Chapter 2 - THE MAN WHO BETRAYED THE MORETTI FAMILY|
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Thirty dinner guests sat frozen beneath the enormous crystal chandeliers, their eyes shifting between Nico Moretti and the powerful men gathered around the table.
Luca stood beside his younger brother's wheelchair, his expression colder than I had ever seen it.
"Nico, tell me who helped Vanessa."
Nico's trembling hand slowly rose.
He pointed toward the far end of the table.
"Marcus Bell."
A heavy silence fell over the room.
Marcus Bell was Luca Moretti's head of security.
For eleven years, he had protected the family, managed their security arrangements, and accompanied Luca on dangerous business trips.
He had even carried Nico out of the hospital after his motorcycle accident.
Now he sat perfectly still, a glass of whiskey halfway to his mouth.
"That's ridiculous," Marcus said.
His voice sounded calm, but I noticed his fingers tightening around the glass.
Luca turned toward him.
"Stand up."
Marcus hesitated.
"Boss, surely you're not going to believe this nonsense."
"I said stand up."
The entire dining room seemed to shrink around Luca's voice.
Marcus slowly pushed back his chair.
Vanessa immediately stepped between the two men.
"Darling, Nico is confused."
"He suffered a terrible accident, and his memory hasn't been reliable."
Nico flinched as though someone had struck him.
I placed my hand gently on his shoulder.
"His memory is good enough to remember what you've done to him," I said.
Vanessa spun toward me.
"You're a maid, Claire."
"Nobody asked for your opinion."
Luca didn't even look at her.
"Claire has done more for my brother in the last two months than anyone in this room."
"She can speak whenever she wants."
I had worked in that mansion for five years, but I had never heard Luca defend a household employee so openly.
Marcus abruptly placed his glass on the table.
"Luca, we've been brothers in everything but blood."
"Are you really going to accuse me because a traumatized kid remembers something incorrectly?"
Nico's breathing became uneven.
"Don't call me a kid."
His voice was quiet, but every person heard it.
"I remember your voice in the garage."
Marcus looked away.
Nico swallowed and continued.
"I was coming down the service staircase when I heard Vanessa talking to someone."
"She said the problem had to disappear before Luca changed his mind about marrying her."
"Then you told her the rear brake line would be enough."
A woman near the doorway gasped.
Vanessa's face twisted with fury.
"You're inventing things!"
Nico shook his head.
"I didn't understand what you meant until after the accident."
"For weeks, everything was confused."
"But when Claire helped me recover my laptop, I found the camera backup I'd saved before I lost access to the security system."
He looked directly at Marcus.
"The recording shows you beside my motorcycle."
Marcus's chair scraped against the floor.
"Show me," Luca said.
I took Nico's flash drive and handed it to Luca.
He gave it to a trusted family accountant who was seated nearby with his laptop.
Within moments, the video appeared on the large dining room television.
The recording showed the mansion's underground garage at 10:42 p.m.
Vanessa entered wearing a pale coat.
Marcus followed carrying a small tool case.
They approached Nico's motorcycle.
Marcus knelt beside the rear wheel while Vanessa watched the entrance.
For nearly four minutes, his hands moved around the brake assembly.
The camera couldn't show exactly what he was doing.
But it showed enough to make every person in that room understand why Nico was frightened.
Luca's face went completely still.
"Nine months ago," he whispered.
"That was nine months ago."
Vanessa suddenly lunged toward the laptop.
"Turn it off!"
The accountant pulled it away before she could touch it.
Marcus backed toward the doorway.
Luca looked at him.
"Don't run."
But Marcus was already moving.
He shoved past a waiter and disappeared through the service entrance.
Two guards instinctively turned toward Luca, waiting for instructions.
"Nobody touches him," Luca ordered.
"Call the police and give them his description."
Vanessa stared at her husband in disbelief.
"You're bringing the police into our home?"
Luca turned slowly.
"Someone tried to kill my brother."
"That's exactly where the police belong."
I could hardly believe what I was hearing.
The man Chicago feared for handling problems himself was choosing to put his brother's safety ahead of his reputation.
Nico began trembling so violently that his fork fell to the floor.
Luca immediately knelt beside him.
"Look at me, Nico."
"You're safe."
But Nico wasn't looking at his brother.
He was staring at Vanessa's handbag.
"Claire," he whispered, "look at the envelope sticking out of her purse."
I followed his gaze.
A cream-colored folder protruded beneath Vanessa's wallet.
Across its cover were three words written in black ink.
PETITION FOR GUARDIANSHIP.
I felt my stomach tighten.
Nico was twenty years old.
He had physical disabilities, but his mind was his own.
And suddenly I understood why Vanessa had spent two months telling everyone he was helpless.
She wasn't simply trying to stop his recovery.
She was preparing to take away his right to make his own decisions.
Before I could say anything, Vanessa caught me staring.
She pushed the folder deeper into her handbag.
Then she leaned close enough for only me to hear.
May you like
"You should have stayed out of this, Claire."
"Now you're going to lose a lot more than your job."
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