Chapter 8 - The Engagement Party Becomes a Trap
Luca read Vanessa's note in silence.
Then he read it again.
“My father was in Europe that week,” he said.
Joe looked troubled.
“That's what we were told.”
“His funeral was held three days after the fire. I remember the church. I remember my aunt telling me he had died in a car accident overseas.”
Evelyn shook her head.
“Your father returned to Chicago the afternoon of the fire. Salvatore told me he had an urgent meeting with him.”
Luca's face hardened.
“Why would everyone lie about where he was?”
“Because,” Evelyn replied, “your father's death may not have happened when you were told it did.”
The room went silent.
Daniel Reeves leaned forward.
“We need to be careful. If there was a falsified death record, that would be significant, but we cannot assume what it means.”
Luca stood.
“Find the records.”
Marcus made several calls. Within an hour, he had contacted a retired medical examiner and a former employee of the funeral home that had handled the Moretti family arrangements.
The first discovery was disturbing.
The death certificate listed Luca's father as having died overseas, but the original hospital record showed that he had been admitted to a Chicago clinic under a different name on the night of the fire.
The recorded time of death was 2:40 a.m.
The fire had started at approximately 10:15 p.m.
Luca stared at the documents.
“He was alive after the fire.”
“Yes,” Daniel said carefully. “According to this record, he was.”
Joe looked as though he had aged another ten years.
“Then he knew what happened.”
“Perhaps,” Daniel replied. “Or perhaps he was injured while trying to save Catherine. We need the original medical notes.”
Luca's jaw tightened.
“Get them.”
That afternoon, a package arrived at the mansion.
There was no return address.
Inside lay a small envelope containing a photograph of Luca's father standing outside the burning house. His shirt was torn, his face streaked with soot, and two men were supporting him toward a waiting car.
On the back was a date and a message.
Your father survived the fire. Ask who signed his death certificate.
Luca stared at the photograph.
Then he did something I had never seen him do.
He sat down and covered his face with both hands.
For thirty-three years, he had believed that his parents had died in the same tragedy. Now he was learning that his father might have survived long enough to participate in the cover-up.
“Why?” he whispered. “Why would he let me believe he was dead?”
Joe sat beside him.
“Sometimes people make terrible choices because they're afraid of the consequences of telling the truth.”
“That doesn't excuse them.”
“No,” Joe agreed. “It doesn't.”
Marcus interrupted them.
“Boss, we have a problem. Peter Bellini has called a press conference for tomorrow morning.”
“What is he announcing?”
“According to his office, he's revealing evidence that the Moretti family concealed the truth about the old fire.”
Luca laughed once, without humor.
“He's going to accuse me of something his family did.”
“There's more,” Marcus said. “He's invited Vanessa to appear with him.”
Luca's expression changed.
“Where is she?”
“We don't know. But her attorney has contacted ours. She wants immunity from prosecution in exchange for information.”
Daniel Reeves shook his head.
“That's not something we can promise. Any cooperation agreement would have to be handled by the authorities.”
“Then arrange the meeting with the authorities.”
Luca looked at me.
“Emma, you should take your family somewhere safe for a few days.”
I stared at him.
“Why?”
“Because Peter Bellini knows you're involved.”
“I only brought Joe inside.”
“And that was enough to expose a secret they've spent thirty-three years protecting.”
I thought of my mother and Daniel waiting at home, unaware that their lives had suddenly become connected to the most dangerous family feud in Chicago.
“I can't just disappear,” I said. “My mother will worry.”
“I'll arrange security.”
“I don't want your men following my family around.”
Luca looked surprised.
I swallowed, forcing myself to continue.
“I know you think you're protecting us. But I don't want my mother waking up to find strangers outside her window. I don't want Daniel afraid to leave campus. If you want to help, tell us the truth and let us make decisions for ourselves.”
The room fell silent.
Joe smiled faintly.
Luca looked at me for a long moment.
Then he nodded.
“You're right.”
It was not what I expected him to say.
He turned to Marcus.
“Arrange a meeting with Emma's family. Explain the situation without frightening them. Offer protection, but make it voluntary.”
“Understood.”
That evening, Luca and Joe listened to the restored recording from the firehouse.
The audio was distorted, but a few sentences were clear.
Catherine's voice came first.
“You promised me you would stop.”
A man's voice answered.
“You have no idea what you've put at risk.”
“I'm protecting my son.”
“You're destroying everything your husband built.”
Then a crash.
A second male voice shouted something unintelligible.
Finally, Catherine spoke again.
“If anything happens to me, Anthony will know what you did.”
The recording ended.
Luca sat motionless.
“Whose voice was that?” he asked.
Joe closed his eyes.
“The first voice belonged to Salvatore Bellini.”
“And the second?”
Joe looked toward the speakers.
“I don't know.”
But Evelyn, standing in the doorway, whispered a name.
“Giovanni.”
Luca turned.
His father's name was Giovanni Moretti.
Before anyone could speak, Marcus entered with an urgent message.
“Peter Bellini's press conference has been moved forward. It's happening tonight at the Bellini Foundation.”
“Why the change?”
“Because someone leaked the existence of the recording.”
Luca rose.
“Then he's panicking.”
Daniel Reeves shook his head.
“Or he wants us to react before the authorities can authenticate the evidence.”
Luca paused.
Then he looked at Joe.
“We're not going to give him the fight he wants.”
He turned to his attorney.
“Send the evidence to the investigators. Every document, every photograph, every recording. And tell Peter Bellini that if he wants to speak publicly, he'll have to answer their questions afterward.”
For the first time, Luca Moretti appeared ready to surrender control of the story.
But Peter Bellini had prepared one final move.
At 8:17 p.m., every television in the mansion switched to the same live broadcast.
Peter stood behind a podium, looking grave and dignified.
Beside him stood Vanessa.
And behind them, on a screen large enough to fill the entire wall, appeared a photograph of Luca Moretti carrying a gun outside a Chicago nightclub.
Peter leaned toward the microphone.
“Tonight, I will reveal the truth about the Moretti family—and the terrible crime they have concealed for more than three decades.”
He paused.
“The fire that killed Catherine Moretti was not an accident. And the person responsible may be the very man who now claims to seek justice.”
May you like
His eyes turned toward the camera.
“Luca Moretti.”
