Chapter 3 - What Margaret Saw Behind the Bedroom Door|
I stood frozen beside the library entrance.
Vanessa's footsteps disappeared down the hallway, but the sound of her frightened voice remained in my ears.
Margaret watched my expression carefully.
"Was that Vanessa?"
I nodded.
"She's calling her father."
Margaret closed her eyes.
"Then we don't have much time."
I wanted to ask what she meant, but Luca entered the library before I could speak.
He had removed his tuxedo jacket.
His black bow tie hung loosely around his neck.
For the first time since I had known him, he looked less like Chicago's most feared mafia boss and more like a son who had just lost his mother all over again.
He pulled a chair beside Margaret.
"Please tell me everything."
Margaret stared at her hands.
"Fifteen years ago, your mother invited me to stay with her for a few days."
"Why?"
"She was frightened."
Luca frowned.
"Of my father?"
"No, sweetheart."
Margaret looked toward the closed library door.
"Of the Bellinis."
I sat quietly beside the fireplace.
Margaret began describing the final week of Maria Moretti's life.
Maria had established the Saint Agnes Children's Foundation to provide meals, medical assistance, and school supplies for struggling Chicago families.
Victor Bellini had joined its financial committee years earlier.
He presented himself as a generous businessman who loved helping underprivileged children.
But Maria discovered that enormous sums had been transferred through companies that performed little or no legitimate work.
Several belonged to Victor's associates.
When she questioned the payments, Victor claimed they were accounting mistakes.
Maria refused to accept his explanation.
She began collecting receipts, bank records, and copies of suspicious contracts.
Then she discovered something even worse.
"Vanessa was helping her father move those documents," Margaret whispered.
Luca looked stunned.
"Vanessa was only nineteen."
"Old enough to know what she was signing."
Margaret's voice shook.
"Your mother tried to protect her at first."
She explained that Maria had privately confronted the young Vanessa, offering to keep her involvement confidential if she helped return the stolen money.
Vanessa had cried and promised to cooperate.
But that promise lasted only one afternoon.
The following evening, Victor appeared at the mansion.
Margaret remembered hearing him shouting behind Maria's bedroom door.
"You think your family owns this city!"
Maria had answered calmly.
"No, Victor."
"Then stay out of my business!"
"Those children trusted us."
A long silence followed.
Then Victor said something Margaret never forgot.
"Your son will pay for what you've done."
Luca gripped the arms of his chair.
"Why didn't she tell me?"
"Because you were already fighting your father's enemies, and she feared another feud would destroy you."
Margaret wiped her face.
"She wanted to handle it without bloodshed."
I glanced at Luca.
His expression had become painfully still.
Margaret continued.
On the night Maria died, a thunderstorm had knocked out the power in several neighboring houses.
Margaret was sleeping in the guest room when she heard an argument coming from Maria's bedroom.
She recognized Vanessa's voice immediately.
"Just sign the papers, Mrs. Moretti."
Maria answered.
"I won't let your father steal from another child."
Then came a crash.
Margaret hurried into the hallway.
The bedroom door was partly open.
Through the narrow gap, she saw Maria sitting on the edge of her bed, clutching her chest.
Vanessa stood beside the dresser.
In her hand was a small silver medicine container.
"Give it back," Maria begged.
Vanessa shook her head.
"Not until you sign."
Maria reached toward the telephone.
Vanessa pulled it away.
Margaret's voice broke.
"I pushed the door open."
Luca leaned forward.
"What happened?"
"Vanessa told me your mother was being dramatic."
Margaret began sobbing.
"Maria kept asking for her medicine."
I felt sick.
"Did you call an ambulance?"
"I tried."
Margaret wiped her tears.
"But Victor was standing downstairs."
Luca went completely still.
"Victor was there?"
Margaret nodded.
"He told me emergency services had already been contacted."
She paused.
"He ordered me to stay downstairs while Vanessa handled the situation."
"Did you believe him?"
"For a few minutes."
Her voice filled with shame.
"Then I realized nobody was coming."
Margaret explained that she had borrowed a servant's telephone and called for help herself.
By the time the ambulance arrived, Maria had stopped responding.
The official medical report attributed her death to a cardiac event.
Nobody had questioned the missing medicine or the delay.
"Victor told me the doctors would confirm it was natural," Margaret whispered.
Luca rose slowly.
"Why didn't you go to the police?"
"I was terrified."
Margaret covered her face.
"He knew where my husband was receiving medical treatment."
Victor had threatened to destroy her husband's insurance arrangements and leave him without the care he desperately needed.
He also threatened to accuse Margaret of stealing from the Moretti family.
A frightened widow with no money would have struggled to challenge such accusations.
"I told myself I would speak when it was safe."
She looked at Luca.
"But your mother was buried, and every day I waited became another day of silence."
Luca knelt before her.
"I wish you'd come to me."
"I know, sweetheart."
Margaret touched his cheek.
"That's the regret I've lived with for fifteen years."
Nobody spoke for a long time.
Then Luca asked one final question.
"Why did Vanessa agree to marry me if she knew you were still alive?"
Margaret looked frightened again.
"Because Victor needed access to something your mother had protected from him."
"What?"
"The Moretti family charitable trust."
Luca frowned.
"My mother's trust?"
Margaret nodded.
"Victor never stopped trying to control it."
At that moment, Luca's phone rang.
He glanced at the screen.
His expression darkened.
"It's my attorney."
He answered immediately.
"Ruth?"
I watched his face change as he listened.
Then he looked toward Margaret.
"Are you certain?"
He ended the call.
"What happened?" I asked.
Luca stared at the wedding ring on his finger.
"Vanessa had me sign a financial authorization two days before our wedding."
Margaret gasped.
Luca's voice became dangerously quiet.
"According to Ruth, those papers may have given Victor a way to take control of my mother's foundation."
May you like
Then he looked directly at me.
"Claire, I need you to show me the blue room."
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