Chapter 7 - THE SECOND SON
His name was Adrian Cross.
Daniel’s younger half brother.
Thirty-eight years old.
Born eleven months after Luca and Sofia.
Same father.
Different mother.
Daniel had met him only twice.
Neither meeting ended well.
Adrian believed Gabriel’s fortune had been stolen.
He believed Antonio had manipulated family records.
He believed Luca was living in a position that should have belonged to Gabriel’s line.
More importantly, Adrian had spent fifteen years trying to prove it.
“He knew about the trust?”
Luca asked.
Daniel nodded.
“Not everything.”
“How much?”
“Enough to know the fallback clause.”
Vanessa whispered,
“My father met him.”
Daniel looked at her.
“When?”
“Three months ago.”
Everyone went still.
Luca stared.
“The month I proposed.”
Vanessa’s eyes filled.
“Yes.”
“Did you know?”
“No.”
“When did you find out?”
“Two weeks later.”
“And you still said nothing.”
“I confronted Marco.”
“What did he say?”
“That Adrian was bluffing.”
Daniel laughed.
“Adrian doesn’t bluff.”
Luca looked at him.
“You seem to know him well.”
“I know what he wants.”
“What?”
Daniel’s expression hardened.
“Recognition.”
Sofia said,
“That sounds familiar.”
Daniel looked at her.
“I know.”
She folded her arms.
“So midnight passed.”
“Yes.”
“What happens now?”
David Rosen answered.
“Nothing automatically.”
Everyone looked at him.
He had been reviewing copies of the trust paperwork.
“Vanessa’s earlier explanation was incomplete.”
Vanessa nodded.
“I only saw the summary.”
David continued.
“The fallback provision activates a temporary voting proxy.”
“How temporary?”
Luca asked.
“Ninety days.”
“Who gets it?”
“If Baby B remains unverified, the verified heir of Gabriel Moretti may petition.”
Daniel shook his head.
“I never did.”
“Adrian might.”
“Yes.”
David pointed to another paragraph.
“But there is a problem.”
“What?”
“The trust requires judicial confirmation.”
Luca exhaled.
“So nobody owns anything tonight.”
“Correct.”
Sofia almost laughed.
“Good to know I was locked in a room over paperwork that still needs a judge.”
Vanessa lowered her eyes.
“I believed the summary my father gave me.”
Sofia looked at her.
“And you expected me to sign a waiver without reading the trust.”
“Yes.”
“At least you’re consistent.”
Vanessa absorbed that.
Luca turned to David.
“What do we need to verify Sofia?”
David looked toward Dr. Mercer.
“DNA.”
“Already done.”
“Chain-of-custody DNA.”
Luca nodded.
“Documents.”
“We have Antonio’s acknowledgment.”
“Adoption records.”
Sofia said,
“I can get them.”
“Hospital evidence.”
Dr. Mercer held up the Baby B bracelet.
“This.”
David nodded.
“And ideally testimony.”
“I’ll testify.”
“So will Leonard.”
Leonard raised a hand.
Sofia looked at Luca.
“What happens if I’m verified?”
“You become beneficiary.”
“What does that actually mean?”
David explained.
The forty-one percent interest was real.
But it was not an unrestricted gift.
It was a voting block held in trust.
Sofia could influence Moretti Holdings.
She could not simply sell everything.
She would also have rights to certain properties and distributions.
Sofia looked uncomfortable.
“I don’t want his company.”
Luca said,
“You don’t have to decide tonight.”
“I don’t want forty-one percent of anything.”
“You also don’t have to give it away tonight.”
She looked at him.
That surprised her.
“You’re not worried I’ll take control?”
“I met you six hours ago.”
“Exactly.”
“I’m worried about twenty other things first.”
“What if I hate you?”
“Then hate me with good legal advice.”
Sofia stared.
Then laughed.
A real laugh.
Small.
Unexpected.
Luca smiled too.
Vanessa watched.
Something painful crossed her face.
Maybe she had spent months imagining this moment.
Maybe in every version, Sofia destroyed Luca.
Instead, they were beginning to recognize each other.
At 3:11 a.m., police arrived to take statements regarding the locked rooms.
Vanessa did not resist.
She gave her statement.
She admitted locking Dr. Mercer in the wine room.
She admitted taking Sofia’s phone and locking Room Twelve.
She claimed she feared both would publicly expose information that could endanger them.
Her attorney arrived before sunrise.
Luca did not interfere.
Neither did Sofia.
Consequences had begun.
But the family mystery remained.
At 5:40 a.m., Daniel received a call.
Chicago police had located his car.
The flash drive was gone.
The paper statement was gone.
But something had been left behind.
A photograph.
Daniel’s mother.
Anne Cross.
Standing beside Elena Moretti.
Luca stared.
“You said your mother knew Gabriel’s crimes.”
“Yes.”
“Did she know my mother personally?”
Daniel looked shaken.
“Apparently.”
On the back, written in Elena’s handwriting:
ANNE KNOWS WHERE LUCIA IS.
IF ANYTHING HAPPENS TO ME, FIND HER.
Dated May 11, 2007.
Three weeks before Elena’s death.
The room went silent.
Sofia sat.
“This is what Antonio meant.”
Luca nodded.
Elena had learned more in 2007.
Not 1999.
She had seen Sofia as a child.
Then apparently waited eight years.
Why?
Maybe because she was building a case.
Maybe because she had been afraid.
Maybe because someone had convinced her reunion would place Sofia in danger.
The question now was what happened in May 2007.
Daniel looked at the photograph.
“My mother never told me she knew Elena.”
“Why?”
Luca asked.
Daniel shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
Sofia said,
“Maybe she was afraid of Gabriel.”
“He was dead by then.”
Luca frowned.
“When did Gabriel die?”
“February 2007.”
Three months before the photograph.
That changed everything.
Sofia leaned forward.
“So once Gabriel died, Elena thought it was safe to find me.”
Daniel nodded slowly.
“Yes.”
“And three weeks after this picture—”
“She died.”
Luca finished.
Silence.
Vanessa’s earlier claim echoed.
The Bellini shell vehicle following Elena.
Marco’s possible involvement.
Adrian’s obsession.
But Adrian had only been nineteen in 2007.
Could he have been involved?
Maybe not.
Could Marco?
Yes.
Luca’s phone rang again.
Unknown number.
Everyone froze.
He answered on speaker.
A man spoke.
“You’re making this harder than it needs to be.”
Luca’s expression hardened.
“Adrian.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
The man laughed.
“So he told you.”
Luca said,
“Where is Marco Bellini?”
“Why assume I know?”
“Because you stole Daniel’s car.”
“I didn’t.”
“You took the Red File?”
“No.”
That answer came quickly.
Luca frowned.
“Then who did?”
Adrian laughed softly.
“You still think there are only two sides.”
Sofia stepped closer.
“Who killed Elena Moretti?”
Silence.
Adrian’s voice changed.
“Is that Lucia?”
“My name is Sofia.”
“Right.”
“Answer me.”
“I don’t know who killed Elena.”
“Do you know whether she was killed?”
“Yes.”
Luca’s body went still.
“How?”
“Because my father left me something too.”
“What?”
“A recording.”
Daniel stared.
“You told me Gabriel never contacted you.”
“He didn’t.”
“My mother had it.”
Luca asked,
“What does it say?”
Adrian paused.
“Enough to prove Elena’s death wasn’t an accident.”
“Give it to us.”
“No.”
“What do you want?”
Adrian laughed.
“There he is.”
“Who?”
“The businessman.”
“Everyone always told me you’d ask the price.”
Luca looked toward Sofia.
Then replied,
“I’m asking what it takes to get evidence about my mother’s death.”
“Same thing.”
“What do you want?”
“A meeting.”
“With me?”
“No.”
The answer came instantly.
“With Sofia.”
Sofia’s face hardened.
Luca said,
“No.”
Sofia turned.
“I can answer for myself.”
Adrian heard.
“Exactly.”
Sofia stepped closer to the phone.
“Where?”
“Sofia—”
Luca began.
She held up a hand.
“Public place.”
Adrian laughed.
“You really are a Moretti.”
“I’m a Bennett.”
A pause.
“Fair enough.”
He gave an address.
A twenty-four-hour diner near O’Hare.
“Seven a.m.”
Sofia checked the clock.
Less than an hour.
“No weapons.”
Adrian said.
“No security inside.”
Luca replied,
“Not happening.”
Sofia looked at him.
“I’ll go.”
“No.”
“You don’t own me.”
“I know.”
“Then stop.”
Luca clenched his jaw.
She softened slightly.
“You can be outside.”
He stared at her.
She continued.
“I’m not spending the rest of my life letting men who knew my father decide where I can go because they claim it’s for my protection.”
That ended the argument.
At 6:42 a.m., Sofia walked into the diner.
Emma sat three booths away.
Not security.
Not family.
Just someone Sofia trusted.
Luca remained in a vehicle across the street.
Daniel waited with him.
Adrian Cross arrived at 6:58.
He looked startlingly like Gabriel.
Dark hair.
Dark eyes.
Same smile from the old photographs.
He sat across from Sofia.
“You look like Elena.”
Sofia did not respond.
Adrian placed a small recorder on the table.
“You want this.”
“Yes.”
“I want something too.”
“What?”
“Your word.”
“About?”
“That you won’t sign the trust over to Luca.”
Sofia stared.
“I don’t even know if I’m taking it.”
“Then promise.”
“No.”
Adrian leaned back.
“You don’t trust him.”
“I don’t know him.”
“Exactly.”
“I don’t know you either.”
Adrian smiled.
“Also fair.”
Sofia looked at the recorder.
“Is that Gabriel?”
“Yes.”
“Play it.”
Adrian shook his head.
“Promise first.”
Sofia stood.
Adrian frowned.
“Where are you going?”
“Home.”
“You don’t have—”
“I have a home.”
She looked down at him.
“And I’ve spent less than one day knowing Luca exists.”
“He’s already shown me more respect than you did in five minutes.”
Adrian stared.
Sofia turned.
He called after her.
“Elena knew Antonio was hiding you.”
Sofia stopped.
Slowly.
Adrian continued.
“For eight years.”
Sofia turned back.
“What?”
“She knew after 1999.”
“That’s impossible.”
“No.”
“She agreed to leave you with the Bennetts.”
Sofia stared.
Adrian tapped the recorder.
“My father recorded her saying it.”
Sofia returned to the booth.
Her face had changed.
“Play it.”
Adrian pressed the button.
Static.
Then Elena Moretti’s voice.
Clear.
Controlled.
“I saw Lucia today.”
Sofia covered her mouth.
Elena continued.
“She’s happy.”
“She calls Rachel ‘Mom.’”
A pause.
“If I tear her away now because I cannot bear what Antonio did, then I make my pain her punishment.”
Sofia’s eyes filled.
Elena’s voice trembled.
“I will wait until she is old enough to choose.”
Another pause.
“Then I will tell her everything.”
Sofia cried silently.
The recording continued.
Gabriel’s voice asked,
“And Antonio?”
Elena answered.
“He will never make another decision for my daughter.”
Then the tape clicked.
Adrian stopped it.
Sofia wiped her face.
“When was this recorded?”
“1999.”
“Why was Elena talking to Gabriel?”
Adrian stared at her.
“That’s the part Luca won’t like.”
“What?”
“My father wasn’t threatening Elena by then.”
Sofia frowned.
“He was helping her.”
Adrian leaned closer.
“Because after the hospital, Gabriel spent the rest of his life trying to destroy Antonio.”
Sofia’s eyes narrowed.
“Why would that make him good?”
“It doesn’t.”
Adrian smiled faintly.
“But it means your family story has another liar.”
Then he slid the recorder across the table.
“Keep it.”
Sofia stared.
“What do you want?”
Adrian stood.
“The truth.”
“You just demanded the trust.”
He looked at her.
“No.”
“I demanded that you not give it back to the man whose father stole it from you.”
He turned to leave.
Then stopped.
“One more thing.”
Sofia looked up.
Adrian’s expression changed.
“If Luca tells you Gabriel died in February 2007, he’s repeating what Antonio told him.”
Sofia frowned.
May you like
Adrian whispered,
“My father was alive the night Elena died.”
