed his head against Enzo’s leg.
Enzo knelt.
“Still stubborn.”
Luca stared.
“You saw Bruno three months ago.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To check the compartment.”
“For what?”
“Gabriel’s papers.”
“Where is Gabriel?”
Enzo closed his eyes.
“Dead.”
“You expect me to believe you now?”
“No.”
“Then prove it.”
Enzo stood slowly.
“Gabriel survived the crash.”
Emma watched Luca.
No reaction.
Not yet.
Enzo continued.
“The car went into the lake. He got out through the passenger side.”
“Then why was there a body?”
“Because another man was driving.”
Luca’s eyes sharpened.
“Who?”
“Paul Marin.”
Daniel looked at the passport.
“Sofia’s brother?”
“Yes.”
“What were they doing?”
“Running.”
“From whom?”
“Your father.”
Luca finally moved.
One step.
“Why?”
Enzo looked tired.
“Gabriel discovered Salvatore had business with Victor Bellini.”
Luca laughed once.
“My father had business with half the city.”
“Not this.”
“What?”
“Off-book construction contracts. cash transfers. properties held through fronts.”
Emma thought of Bellini Property Services.
Enzo continued.
“Gabriel wanted out.”
“Out of what?”
“The family.”
Luca’s expression hardened.
“He could have left.”
“No.”
Enzo shook his head.
“He wanted to take evidence with him.”
“For police?”
“For himself.”
Luca stopped.
“What?”
“Gabriel wasn’t a saint.”
Enzo’s voice became quieter.
“He planned to trade the evidence for immunity if your father ever came after him.”
Emma could see the hurt beneath Luca’s stillness.
His brother had not been escaping for morality.
He had been escaping for leverage.
“What happened the night of the crash?”
“Gabriel, Sofia and Paul left a safe house near Evanston. Someone followed them. Paul drove. Car hit black ice. Went over the barrier.”
“And Gabriel?”
“Escaped.”
“Sofia?”
“In another car.”
“Paul died.”
“Yes.”
“My father identified the body as Gabriel.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To protect the family name and stop Victor from searching for him.”
“So my father helped him disappear.”
“At first.”
Luca stared.
“What changed?”
“Gabriel kept contacting Sofia.”
“And?”
“She wanted to come back.”
“Why?”
“She was pregnant.”
Silence.
Emma’s heart dropped.
Luca’s eyes narrowed.
“Gabriel had a child?”
Enzo nodded.
“A daughter.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
“That is not acceptable.”
“It is the truth.”
“Name?”
“Isabella.”
“How old?”
“Fourteen now.”
Luca looked away.
His brother had a daughter.
A niece.
Alive somewhere.
“Where did they go?”
“Canada first. Then Europe.”
“Why is Gabriel’s passport here?”
“He returned.”
“When?”
“Twelve years ago.”
“Why?”
“To confront your father.”
Luca’s voice went colder.
“About what?”
“Vanessa Bellini.”
Emma stared.
Even Daniel moved.
Luca said, “Gabriel knew Vanessa?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“She was helping Victor track Sofia.”
Luca’s face hardened.
“Vanessa would have been nineteen.”
“Old enough to follow instructions.”
Emma thought of the engagement dinner.
Vanessa’s perfect smile.
Bruno’s euthanasia form.
The kennel locker.
“Did Gabriel meet her?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“At this estate.”
“When?”
“Twelve years ago.”
“What happened?”
Enzo looked toward the opened cabinet.
“Gabriel gave Elena copies of Bellini records.”
“My mother knew he was alive.”
“Yes.”
“All those years?”
“For a while.”
Luca’s anger finally cracked.
“She let me mourn him.”
“She was protecting you.”
Emma flinched at the phrase.
Luca did too.
He laughed bitterly.
“Everyone is very generous with other people’s grief.”
Enzo looked ashamed.
“She believed Victor would kill Gabriel if anyone knew.”
“Did he?”
“No.”
“Then how did Gabriel die?”
Enzo was silent.
Luca stepped closer.
“How?”
“He came back again seven years ago.”
“The year I met Vanessa.”
“Yes.”
“Coincidence?”
“No.”
Emma felt cold.
Enzo continued.
“Gabriel learned Vanessa had entered Elena’s circle.”
Luca frowned.
“My mother barely knew Vanessa when I introduced them.”
Enzo shook his head.
“They had met before.”
Luca went still.
“What?”
“Vanessa volunteered at Elena’s foundation.”
“When?”
“Nine years ago.”
“Two years before I met her.”
“Yes.”
Luca stared at the concrete floor.
Pattern.
Always pattern.
“And Gabriel?”
“He believed Vanessa was searching for the tunnel.”
“Did she know about it?”
“Not fully.”
“Then?”
“Gabriel arranged to meet Elena here.”
Enzo’s voice broke.
“He never arrived.”
“What happened?”
“His car was found near Gary.”
“Body?”
“No.”
“Then why say he’s dead?”
Enzo reached inside his coat.
Daniel raised the gun higher.
Enzo slowly removed a plastic evidence bag.
Inside was a watch.
Old steel Rolex.
Cracked face.
Luca recognized it.
Their father had given it to Gabriel on his twenty-first birthday.
“Where did you get that?”
“From a man who worked for Victor.”
“Who?”
“Anthony Vale.”
Luca’s eyes narrowed.
“The attorney?”
“Yes.”
“He gave you Gabriel’s watch?”
“Three years ago.”
“Why?”
“To convince me to stop searching.”
“What did he say?”
Enzo looked directly at Luca.
“He said Gabriel begged for your life before he died.”
The room went silent.
Emma felt sick.
Luca’s face did not change.
But his hand closed slowly around Bruno’s collar.
“What does that mean?”
Enzo swallowed.
“Vale claimed Gabriel discovered a plan to force your father to sign over control of several Moretti properties.”
“By threatening me?”
“Yes.”
“Who planned it?”
“Victor.”
“And Vanessa?”
“Vale said she helped identify your routines.”
Luca closed his eyes.
Seven years ago.
The year Vanessa met him.
The year Gabriel disappeared for the second time.
Emma whispered, “She didn’t meet you by chance.”
“No,” Luca said.
His voice was empty.
Daniel stepped closer to Enzo.
“Why come back now?”
“Because Vanessa found the tunnel.”
“How?”
“She saw me leaving the kennel building three months ago.”
“Why were you here?”
“To retrieve the last box.”
“What was in it?”
Enzo looked at Luca.
“A letter Gabriel wrote to you.”
“Where is it?”
“Gone.”
“Vanessa took it?”
“I think so.”
Emma remembered the missing boxes.
Three removed.
One letter among them.
“What did the letter say?” Luca asked.
“I never read it.”
“Did my mother?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“She cried.”
That answer hurt more than anything else.
Luca looked toward the stairs.
“Vanessa is still in the house.”
Daniel nodded.
“Ballroom.”
Luca turned.
Emma grabbed his sleeve.
He looked back.
“Don’t go in angry.”
He stared at her.
“Why?”
“Because she lies better when she knows what you’re feeling.”
Daniel looked at Emma with something like respect.
Luca said nothing.
Then nodded.
They returned upstairs.
Vanessa sat in the ballroom with Matteo Bellini and two attorneys.
Her red gown looked almost black under the dimmed lights.
When Luca entered, she stood.
“Finally.”
Her eyes moved to Emma.
Then Enzo.
Everything in her face changed.
“You.”
Enzo smiled without warmth.
“Hello, Vanessa.”
Matteo looked between them.
“Who is this?”
Vanessa did not answer.
Luca walked to the bar.
Poured water.
Not whiskey.
Then turned.
“My brother survived the crash.”
Vanessa’s face stayed still.
Too still.
Matteo frowned.
“Luca—”
“This is between me and Vanessa.”
He looked at her.
“You knew Gabriel was alive.”
“No.”
Enzo laughed.
She ignored him.
Luca continued.
“You knew my mother before you met me.”
“No.”
“Try again.”
Vanessa stared.
Then slowly sat.
“Fine.”
Emma felt the room tighten.
“Yes.”
Luca’s face showed nothing.
“How long?”
“I met Elena nine years ago.”
“Why?”
“My father asked me to volunteer at the foundation.”
“To search for records?”
“At first.”
Matteo turned.
“Vanessa, shut up.”
She snapped.
“No.”
Then looked at Luca.
“I was nineteen when this started.”
“You were twenty-six when you met me.”
“Yes.”
“You lied for seven years.”
“Yes.”
“Did you help kill Gabriel?”
Her face changed.
“No.”
“Did you help find him?”
Silence.
That was answer enough.
Luca’s voice dropped.
“Did you tell Victor where he was?”
“I told my father Gabriel was in Chicago.”
Emma closed her eyes.
Vanessa continued quickly.
“I didn’t know what he would do.”
Luca laughed once.
“You always don’t know what your father will do.”
“I was afraid of him.”
“So you fed him everyone else.”
Vanessa stood.
“I loved you.”
“Maybe.”
“I did.”
“You scheduled my dog to die.”
Her face twisted.
“Because Bruno kept scratching at that damn kennel wall!”
Silence.
Vanessa realized too late.
Luca looked toward the tunnel entrance.
“So Bruno found the hidden room.”
“Yes.”
“And you panicked.”
“He kept going there. Staff noticed.”
“You could have told me.”
“And let you find Gabriel’s records?”
Luca stared.
“Why not?”
“Because then you would know why I came into your life.”
There it was.
The truth at last.
Emma watched Luca absorb it.
Not just betrayal.
Architecture.
A relationship built from the first day on someone else’s plan.
Then Vanessa added:
“And because the letter wasn’t for you alone.”
Luca went still.
“What?”
“The one Gabriel left.”
“You read it?”
“Yes.”
“Where is it?”
Vanessa looked at Emma.
That frightened her more than anything.
Then Vanessa said:
“Gabriel wrote Emma’s mother’s name in it.”
Emma stopped breathing.
“My mother?”
Vanessa nodded.
“Claire Collins.”
Emma’s hands went cold.
“What did Gabriel know about my mother?”
Vanessa smiled sadly.
“Enough that your family was never supposed to work in this house.”
Emma stared.
Luca turned toward her.
May you like
And suddenly the torn uniform, Bruno, the tunnel and Gabriel’s death were no longer only Moretti secrets.
They had reached straight into Emma’s home.”
