Chapter 13 - THE LAST DINNER AT THE MORETTI MANSION|
The mansion looked different when we returned.
The chandeliers still glittered above the marble floors.
The expensive paintings still covered the walls.
The enormous dining table still stood beneath the golden ceiling.
But without Oliver's laughter, the house felt like a beautiful, empty museum.
Luca stood in the doorway for a long time.
“This was supposed to be our home,” he whispered.
I looked at the table where Vivienne had tried to throw Mr. Buttons away.
“Maybe it stopped being a home long before that night.”
He nodded.
Detective Shaw had warned Luca not to meet Matteo without police involvement.
Luca had listened.
Investigators had secured the property and arranged to take Matteo into custody if he appeared.
Oliver remained safely away from the mansion with Rosa.
This time, Luca wasn't risking his son for the sake of family pride.
He was finally willing to let the law handle his brother.
Near midnight, a dark vehicle stopped outside the front entrance.
Matteo entered alone.
He wore a wrinkled black suit and looked as though he hadn't slept in days.
His face was thinner.
His eyes were restless.
But the arrogant smile remained.
“Well,” he said.
“Look who's waiting for me.”
Luca stood beside the dining table.
“It's over, Matteo.”
His brother laughed.
“That's what you think.”
Matteo glanced around the room.
“Where's Claire?”
I stepped from the doorway.
“I'm here.”
His smile faded.
“You really should have stayed out of family business.”
I looked him directly in the eyes.
“Isabella was family.”
Something dark crossed his face.
“Don't say her name.”
“Why?”
“Because you know what you did to her?”
Matteo slammed his hand against the table.
“You know nothing about what I had to endure!”
Luca stepped forward.
“Then tell me.”
Matteo stared at him.
“You were always Father's favorite.”
“He gave you everything.”
“Every important decision, every business, every ounce of respect.”
“You inherited a kingdom.”
“And I was supposed to spend my life thanking you for letting me stand inside it.”
Luca shook his head.
“I trusted you with the company.”
“You gave me the scraps!”
“I gave you authority because I believed you were capable of running it.”
Matteo laughed bitterly.
“Then Isabella started asking questions.”
“She thought she could tell me what to do.”
I stepped closer.
“She wanted to stop you from stealing.”
“She wanted to keep your brother out of prison.”
Matteo looked at me with hatred.
“You think she was some saint?”
“No,” I answered.
“She was a wife.”
“She was a mother.”
“And she didn't deserve to die because you were jealous.”
The words struck him hard.
He looked away.
Luca moved closer.
“Did you ever love her?”
Matteo's expression changed.
For the first time, he looked uncertain.
“She was kind to me.”
He swallowed.
“She used to remember my birthday when you forgot.”
“She brought me soup when I was sick.”
“She treated me like I belonged here.”
His voice grew quieter.
“And then she discovered the accounts.”
Luca stared at him.
“She was trying to help you.”
Matteo shook his head.
“She was going to expose me.”
“She could have ruined everything.”
“You ruined everything,” Luca replied.
The room fell silent.
Then Matteo reached into his coat.
I flinched.
But this time, he pulled out a thick envelope.
“Here.”
He threw it onto the dining table.
“Your own financial records.”
“Transfers you authorized.”
“People you paid.”
“Deals you made.”
He smiled.
“You think the police are going to let you walk away?”
Luca looked at the envelope.
“No.”
Matteo blinked.
“What?”
“I already gave them my records.”
His brother stared at him.
Luca continued.
“Every account.”
“Every illegal payment.”
“Everything I did.”
Matteo laughed nervously.
“You're bluffing.”
“No.”
“I finally realized that pretending my crimes didn't exist was exactly what allowed yours to grow.”
He looked toward the staircase.
“Isabella warned me about the kind of man I was becoming.”
“I didn't listen.”
“But I am now.”
Matteo's face twisted with rage.
“You would destroy this family?”
Luca shook his head.
“No.”
“You destroyed it when you murdered my wife.”
“And I nearly finished the job when I let power matter more than my son.”
He took a slow breath.
“That ends tonight.”
Matteo suddenly pulled a gun.
My heart stopped.
He aimed at Luca.
“Then we end it together.”
Luca didn't move.
“Put it down, Matteo.”
His brother's hand shook.
“You don't get to walk away from everything!”
“I'm not walking away.”
“I'm staying to face it.”
From the entrance came Detective Shaw's voice.
“MATTEO MORETTI, DROP YOUR WEAPON!”
Matteo spun around.
Officers moved into the room.
He looked desperately toward the windows, then the service corridor.
There was nowhere left to run.
“DROP IT!” Shaw repeated.
For a terrible moment, Matteo looked as though he might shoot.
Then his shoulders collapsed.
The gun fell onto the marble floor.
Officers restrained him and placed him under arrest.
As they led him away, he stopped beside Luca.
“You could have saved me,” Matteo whispered.
Luca looked at his younger brother.
“I tried to save you for years.”
His voice broke.
“But Isabella needed me to see what you really were.”
“And Oliver needed me to stop protecting you.”
Matteo lowered his head.
For the first time in his life, he had nothing left to say.
Detective Shaw approached Luca after the officers escorted Matteo outside.
“Your brother will face the evidence.”
Luca nodded.
“Good.”
She hesitated.
“There's something else.”
He looked at her.
“Federal investigators have finished reviewing the records you surrendered.”
“They've authorized charges against you as well.”
I felt my heart sink.
Luca looked toward the portrait of Isabella hanging above the fireplace.
Then he held out his hands.
“I understand.”
As officers placed handcuffs around his wrists, he turned toward me.
“Claire, please tell Oliver something.”
Tears filled my eyes.
“What?”
“Tell him his daddy finally kept a promise.”
Then Luca Moretti walked out of his mansion in handcuffs.
May you like
Not as Chicago's most feared mafia boss.
But as a father who had finally decided his son deserved a better man.
