Chapter 4 - The Cellar Truth
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Dr. Evans was remarkably gentle as he swabbed the inside of Oliver's cheek.
My little boy didn't even flinch; he simply leaned against my shoulder, his heavy eyelids fluttering shut.
"I will run this immediately at my private lab, Luca," the doctor promised, packing his instruments into his leather kit.
"How long?" Luca demanded.
"Six hours," Dr. Evans replied. "By sunrise, you will have the certified match."
The doctor bowed his head respectfully toward me before slipping out of the library.
Luca turned to an older woman standing in the hallway—Mrs. Gable, the head housekeeper, who looked completely stunned.
"Mrs. Gable," Luca instructed. "Prepare the guest suite next to my master bedroom."
"Bring clean clothes for Claire and Oliver, and have the kitchen send up warm broth and sandwiches."
"Yes, Mr. Moretti," Mrs. Gable replied without hesitation. "Right away."
I stood up, holding my sleeping son in my arms.
"Claire," Luca said softly, placing a warm hand on my shoulder. "Go rest with Oliver."
"There are four armed guards outside your door."
"No one will ever harm you under my roof again."
"Where are you going?" I asked, looking into his grim eyes.
"I have unfinished business downstairs," he answered.
Ten minutes later, Luca walked down the stone stairs into the mansion's subterranean wine cellar.
Beyond the racks of vintage wine lay a reinforced steel door leading to an old interrogation room built by his grandfather.
Vanessa sat on a metal folding chair under a single hanging lightbulb.
Her glamorous red dress was wrinkled, her makeup smeared with angry tears.
Marco stood in the corner of the room with his arms folded, like a stone gargoyle.
Luca stepped into the room and closed the heavy steel door behind him.
He pulled up a second chair, turned it around, and sat straddling it, resting his chin on his arms.
"You have five minutes to tell me the truth, Vanessa," Luca said without an ounce of emotion.
"This is kidnapping, Luca!" she raged, her voice shrill in the concrete space. "My father is the head of the Bellini syndicate!"
"If I am not home by midnight, our families will go to war!"
"Let them come," Luca said coldly.
He leaned forward, his eyes boring into her soul.
"You went to Matteo's house three years ago."
"You threatened my brother, his wife, and his infant son."
"Why?"
Vanessa sneered, a wicked smile twisting her red lips.
"Because your brother was a coward who didn't deserve the Moretti name."
"He walked away from the throne, Luca!"
"He left you to inherit an empire that was meant to be shared!"
"And you think that gave you the right to hunt him?" Luca asked, his voice dangerously low.
"I didn't hunt him for fun, you idiot!" Vanessa hissed, losing all composure.
"Seven years ago, your father promised that the eldest son of Moretti would marry the eldest daughter of Bellini."
"Matteo was supposed to marry me!"
"When he ran away, he humiliated my family and left me with you—a second son who cared more about street wars than our alliance!"
Luca's jaw clenched so hard the muscles jumped beneath his skin.
"So when your informants found Matteo living as a carpenter with a common waitress, you decided to clean up his mess?" Luca asked.
"I gave him a choice!" Vanessa shrieked, slamming her jeweled hands on her knees.
"I told him that if he stepped foot in Chicago or ever contacted you, my father's hitmen would carve up his wife and his bastard child!"
"He took the deal like the pathetic dog he was!"
"He packed a bag and left them behind without looking back!"
Luca stared at his fiancée, feeling a disgust so profound it chilled his blood.
"Where is he, Vanessa?" Luca asked, standing up slowly.
Vanessa laughed, a cold and hollow sound.
"Do you really think he's alive, Luca?"
"A man with no money, no identity, and Bellini assassins trailing his every move?"
She leaned back against the metal chair, gloating.
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"Your brother died in a ditch three years ago, Luca."
"And there isn't a single thing you can do to bring him back."
