Chapter 8 - THE SECOND CHILD
The grand foyer was entirely silent.
“A baby?” I asked, stepping closer. “Luca, what does it say?”
Luca’s hands were trembling so violently he could barely hold the yellowed paper.
“My wife, Elena… she had a baby boy.”
I stared at him. “You didn't know?”
“She told me she miscarried,” Luca whispered, his voice cracking. “Seven months before she died. She went to her sister’s house in upstate New York to recover. She was gone for a month.”
Lorenzo stepped forward gently.
“Mr. Moretti, Elena didn't miscarry. She gave birth in secret. Because she knew the Bellini family was threatening her.”
Luca’s head snapped up. “What?”
“The Bellinis wanted control of your empire six years ago,” Lorenzo explained. “They threatened Elena. They told her if she gave birth to a male heir, they would kill the child to ensure Vanessa eventually took her place. Elena faked the miscarriage to protect her son.”
Tears spilled down Luca’s cheeks.
“She hid my son from me? To protect him?”
“She was going to tell you,” Lorenzo said softly. “The night she was killed, she was on her way to meet you. She was bringing the pocket watch as proof. But the Bellinis found out. They ran her off the road.”
I felt sick to my stomach.
Elena died trying to reunite her family.
“Where is he?” Luca demanded, grabbing Lorenzo’s collar. “Where is my son?!”
Lorenzo held his hands up.
“Frank Carter knew where he was. Frank was the one who pulled Elena from the wreckage before she died. She told Frank where the baby was.”
Everyone looked at my mother.
She was still sitting on the floor, her face buried in her hands.
“Mom?” I whispered. “Did Dad tell you? Do you know where the baby is?”
My mother looked up, tears streaming down her face.
She looked at me, then at Luca.
“Frank didn't take the baby to an orphanage,” she sobbed. “He couldn't trust the system. The Bellinis had cops on their payroll.”
“Where is he?!” Luca roared.
My mother reached into her pocket and pulled out a worn leather wallet.
She opened it and took out a small, faded photograph.
She handed it to Luca.
It was a picture of my father, smiling, holding a toddler.
A little boy with dark hair and striking, pale green eyes.
Luca’s eyes.
I stopped breathing.
“No,” I whispered.
My younger brother, Leo.
He was six years old. He lived at home with my mother. He loved building blocks and playing with toy cars.
“Frank and I adopted him,” my mother cried. “We forged the papers. We raised him as our own. We just wanted to keep him safe.”
Luca stared at the photo, falling to his knees on the marble floor.
He covered his face with his hands and let out a sob that echoed through the entire house.
I felt the world spinning.
The little boy I had read bedtime stories to, the boy I helped tie his shoes every morning… he was Luca Moretti’s son.
Sofia pushed the study door open and wheeled herself out.
She looked at her father crying on the floor.
“Daddy?” she asked softly. “What’s wrong?”
Luca looked up at his daughter.
He crawled over to her wheelchair and wrapped his arms around her waist, weeping openly.
“Nothing is wrong, sweetheart,” Luca cried. “Nothing is wrong. You have a brother. You have a little brother.”
I backed away, leaning against the wall for support.
My brother was a mafia heir.
My employer was his father.
Suddenly, the front door burst open again.
It was one of the federal agents.
“Agent Bianchi!” the man shouted. “We have a massive problem. The transport van carrying Vanessa Bellini… it was just ambushed on the highway.”
Lorenzo’s face darkened.
“What do you mean ambushed?”
“She’s gone, sir. Vanessa escaped. And she left a message painted on the side of the van.”
May you like
The agent swallowed hard, looking directly at me.
“She wrote: Tell the maid I’m coming for her brother.”
