Chapter 7 - The Brother Who Came Home Angry|
I stared at the threatening message until the words blurred.
Luca noticed immediately.
"Claire, what happened?"
I handed him my phone.
He read the message.
His expression darkened.
"Who sent this?"
"I don't know."
Anthony stepped forward.
"May I see it, sir?"
Luca gave him the phone.
"Preserve it."
Anthony nodded.
"We can document the number and provide it to the investigators."
Olivia looked toward the front windows.
"Someone knows we found the box."
Matteo folded his arms.
"Which means somebody's watching."
Rosa began shaking again.
"Maybe we should put it back."
Luca turned toward her.
"No, Mama."
His voice softened.
"We're done hiding things."
Matteo suddenly laughed without humor.
"That's rich coming from you."
Luca looked at him.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means you've spent years hiding things from this family."
Olivia sighed.
"Matteo, not now."
But Matteo wasn't finished.
"Papa begged Luca to stop bringing dangerous people into the family business."
Luca's jaw tightened.
"Watch yourself."
"No."
Matteo stepped forward.
"Papa spent his final years trying to turn the Moretti name into something respectable."
"While you were busy running operations he wanted nothing to do with."
The room fell silent.
I had heard rumors about the Moretti family's past.
Everyone in Chicago had.
Luca controlled businesses that stretched from transportation and construction to high-end restaurants and private security.
Some of those businesses were legitimate.
Others carried a reputation that people rarely discussed aloud.
But hearing Matteo speak so openly about it was different.
Luca looked at his brother.
"You think I wanted Papa to die?"
Matteo's expression faltered.
"I didn't say that."
"You've been blaming me since the funeral."
Matteo looked away.
"You weren't there."
The words struck Luca like a physical blow.
Rosa stood.
"Enough."
Both brothers turned.
Their mother looked from one to the other.
"Your father died eighteen months ago."
Her voice trembled.
"And for eighteen months, I've watched you punish each other for a tragedy neither of you understood."
Matteo lowered his eyes.
"Mama—"
"No."
She lifted a shaking hand.
"I have listened to enough anger in this house."
Olivia moved closer to her.
Rosa looked at Luca.
"Your father worried about you."
Luca's face tightened.
"I know."
"He wanted you to choose a different life."
"I know, Mama."
Then she turned to Matteo.
"But he loved you too."
Matteo swallowed.
"And he never wanted you to leave your brother alone with all his grief."
Matteo's eyes filled with tears.
For a moment, he looked like a boy standing in the kitchen after being scolded by his mother.
"I'm sorry," he whispered.
Luca looked at him.
Matteo took a breath.
"I should have come home sooner."
A long silence followed.
Then Luca reached for his brother's shoulder.
"Yeah."
His voice broke.
"You should have."
Matteo nodded.
"And I should have called."
Luca pulled him into a rough embrace.
Rosa began crying again.
But this time, she was smiling.
I quietly stepped toward the hallway.
The family needed a moment together.
Before I reached the door, however, Anthony approached me.
"Claire, Mr. Moretti wants you to stay inside the house until we know who sent that message."
I nodded.
"Of course."
He hesitated.
"There's something else."
"What?"
"Security found that someone accessed the old surveillance archives two weeks before Frank died."
My heart quickened.
"Who?"
"The account belonged to the estate's former outside systems administrator."
"Can you contact him?"
Anthony shook his head.
"The account was later transferred to Julian Cross's office."
I looked toward the dining room.
"And the original technician?"
"We're trying to locate him."
A few hours later, Luca brought a retired Chicago detective to the mansion.
His name was Gideon Shaw.
He was a broad-shouldered man in his late sixties with silver hair and the calm expression of someone who had spent decades listening to lies.
Frank Moretti had known him for many years.
After leaving the police department, Gideon had become a private investigator.
Luca greeted him in the study.
"Thank you for coming."
Gideon shook his hand.
"Your father helped my family once."
His eyes softened.
"I haven't forgotten."
He reviewed the forged nursing home documents, the financial records, and my threatening message.
Then he asked a question nobody else had considered.
"Who was working in the house the night Frank died?"
Anthony produced an old employee roster.
The list included kitchen staff, housekeepers, drivers, and security personnel.
Gideon studied it carefully.
Then he pointed toward one name.
"Daniel Rivera."
Luca frowned.
"Papa's nighttime driver."
Anthony nodded.
"He left shortly after Mr. Frank's funeral."
"Why?"
Anthony hesitated.
"The personnel file says misconduct."
Gideon looked up.
"What kind?"
"Failure to follow instructions during a medical emergency."
Nobody spoke.
Gideon closed the file.
"That seems worth looking into."
Luca nodded.
"Find him."
By evening, Gideon had located Daniel's last known address in a working-class neighborhood on Chicago's Southwest Side.
But there was another problem.
Daniel had been refusing calls from anyone associated with the Moretti family for more than a year.
Gideon suggested approaching him personally.
Rosa overheard the conversation.
"Daniel was a good man."
Luca turned.
"You remember him?"
"Of course."
She smiled sadly.
"He used to bring fresh bread from the bakery near his mother's apartment."
Then her expression changed.
"He was here that night."
Gideon leaned forward.
"Rosa, did you speak to him?"
She nodded.
"I asked him to find a telephone."
"Did he?"
"I don't know."
Her voice became unsteady.
"Vanessa came down the hallway and told him everything was under control."
Gideon's eyes narrowed.
"Did Daniel believe her?"
Rosa shook her head.
"He looked frightened."
She paused.
"Then he disappeared."
Luca slowly stood.
For the first time, we had someone outside the family who might know what really happened.
Gideon reached for his coat.
"I'll speak to him tomorrow."
But Rosa stopped him.
"Please tell Daniel something for me."
Gideon turned.
"What is it?"
She pressed her hands together.
"Tell him I'm sorry I didn't listen when he said we needed to call for help."
Gideon nodded.
"I will."
As he left, Luca's phone rang.
He answered without looking at the screen.
Then he went completely still.
"Who is this?"
A man's voice spoke loudly enough that I could hear a few words.
"Tell your mother she was right."
Luca's eyes narrowed.
"Daniel?"
May you like
The man sounded terrified.
"Mr. Moretti, your father was still alive when they told us to stop trying to save him."
