Chapter 5 - The Traitor at Table Seven
Marco was arrested.
Luca Moretti wasn't.
By sunrise, he had disappeared.
The evidence from the locker was enough to open investigations in Italy and the United States, but Vincent warned me that Luca still had people everywhere.
Including New York.
Especially New York.
We returned to Villa Serena.
Rosa was awake.
I placed my mother's letter beside her.
“We found it.”
She touched the paper.
“Elena.”
“Marco confessed.”
Rosa closed her eyes.
“Then Antonio finally has justice.”
Vincent stood at the foot of the bed.
“Not yet.”
Rosa looked at him.
“Do not become your father in the wrong way.”
His expression tightened.
“What does that mean?”
“Antonio was loyal.”
“I know.”
“But loyalty became his prison.”
Vincent said nothing.
Rosa continued.
“You think protecting everyone means controlling everything.”
His eyes moved toward me.
I almost laughed.
“She figured you out faster than I did.”
Rosa smiled.
“I knew his father.”
Vincent sighed.
“I see where Sophia gets it.”
My grandmother squeezed my hand.
Then she looked at him.
“If you care about her, don't put her in another cage.”
The room became very quiet.
I looked at Vincent.
He looked at the floor.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
Later, outside the hospice, I confronted him.
“Do you?”
He frowned.
“Do I what?”
“Care about me?”
“You're in danger.”
“That's not an answer.”
“Sophia.”
“Vincent.”
He looked almost annoyed.
“You were terrified when Marco appeared.”
“I was concerned.”
“Your hand was shaking.”
“It wasn't.”
“It was.”
He stepped closer.
“You notice too much.”
“Occupational hazard.”
For several seconds, neither of us moved.
Then his phone rang.
Carlo.
Vincent answered.
His face hardened.
“What?”
He put the call on speaker.
Carlo's voice filled the line.
“Luca contacted me.”
“Why?”
“He wants the original drive.”
Vincent glanced at me.
“What did you tell him?”
“That I'd ask.”
I frowned.
“Why would he think you'd betray Vincent?”
Carlo went quiet.
Vincent answered.
“Because Luca believes everybody has a price.”
Carlo continued.
“He offered ten million.”
I whistled.
“That's insulting.”
Both men looked at me.
“What?”
Vincent stared.
“Ten million is insulting?”
“For your best friend? Absolutely. At least ask twenty.”
Carlo laughed over the phone.
Vincent rubbed his forehead.
“I'm surrounded by comedians.”
Then Carlo became serious.
“He wants to meet in New York.”
“Where?”
“Bellissimo.”
I stared at Vincent.
“Table Seven?”
Carlo paused.
“Yes.”
Two days later, Bellissimo was closed to the public.
Luca believed Carlo was delivering the original evidence.
What he didn't know was that investigators already had copies.
I wasn't supposed to be there.
Naturally, I was.
Vincent found me in the kitchen.
“No.”
“Hello to you too.”
“You're leaving.”
“No.”
“This isn't a negotiation.”
“Then you're going to be disappointed.”
He lowered his voice.
“Luca murdered your mother.”
“Exactly.”
“And that's why you should be nowhere near him.”
“Vincent, I spent twenty-four years not knowing why my mother died. I am not hiding in a car while the man responsible sits twenty feet away.”
He stared at me.
Then exhaled.
“You stay behind me.”
“No promises.”
“Sophia.”
“Fine.”
Luca arrived at nine.
He was older than I expected.
Gray-haired. Elegant. Calm.
He sat at Table Seven as though he owned it.
Carlo placed a flash drive before him.
Luca smiled.
“Antonio's son still trusts you.”
Carlo sat opposite him.
“Vincent trusts family.”
“That's why his father died.”
From the adjoining room, Vincent's jaw tightened.
I touched his wrist.
“Don't.”
He looked at me.
“That's twice you've stopped me.”
“I'm keeping count.”
Luca examined the drive.
“And the girl?”
Carlo answered.
“Sophia?”
“She has caused enough problems.”
“What do you want done?”
Luca took a sip of wine.
“What should have been done twenty-four years ago.”
My stomach tightened.
Vincent's eyes went cold.
Carlo leaned forward.
“You mean Elena's daughter?”
“Yes.”
“And Elena?”
Luca smiled.
“A stubborn woman.”
“You ordered her death?”
“I corrected a mistake.”
That was enough.
Federal agents entered through the front.
Italian authorities had coordinated with them using the evidence from Palermo.
Luca stood.
Vincent stepped into the room.
Their eyes met.
Luca smiled faintly.
“Antonio's boy.”
Vincent didn't answer.
Then I stepped beside him.
Luca stared at me.
His face changed.
“Elena.”
“No.”
I held his gaze.
“Sophia.”
His smile disappeared.
“You should have stayed hidden.”
I shook my head.
“My grandmother spent her life hiding because of you.”
“You know nothing about our world.”
“That's the best part.”
I glanced at the agents approaching him.
“It's not my world.”
Luca looked at Vincent.
“You let a waitress destroy you?”
Vincent's voice remained calm.
“No.”
He looked at me.
“She saved me from becoming you.”
The agents took Luca away.
Nobody spoke until the doors closed.
Then I turned to Vincent.
“Is it over?”
He looked around Table Seven.
“Yes.”
But I could tell there was something else he wasn't saying.
“What?”
“Sophia…”
“What?”
“Your grandmother's doctor called.”
May you like
Everything inside me stopped.
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