Chapter 11 - THE CONFESSION THAT BROKE LUCA'S HEART|
Four days after the guardianship hearing, Detective Brooks returned to the Moretti mansion with news we had all been waiting to hear.
Marcus Bell had agreed to provide a detailed statement through his attorney.
His lawyers were discussing a possible plea agreement, but prosecutors had made clear that cooperation would not erase his responsibility.
Luca stood beside the fireplace while Detective Brooks opened her notebook.
"Marcus admits he tampered with Nico's motorcycle."
The words seemed to remove all the air from the room.
Nico sat completely still.
I instinctively moved closer, but he raised his hand slightly.
He wanted to hear the truth.
Brooks continued.
"According to Marcus, Vanessa promised him a large payment if he made sure Nico couldn't interfere with the Harbor Point transaction."
Luca stared at her.
"Did he know Nico could die?"
"Yes."
The detective's answer was immediate.
"He understood the danger."
For a long moment, nobody spoke.
Then Nico whispered, "He used to call me his little brother."
Luca turned away.
I saw his shoulders trembling.
The man who had built his reputation on never showing weakness was struggling to remain standing.
Detective Brooks waited before continuing.
"Marcus says Vanessa believed Nico would oppose the property transfer."
"She also believed you would eventually listen to him."
Luca's face hardened.
"So she wanted him gone."
"That's what Marcus has alleged, and we're working to corroborate his account."
Brooks explained that the payments, financial drafts, and motorcycle evidence supported important portions of his statement.
Marcus had also admitted hiding Arthur Keene's original inspection report.
He had contacted Nico's rehabilitation clinic and helped prepare documents that portrayed the young man as incapable of managing his affairs.
But Vanessa's plan had changed after the accident.
When Nico survived, she waited for an opportunity to exploit his injuries through legal and financial control.
She encouraged Marcus to interfere with the clinic and pressured household staff to treat Nico as helpless.
The cruelty we had witnessed at dinner had not been a sudden outburst.
It had helped create the very image Vanessa wanted the court to believe.
I looked at Nico.
His eyes were wet, but his voice remained steady.
"Was Marcus the one who told the clinic I couldn't make decisions?"
Brooks nodded.
"He acknowledges making those statements."
Nico lowered his head.
"All this time, I thought something was wrong with me."
I knelt beside him.
"Something terrible was done to you."
"That is not the same thing."
He looked at me through his tears.
For a moment, he seemed like the frightened young man I had helped at dinner.
Then he took a long breath.
"I want to hear the rest."
Detective Brooks turned another page.
"Marcus has implicated a third person."
Luca looked up.
"Who?"
"Paul Whitcomb."
My stomach tightened.
Paul was the Moretti family's longtime accountant.
He had worked for Luca's father and attended countless family celebrations.
He had been sitting at the dinner table when Nico accused Marcus.
He was also the man who had opened Nico's flash drive on his laptop.
Luca slowly lowered himself into a chair.
"Paul?"
Brooks nodded.
"Marcus claims Paul helped disguise payments to companies controlled by Vanessa and prepared financial records for the proposed Harbor Point sale."
Luca rubbed his forehead.
"I trusted him with everything."
"That's why investigators are reviewing his access," Brooks replied.
"Trust doesn't establish guilt, but we have enough information to examine the transactions closely."
Simon Ward, who had been listening quietly, asked whether Nico's trust funds were protected.
Brooks explained that investigators were working with financial institutions to preserve relevant records and prevent further unauthorized transfers where legally possible.
An independent accounting firm had also been retained to audit the family-controlled entities.
Then she revealed another detail.
Marcus had described a set of administrative authorizations Luca signed shortly after his wedding.
Those documents allowed Vanessa to coordinate certain household payments and communicate with service providers.
They did not give her authority over Nico's decisions.
But they had provided access she later abused.
Luca stared at the floor.
"I signed them without reading everything."
Nico looked toward him.
"Luca?"
His brother swallowed.
"Vanessa told me she wanted to help manage the house."
"I thought she was making things easier."
He closed his eyes.
"I should have been more careful."
Nico reached for his hand.
"You made a mistake trusting her."
"She chose to hurt me."
Luca looked at his brother, and tears finally slipped down his face.
"I'm sorry."
"I know," Nico whispered.
For the first time since I'd known the Moretti family, Luca cried without trying to hide it.
Later that afternoon, Simon received preliminary findings from the financial auditors.
Paul Whitcomb had approved several suspicious payments from accounts associated with Nico's medical and living expenses.
Some invoices described services that had never been provided.
Others named businesses with no apparent connection to rehabilitation.
The auditors had also discovered that Paul continued approving transfers after the dinner confrontation.
Luca stared at the report in disbelief.
"He knew we were investigating."
Simon nodded.
"And he apparently believed he still had time to move the money."
Nico looked at the dates.
Then he noticed something that made him freeze.
One transfer had been authorized at 9:17 p.m. on the night of the family dinner.
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It was the exact period when Vanessa had been screaming at him for dropping his food.
While the entire room watched Nico struggle with a fork, someone had been quietly taking money from the fund meant to support his recovery.
