A Secret Hidden In A Coat Pocket

Luca stared at the bank receipt.

One million dollars. Transferred from an offshore account belonging to his mother, Eleanor Moretti, directly to Vanessa. The date was exactly one week before Michael canceled his wedding.

The room felt like it was spinning.

“Why?” Sophie asked, looking over his shoulder. “Why would your mother pay off the woman blackmailing her own son?”

“Because she didn’t know Vanessa was blackmailing him,” Luca realized, the sickening truth settling in his gut. “My mother has always been obsessed with bloodlines. She hated Michael for wanting to marry a nobody from the streets. She must have paid Vanessa to walk away.”

“But Vanessa didn’t walk away. She took the money and stayed.”

“Exactly. And when Michael found out she was pregnant with Romanov’s kid, he canceled the wedding himself.” Luca gripped the paper, crushing the edges. “My mother didn’t just pay off a gold digger. She funded a cartel associate. And Gino...”

Luca thought of the photograph of Gino’s car running Michael off the road.

“Gino is my mother’s most loyal dog,” Luca said, his voice turning deadly cold. “If Michael figured out my mother paid Vanessa, he would have exposed her to the family. She couldn’t let that happen.”

Sophie covered her mouth in horror. “You think your mother ordered the hit on Michael?”

“I don’t think,” Luca said, standing up. “I know.”

He walked to the window, staring down at the city. The woman who had raised him, who had cried at Michael’s funeral, who had smiled at him just yesterday, was a murderer.

“What are you going to do?” Sophie asked, her voice trembling.

“I’m going to end it. Tonight.”

Luca turned to her. “Stay here with Leo and your mother. Lock the doors. Do not let anyone in unless it’s me.”

“Luca, please be careful. Gino is dangerous.”

“I’m the head of this family,” Luca said softly. “It’s time I reminded them why.”

He left the penthouse, taking the private elevator down to the garage.

He didn’t take the armored car. He took an unmarked sedan.

He drove to a dilapidated warehouse district on the South Side. This was where the Moretti family handled internal discipline. A place that didn’t exist on any map.

Luca parked inside the dark, cavernous building. He sent a single text to Gino:

Meet me at the South Side warehouse. Bring the files on Romanov. Come alone.

Thirty minutes later, Gino’s headlights cut through the gloom.

Gino stepped out of his car, holding a briefcase. He looked relaxed. Confident.

“Boss,” Gino called out, walking toward where Luca stood in the shadows. “Got the files you asked for. We need to hit Romanov’s safehouses before he regroups.”

“We’re not hitting Romanov,” Luca said, stepping into the dim light of a single overhead bulb.

Gino paused, sensing the shift in the air. “Sir?”

Luca tossed the crumpled photograph onto the concrete floor. It landed at Gino’s feet.

“Recognize the license plate, Gino?”

Gino looked down. The blood drained from his face, but years of criminal discipline kept his hand steady as it drifted slowly toward his jacket pocket.

“I don’t know where you got that, boss. It’s a fake.”

“Arthur Bellini was driving the car that hit Michael,” Luca said, taking a slow step forward. “But he wasn’t alone, was he? He told me he was hired by someone inside the family to make sure the job got done. To make sure my brother never made it to the lake house with that journal.”

Gino’s eyes narrowed. “Michael was weak. He was going to tear the family apart over a whore.”

“So my mother ordered you to kill him.”

Gino didn’t answer. He drew his gun in a flash of movement.

But Luca was faster.

He didn’t draw a gun. He pressed a button on a small remote in his hand.

Blinding floodlights snapped on from every corner of the warehouse, illuminating the catwalks above.

Standing on the steel grates, rifles trained directly on Gino, were ten of Luca’s most loyal enforcers.

Gino froze, realizing he had walked into a trap.

“Drop it,” Luca commanded.

Gino slowly lowered his weapon, dropping it to the floor.

“You think taking me out changes anything, Luca?” Gino sneered, kicking the gun away. “Your mother owns half the captains. You touch her, it’s a civil war.”

“There won’t be a war,” Luca said softly. “Because she’s not going to fight.”

Luca gestured to his men. Two enforcers climbed down and zip-tied Gino’s hands.

“Put him in the trunk,” Luca ordered.

As they hauled Gino away, one of the enforcers handed Luca a small, velvet box.

“You ready for this, boss?” the enforcer asked.

“No,” Luca admitted. “But it’s done.”

He opened the box. Inside was a diamond necklace. An heirloom of the Moretti family, worn by the matriarch for three generations.

Eleanor had given it to Vanessa two days ago. Luca had reclaimed it from the evidence locker this afternoon through a crooked cop.

He closed the box.