Chapter 6 - THE OTHER HEIR
Daniel Cross did not look like a Moretti.
That was the first thing Luca noticed.
He was forty-one.
Tall.
Light brown hair.
Gray eyes.
Plain navy jacket.
He looked more like a tired high school principal than the secret son of Gabriel Moretti.
But when Leonard Bellini entered the foyer and saw him, he stopped.
Daniel saw Leonard.
Neither spoke.
That was enough.
Luca folded his arms.
“You know him.”
Leonard nodded.
“Since he was a child.”
Vanessa looked at her uncle.
“You knew Gabriel had a son?”
“Yes.”
“And you said nothing?”
Leonard laughed bitterly.
“Tonight is full of that question.”
Daniel looked toward Sofia.
His expression changed.
“You’re Lucia.”
Sofia stiffened.
“My name is Sofia.”
“Right.”
He nodded quickly.
“I’m sorry.”
“How do you know who I am?”
Daniel looked at Luca.
“Can we sit down?”
Luca did not move.
“Answer first.”
Daniel sighed.
“My mother knew.”
“Knew what?”
“Everything Gabriel did.”
Silence.
Luca stepped aside.
They moved into the study.
Vanessa sat far from Luca.
Sofia remained standing.
Daniel took a chair.
“My mother’s name was Anne Cross.”
Leonard nodded.
“She worked for Gabriel.”
“In what capacity?”
Luca asked.
Daniel smiled without humor.
“Depends which year.”
“Bookkeeper.”
“Assistant.”
“Girlfriend.”
“Eventually the mother of the son he refused to acknowledge.”
Sofia sat.
“You’re older than us.”
“Three years.”
“So Gabriel already had a child when he tried to take me.”
Daniel nodded.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Daniel looked at his hands.
“Because Antonio was going to inherit control of the family holdings.”
Luca frowned.
“Gabriel was older.”
“Yes.”
“Why wouldn’t he inherit?”
“Your grandfather didn’t trust him.”
Luca knew that much.
His grandfather, Salvatore Moretti, had died before Luca was born.
Family stories described him as strict.
Traditional.
Cold.
Daniel continued.
“Gabriel believed having an heir would change Salvatore’s mind.”
“But you existed.”
“Yes.”
“He could have acknowledged you.”
“My mother wasn’t Italian.”
Sofia stared.
“That mattered?”
“To Gabriel.”
Daniel shrugged.
“And to Salvatore, apparently.”
Luca’s jaw tightened.
“So Gabriel wanted one of Antonio’s children?”
Daniel nodded.
“A son.”
Everyone looked at Luca.
Daniel continued.
“But he didn’t know Elena was having twins.”
Dr. Mercer spoke from the doorway.
“Almost nobody did.”
Daniel nodded.
“When Gabriel learned one baby was male and one female, the plan changed.”
Sofia’s face hardened.
“He took me because I was disposable.”
Daniel looked sick.
“That’s what my mother believed.”
Sofia stood.
Luca stepped forward.
She held up a hand.
“I’m fine.”
She was not.
But she continued.
“What was he going to do with me?”
Daniel looked at Leonard.
Leonard closed his eyes.
Daniel answered.
“Use you.”
“For what?”
“To force Antonio to surrender control.”
Luca stared.
“How?”
“If Antonio gave Gabriel the company, Gabriel would return the baby.”
Sofia laughed bitterly.
“So I was leverage.”
“Yes.”
“What changed?”
“Marco.”
Vanessa’s face tightened.
Daniel looked at her.
“Your father told Antonio.”
Vanessa whispered,
“He said that on the phone.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Marco realized Gabriel never intended to return Sofia.”
Silence.
Daniel continued.
“My mother overheard him.”
“Gabriel planned to make it look like the baby had died during the abduction.”
Dr. Mercer sat.
Leonard whispered,
“God.”
Sofia’s face went blank.
Luca moved closer to her.
Not touching.
Just close.
Daniel continued.
“Marco panicked.”
“He told Antonio where Gabriel was.”
“Antonio recovered Sofia.”
“But by then, Gabriel had already shown him surveillance photographs.”
“He threatened Elena.”
“Luca.”
“Everyone.”
Luca nodded.
“That part matches Antonio’s tape.”
Daniel looked surprised.
“You found the tape?”
“Yes.”
“Then you found Box 317.”
“Yes.”
Daniel’s expression changed.
“And the Red File?”
“Marco took it.”
Daniel stood.
“That’s why I came.”
Luca’s eyes narrowed.
“You knew he had it?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Marco called me.”
Vanessa stared.
“When?”
“Tonight.”
“Why would he call you?”
Daniel looked at her.
“Because he thinks I’m trying to destroy him.”
“Are you?”
Daniel considered.
“Yes.”
No one expected the honesty.
Daniel reached into his jacket.
Marco DeLuca, standing near the door, tensed.
Daniel stopped.
“It’s paper.”
Luca nodded.
Daniel removed a folded document.
He handed it to Luca.
It was a copy of a 1988 payment ledger.
One line was highlighted.
M. BELLINI — $50,000.
Under purpose:
NURSERY ACCESS / CROSS TRANSFER.
Luca looked at him.
“Where did you get this?”
“My mother kept copies.”
“Why?”
“Insurance.”
“Against Gabriel?”
“Yes.”
Daniel handed him another page.
A photograph of Margaret Mercer.
And Marco Bellini.
Together outside a hospital staff entrance.
Vanessa covered her mouth.
Daniel said,
“My mother knew Margaret.”
Dr. Mercer looked at him.
“How?”
“She recruited her.”
The doctor stood.
“What?”
“My mother convinced Margaret to help Gabriel.”
Dr. Mercer’s face filled with pain.
Daniel continued carefully.
“Margaret had gambling debt.”
“No.”
Dr. Mercer shook his head.
“She never gambled.”
Daniel looked confused.
“That’s what Gabriel told my mother.”
Dr. Mercer stared at the floor.
Then suddenly laughed.
It was a broken sound.
“She wasn’t in debt.”
Everyone looked at him.
“She was paying for her sister’s treatment.”
Dr. Mercer whispered.
“Cancer.”
Daniel’s face changed.
“Gabriel told her he could get experimental care.”
Dr. Mercer nodded slowly.
“That would have been enough.”
His voice broke.
“She loved Ellen.”
Luca said,
“Margaret thought she was helping move a child temporarily.”
“That’s what Antonio’s tape said.”
Dr. Mercer looked at Daniel.
“Did she know which child?”
“I don’t know.”
The doctor sat again.
Sofia watched him.
She could have hated Margaret.
Instead she walked over.
She placed his cane beside his chair.
“Your wife made a terrible choice.”
Dr. Mercer looked up.
“Yes.”
“But she tried to fix it.”
His eyes filled.
“Yes.”
Sofia nodded.
“So did my father.”
Luca looked at her.
She continued.
“That doesn’t erase what either of them did.”
Dr. Mercer whispered,
“No.”
“But maybe it matters.”
The old doctor covered his face.
Luca looked at Daniel.
“Why have you been looking for Sofia?”
Daniel’s expression hardened.
“Because Gabriel left something to her.”
Sofia almost laughed.
“Everyone left me something except a childhood.”
Daniel accepted the blow.
“Yes.”
“What?”
“A statement.”
“Where?”
“With my mother.”
“She’s alive?”
Daniel shook his head.
“She died two years ago.”
“Then where is it?”
“I have it.”
“Why didn’t you bring it?”
“I did.”
He looked toward the front door.
“It’s in my car.”
Luca’s eyes narrowed.
“You brought evidence this important and left it outside?”
Daniel stood.
“I didn’t know whether you’d let me through the gate.”
Fair.
Marco DeLuca accompanied him outside.
Three minutes passed.
Five.
Then Marco DeLuca ran back into the house alone.
Luca stood.
“What happened?”
“His car is gone.”
Daniel followed behind him.
His face was white.
“What do you mean gone?”
“The parking area is empty.”
“I locked it.”
Marco looked at Luca.
“There’s broken glass.”
Daniel swore.
Sofia stared.
“Was the statement inside?”
Daniel nodded.
“And anything else?”
He hesitated.
Luca noticed.
“What else?”
Daniel looked sick.
“A flash drive.”
“Containing?”
“My mother’s recorded interview.”
“With?”
“Marco Bellini.”
Vanessa stood.
“When?”
“2004.”
Her eyes widened.
“My father confessed?”
Daniel nodded.
“To enough.”
Luca took out his phone.
Then stopped.
A text message appeared.
Unknown number.
One photograph.
Daniel’s car.
Parked beside the Chicago River.
Windshield broken.
Driver’s door open.
Beneath it, one sentence.
STOP DIGGING UP DEAD PEOPLE.
Sofia read it over Luca’s shoulder.
Luca’s face hardened.
Then another message arrived.
A photograph of Emma leaving the mansion earlier that evening.
Taken from across the street.
Emma felt her stomach drop.
The third message was worse.
It showed Sofia outside First Chicago Trust.
Taken less than two hours ago.
Whoever sent it had been following them.
Then the final text appeared.
MIDNIGHT PASSED.
THE TRUST IS MINE.
Vanessa stared at the screen.
“That’s not my father.”
Luca looked at her.
“How do you know?”
She pointed to the wording.
“My father knows the trust doesn’t become his.”
“Whose does it become?”
Vanessa looked toward Daniel.
Daniel went pale.
Then he whispered,
“Gabriel’s bloodline.”
Everyone turned.
David Rosen, who had just entered, stopped.
“What?”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“If Baby B failed verification before midnight, control didn’t go permanently to the Bellinis.”
“It went to Gabriel’s surviving legal heir.”
Luca stared at him.
“You.”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
“Then who?”
May you like
Daniel looked terrified.
“My father had another son.”
