Chapter 3 - The Story They Wrote for Me
I read the sentence three times.
Each time it became worse.
“They planned this.”
Luca did not answer.
“They were going to make me disappear.”
“I know.”
“They had passports.”
“I know.”
“They wrote the story before it happened.”
His eyes moved around the room.
“That tells us something useful.”
I stared at him.
“What could possibly be useful about this?”
“They expected you to be alive long enough to travel.”
“That’s your comforting interpretation?”
“No.”
He looked at me.
“My comforting interpretation is that now you know before they do it.”
I hated that the sentence helped.
Luca took photographs of everything.
Then he picked up Teresa’s phone.
“We need this examined somewhere Angelo can’t reach.”
“Do you have somewhere like that?”
“Yes.”
“Do you have someone you actually trust?”
That question landed differently.
He didn’t answer immediately.
Finally, he said, “One.”
“Who?”
“My attorney.”
“That’s not exactly reassuring in your world.”
A faint smile appeared.
“Daniel Reed has represented me for fifteen years.”
“Has Dominic recommended him?”
“No.”
“Angelo?”
“No.”
“Vanessa?”
“He hates Vanessa.”
“Good enough.”
We were leaving when footsteps sounded outside.
Luca killed the light.
My heartbeat jumped.
He put one finger to his lips.
The hidden room went black.
Someone entered the wine cellar.
Slow steps.
Unhurried.
Then a familiar voice.
“Luca?”
Dominic.
My skin went cold.
“Luca, you down here?”
He was getting closer.
Luca guided me behind the door.
Dominic moved past the racks.
His shoes stopped.
Right outside.
I barely breathed.
Then Dominic said something strange.
“You really should stop using Peter for jobs he isn’t built for.”
Luca’s face hardened.
The door swung open.
Dominic stood there.
He looked at Luca.
Then at me.
Then at the phone in Luca’s hand.
No one moved.
Finally Dominic smiled.
“Well.”
He stepped into the room.
“This is awkward.”
Luca positioned himself between us.
“How long have you known about this room?”
Dominic looked around.
“Longer than you.”
“Where is Teresa?”
“Not here.”
“Is she alive?”
Dominic’s smile faded.
“Yes.”
The answer came too quickly.
I blurted, “Where?”
His eyes shifted toward me.
“You’re the reason this became a problem.”
Luca moved half a step.
Dominic lifted both hands.
“I’m not threatening her.”
“You’d better not be.”
Dominic laughed quietly.
“Still doing that.”
“Doing what?”
“Pretending you’re different from the men who raised us.”
Luca’s voice cooled.
“Answer the question.”
Dominic looked at the fake passports.
Then at the prepared article.
“That wasn’t my idea.”
“Vanessa?”
“No.”
“Angelo?”
“No.”
Luca stared.
Dominic’s expression changed.
“Did you really think I was the one running this?”
For the first time, Luca seemed uncertain.
Dominic stepped closer.
“You saw one photograph.”
“I saw you taking a stolen document.”
“Yes.”
“From Vanessa.”
“Yes.”
“And the note.”
Dominic’s eyes flickered.
“What note?”
That looked real.
Luca noticed.
“DO IT BEFORE HE SAYS I DO.”
Dominic’s face went still.
“Where was that written?”
“On the document.”
Dominic swore under his breath.
“That wasn’t there when she gave it to me.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“No.”
Dominic reached slowly into his coat.
Luca tensed.
Dominic pulled out his phone.
He opened a photograph.
Then handed it over.
Same document.
Same desk.
Same corner.
But no handwriting.
Luca looked at the metadata.
Taken yesterday.
Three minutes after the security photograph.
Dominic said, “Somebody added the message after I handed the document off.”
“To whom?”
He hesitated.
“Tell him.”
I surprised myself.
Both men looked at me.
Dominic’s jaw tightened.
“To Angelo.”
The room seemed colder.
“Why?”
“Because Vanessa told me Angelo was helping her prove you were stealing from the family trust.”
Luca almost laughed.
“You believed her?”
“I believed the numbers.”
“What numbers?”
Dominic looked at me.
“Claire shouldn’t hear this.”
I crossed my arms.
“You have a fake passport with my face on it downstairs.”
“I think I’m past the point of workplace confidentiality.”
Dominic almost smiled.
Luca didn’t.
“Talk.”
Dominic took a breath.
“Fifty-two million dollars moved out of Moretti Holdings over fourteen months.”
Luca’s face changed.
“That’s impossible.”
“No.”
Dominic shook his head.
“It happened.”
“Where?”
“Offshore accounts.”
“Controlled by?”
“That’s what Vanessa said the document would prove.”
“And?”
“It didn’t.”
“What was it?”
Dominic looked toward the fake passport.
“A succession agreement.”
My stomach tightened.
Luca’s voice became flat.
“Explain.”
“If you die before the marriage, voting control transfers temporarily to the executive committee.”
“Which you chair.”
“Yes.”
“If I die after?”
“Vanessa inherits your voting shares under the current trust.”
The room fell silent.
The wedding was not the end of the plan.
It was the deadline.
Before the vows, Dominic benefited.
After the vows, Vanessa did.
And someone had arranged a conspiracy where either outcome created a suspect.
Luca looked at Dominic.
“You.”
Then toward the ceiling.
“Or Vanessa.”
Dominic nodded slowly.
“Exactly.”
I understood before Luca said it.
“Someone wants you two to blame each other.”
Dominic looked at me.
“Yes.”
Luca’s phone buzzed.
A text from Peter.
He opened it.
His expression hardened instantly.
“What?”
I asked.
He handed me the phone.
Security camera.
Front driveway.
Vanessa’s car.
The gates opening.
She was leaving.
Luca called the gatehouse.
“Stop that vehicle.”
No answer.
He called again.
Nothing.
Then headlights appeared on another camera.
A black SUV following Vanessa.
Dominic stared.
“That’s Angelo’s truck.”
Luca looked at him.
“You said you didn’t know where Teresa was.”
“I don’t.”
Peter sent another image.
The SUV’s rear passenger window reflected the gate lights.
A woman sat in the back.
Dark hair.
Pale face.
I recognized her immediately.
“Teresa.”
Luca was already moving.
But before he reached the door, Dominic grabbed his arm.
“If Angelo has Teresa, chasing him is exactly what he wants.”
Luca turned.
“Let go.”
“Listen to me.”
Dominic’s voice dropped.
“You asked who was running this.”
“I think I know.”
“Who?”
Dominic stared directly at him.
“The only person who gets control whether you marry Vanessa, kill Vanessa, kill me, or burn this entire family to the ground.”
Luca stopped.
Dominic swallowed.
May you like
Then said the name.
“Your uncle Salvatore.”
