Chapter 4 - GABRIEL'S WILL AND THE GOLD BRACELET
That evening, Dominic left after promising to return the following morning.
Valentina stayed another half hour.
Before leaving, she paused beside Luca's bassinet.
"He's beautiful."
Elena watched her carefully.
"So is Matteo."
Valentina smiled.
"Thank you."
"Bring him sometime."
Her expression changed.
"You mean that?"
"I don't know what I mean yet."
Elena looked at the three envelopes on the table.
"But he is Gabriel's son. Which makes him Luca's cousin."
Valentina's eyes filled with tears.
"Yes."
"I don't want children inheriting secrets adults created."
Valentina nodded.
"Neither did Gabriel."
After she left, Elena opened the envelopes.
The first contained a letter Valentina had written shortly after Luca's birth.
The second contained photographs of Gabriel holding a sonogram.
The third contained something unexpected.
A copy of Gabriel's will.
Elena read until she reached a paragraph that made her sit upright.
Gabriel had established a trust for his unborn child.
Dominic was named temporary trustee.
But someone else had been named the child's permanent trustee once the baby was born.
Elena read the name twice.
Elena Sofia Moretti.
Her own name.
Attached was a handwritten note addressed to her.
Elena,
You once told me the Moretti men spend too much time deciding what everyone else needs. You were right.
If my child ever needs someone to remind Dominic that love and control aren't the same thing, I'm choosing you.
She covered her mouth.
Gabriel had trusted her.
Before she had even known his child existed.
Then something else caught her attention.
At the bottom of the legal document was the name of the attorney who had witnessed the will.
Samuel Bennett.
Elena knew that name.
Samuel Bennett had attended Luca's christening planning dinner three weeks earlier.
Dominic had introduced him as a consultant reviewing the Moretti shipping companies.
Why would the attorney who handled Gabriel's secret will now be examining the exact companies Gabriel had been investigating before his death?
Elena reached for her phone.
She hesitated.
Then called Dominic.
He answered on the first ring.
"Is Luca all right?"
"He's fine."
A pause.
"Are you?"
"No."
Another pause.
"I found Gabriel's will."
Dominic said nothing.
"You knew he named me trustee."
"Yes."
"And you still didn't tell me about Matteo."
"I was going to."
"When?"
"I don't have a good answer."
"No, you don't."
She looked again at the document.
"There's something else."
"What?"
"Samuel Bennett witnessed it."
Dominic was silent long enough for Elena to hear the low hum of the hospital air conditioner.
Finally she said, "Why is Gabriel's attorney investigating your companies?"
"Elena."
The tone was familiar.
Careful.
Restrained.
The tone Dominic used when he was deciding how much truth to give her.
She closed her eyes.
"Don't do it again."
"Do what?"
"Decide what I can handle."
Silence.
Then Dominic exhaled.
"Samuel isn't investigating the companies."
"What is he investigating?"
"My father."
Elena's fingers went cold.
Dominic's father, Vittorio Moretti, had supposedly retired from family affairs four years earlier.
He spent most of his time at an estate near Lake Geneva.
He rarely appeared in Chicago.
Yet during Elena's entire marriage, she had noticed one strange thing.
Dominic never spoke about his father unless necessary.
"What does your father have to do with Gabriel's accounts?"
"We don't know yet."
"Dominic."
"We found payments Gabriel marked before he died. Samuel traced several of them to a foundation my father controls."
Elena stared at the sleeping infant beside her.
"Does your father know about Matteo?"
"No."
"Are you certain?"
Another pause.
Too long.
Her heart sank.
"Dominic."
His voice was almost a whisper.
"Until this morning, I was."
Elena sat straighter.
"What happened this morning?"
"My father sent Matteo a gift."
She stopped breathing for a second.
"What kind of gift?"
"A gold bracelet."
Elena looked at Luca's wrist.
The room suddenly felt colder.
Dominic continued.
"Not the family bracelet. An older one. It belonged to Gabriel when he was a child."
"How did Vittorio know where to send it?"
"We're trying to find out."
Elena looked at Gabriel's note again.
Love and control aren't the same thing.
For months, Dominic had believed secrecy was protecting everyone.
But someone had already found the secret.
Perhaps someone who had known all along.
May you like
And for the first time since Valentina appeared in her doorway, Elena understood that the question was no longer simply whether she could forgive her husband.
It was whether the hidden truth about Gabriel had been kept from Dominic too.
