Chapter 6 - THE MASK SLIPS
|
Vanessa stood up from the floor, brushing the damp peat moss off her crimson silk dress with sharp, defiant movements.
All pretense of love, submissiveness, and wifely affection had evaporated into thin air.
"You think you're so brilliant, Luca, because you rule the streets with brute force and iron knuckles," she mocked.
"My father spent his final days in a wheelchair, cursing the name of Moretti because your mother tricked him!"
"He knew Julian never died in that highway fire!"
"He spent twenty years searching every orphanage, foster home, and small town in the Midwest trying to find that boy!"
Luca did not move an inch, his arms crossed over his chest like an immovable fortress.
"Where is my brother, Vanessa?"
Vanessa let out a cruel, mocking laugh that bounced off the glass panes of the greenhouse.
"Do you honestly think I know?"
"Maria was smarter than all of us; she never wrote his new name on any public registry!"
"My father sent me here with one simple mission: find Maria's hidden vault, burn the records, and ensure the truth died forever."
"Because if the rest of the Chicago Commission finds out that Frank Moretti gave away his own heir, your family name is garbage!"
"Your loyal capos will abandon you for being the son of an oath-breaker and a coward!"
I watched Luca closely, expecting him to draw his weapon and end her life right there among the flowers.
Instead, a terrifyingly calm smile spread slowly across his chiseled face.
"You made one critical mistake, Vanessa," Luca said, pulling his phone back out of his pocket.
"You assumed I cared about the opinions of the Chicago Commission."
"I built my empire by slaughtering every man who dared to question my authority, including your uncles."
"And you made another mistake by assuming my mother hid the boy's name in this box."
Eleanor stepped forward, her eyes bright with a sharp, ancient wisdom that defied her eighty years.
"Maria was far too clever to put Julian's real identity in a box buried on Moretti soil," Eleanor stated proudly.
Vanessa's eyes widened in sudden, creeping horror.
"What did you say?" Vanessa gasped, turning toward the old woman.
"Maria knew Frank would eventually tear this mansion apart if he suspected she had written proof," Eleanor explained.
"This box was meant to expose the Sterlings' betrayal to Luca when the time was right."
"The boy's true location was entrusted to someone Frank would never suspect, someone who lived outside their world of violence."
Luca turned toward Eleanor, his eyes softening once again with profound respect.
"Where is he, Eleanor?"
"My sister was the head nurse at St. Jude's Children's Hospital in Milwaukee," Eleanor answered with a gentle smile.
"She handled the private adoption herself, completely off the books, with a family of humble farmers in northern Wisconsin."
"She gave me his real name, his birth certificate, and his current address on the day she passed away last autumn."
Vanessa lunged toward Eleanor with a desperate scream, but Marco grabbed her by both wrists, twisting her arms behind her back.
"Let go of me, you pig!" Vanessa screamed, kicking wildly against the stone path.
"Take her to the lower wine cellar," Luca ordered Marco without even looking back at her.
"Strip her of every piece of jewelry, disconnect the internet to the entire western wing, and post four armed guards at the heavy iron door."
"If she makes a single sound, gag her."
"Luca, you can't do this to me! I am your legal wife!" Vanessa wailed as Marco dragged her backward toward the mansion.
"You are a ghost waiting for a funeral," Luca replied coldly.
He turned to me, his intense gaze locking onto mine.
May you like
"Claire, pack Eleanor's belongings and bring her into the master suite immediately."
"From this second forward, nobody enters or leaves this estate without my personal signature."
