Chapter 7 - THE MAN LUCA TRUSTED
Matteo Ricci did not come to attack the house.
He came to surrender.
That was almost worse.
He stood at the gate alone.
No gun.
Hands visible.
Rain beginning again.
Luca wanted him dragged inside.
Agent Reeves refused.
“We do this clean.”
Luca laughed without humor.
“Clean.”
Elina stood beside Teresa in the security room watching the cameras.
Matteo looked exhausted.
Older than he had two nights earlier at Orelio.
Reeves and two agents approached him.
Matteo immediately knelt.
Luca watched without expression.
Elina saw his hands shaking.
Not fear.
Rage.
Matteo was brought into a secure interview room.
Luca was not allowed inside at first.
He hated that.
Elina sat across from him in the hallway.
“You’re going to wear a hole in the floor.”
He stopped pacing.
“He held Gabriel the day he was born.”
“I know.”
“He stood beside Sofia’s grave.”
“I know.”
“He knew.”
Elina looked at him.
“Yes.”
Luca’s jaw tightened.
“I would have killed him two years ago.”
“Would you now?”
He looked at her.
Long pause.
“I don’t know.”
That was progress.
Ugly progress.
But real.
After forty minutes, Reeves emerged.
“He wants to speak to you.”
Luca stood.
“Why?”
“Because he says Gabriel is alive.”
Elina stood too.
Luca looked at her.
“You stay.”
She crossed her arms.
He sighed.
“Fine.”
They entered together.
Matteo looked at Elina.
Then Luca.
“I’m sorry.”
Luca sat.
“No.”
Matteo stopped.
“You don’t get to begin there.”
Silence.
“Where is my son?”
“Sebastian has him at Red Hook.”
“Tonight?”
“Yes.”
“Who’s with him?”
“Two men. A nurse.”
Luca’s expression changed.
“A nurse?”
“He knew taking a baby without care would make him useless leverage.”
The coldness of that logic made Elina sick.
“Is Gabriel hurt?”
“No.”
“You saw him?”
“Video an hour ago.”
Luca leaned forward.
“Why are you here?”
Matteo looked down.
“Because Sebastian is going to kill Elina whether she signs or not.”
Elina did not flinch.
Luca did.
“What?”
“He cannot leave Marina’s daughter alive after the transfer.”
“Why?”
“Because the trust has a challenge provision. If Elina dies within ninety days of transfer under suspicious circumstances, control freezes and goes to Gabriel.”
Elina stared.
“My mother really hated men.”
Matteo almost smiled.
Luca did not.
“So Sebastian needs her dead?”
“Yes.”
“And Gabriel?”
Matteo looked at Luca.
“If Elina signs and survives ninety days, Gabriel is irrelevant.”
Elina’s stomach turned.
“If I don’t?”
“Sebastian plans to disappear with him.”
Luca stood.
Matteo immediately said:
“There’s more.”
“Of course there is.”
“Sofia’s crash.”
Luca froze.
Matteo looked broken now.
“I disabled the tracking alert on her car.”
Silence.
Luca moved so fast Elina barely saw it.
He grabbed Matteo by the shirt and drove him against the wall.
Agents entered.
Elina stood.
“Luca.”
Matteo did not fight.
“I deserve it.”
Luca’s fist tightened.
Elina stepped closer.
“Luca.”
His eyes were black.
She touched his wrist.
“Gabriel.”
One word.
That brought him back.
He released Matteo.
Stepped away.
Breathing hard.
Reeves warned:
“That was your one free mistake.”
Luca laughed bitterly.
“Generous.”
Matteo sat again.
Blood at his lip.
“I didn’t know Sebastian planned to kill her.”
Luca stared.
“You disabled the alert.”
“He said he wanted to scare her. Force her off the investigation.”
“You believed him?”
“No.”
Matteo closed his eyes.
“I chose not to ask.”
The distinction mattered.
Cowardice dressed as ignorance.
Elina had seen that before.
Matteo continued:
“I owed Sebastian money.”
“How much?”
“Four hundred thousand.”
Luca looked disgusted.
“Gambling?”
“No.”
“My wife.”
Luca frowned.
“She had cancer.”
The room quieted.
“Treatment overseas. Experimental.”
Matteo’s voice shook.
“She died anyway.”
Luca’s anger did not vanish.
But it changed shape.
“Sebastian owned the debt.”
“Yes.”
“And then owned you.”
“Yes.”
Luca looked away.
Matteo continued:
“He had me change routes. Delete footage. Tell him when you traveled.”
“And Sofia?”
“She discovered one shipment.”
“You helped him kill her.”
“I helped create the opening.”
Luca stared.
“I will live with that until I die.”
“No.”
Luca’s voice was cold.
“You’ll live with whatever sentence comes first.”
Matteo nodded.
“I know.”
He gave them everything.
Red Hook layout.
Entrances.
Security schedule.
Sebastian’s escape route.
The private boat waiting beyond the terminal.
Most important:
Gabriel was being held in an office on the second floor.
Elina listened.
Then asked:
“Where does Sebastian plan to make me sign?”
“Ground-floor conference room.”
“Can Gabriel hear us?”
“No.”
“Can I see him before?”
“Sebastian will show you live video.”
Luca looked at Reeves.
“We go tonight.”
Reeves nodded.
“Controlled operation.”
Luca almost laughed.
“You enjoy saying words I hate.”
“You enjoy staying out of prison?”
“Occasionally.”
They built the plan.
Elina would enter.
Wear a wire.
Legal transfer documents supplied by Sebastian would be replaced with versions delaying execution through verification requirements.
She needed time.
Reeves needed admissions.
Luca needed Gabriel’s exact location confirmed.
“No.”
Luca looked at her.
“What?”
“I’m not going in pretending I know legal documents.”
The attorney stared.
“You won’t need to.”
“Sebastian will know if I act weird.”
She looked at Luca.
“I’m a waitress.”
He waited.
“I know how to keep difficult men talking.”
Reeves almost smiled.
“That may actually be more useful.”
Luca looked unhappy.
“Absolutely not.”
Elina stared.
“We already decided I’m going.”
“We decided nothing.”
“You said fine.”
“I was emotionally compromised.”
She laughed.
“That is the most dramatic mafia sentence I’ve ever heard.”
Even Reeves looked away to hide a smile.
Luca pointed at her.
“This is not funny.”
“No.”
She softened.
“It isn’t.”
Then:
“But Gabriel needs both of us useful.”
Luca stared.
Something passed between them.
Trust.
Not complete.
Not safe.
Earned in pieces.
At 11:40 p.m., Elina changed into jeans, boots, and a black sweater.
No waitress apron.
No uniform.
No disguise.
Just herself.
Luca waited by the car.
He looked at her.
“You can still stop.”
“So can you.”
“I can’t.”
“Neither can I.”
He nodded.
Then reached into his pocket.
A small object.
Sofia’s wedding ring.
Elina stared.
“Why do you have that?”
“I always carry it.”
He placed it in her palm.
“What am I supposed to do with it?”
“Nothing.”
“Then why—”
“If Sebastian says Sofia never trusted you, remember she left you everything she could.”
Elina looked at the ring.
Then at him.
“And if I don’t come back?”
His face changed.
“You will.”
“Not an answer.”
“Elina.”
“If I don’t—”
“I will bring Gabriel home.”
She nodded.
“And?”
He knew what she was asking.
“My share?”
“No.”
She almost smiled.
“My life.”
Luca looked at her.
“I’ll make sure people know who you were.”
“That sounds like a funeral.”
“I’m bad at this.”
“Yes.”
He tried again.
“I will not let you disappear into some family story.”
Her throat tightened.
That was better.
Then she handed the ring back.
“Keep it.”
He frowned.
“Sofia gave you something else.”
“What?”
“A chance to do this differently.”
Luca closed his hand around the ring.
Elina got into the car.
At 11:58, she stepped into the Red Hook terminal alone.
Sebastian DeSantis waited inside.
Silver hair.
Perfect suit.
Warm smile.
He looked nothing like a murderer.
That made him worse.
“Elina.”
She stopped ten feet away.
“Where’s Gabriel?”
Sebastian smiled.
“No hello?”
“No tip if the service is bad.”
His smile widened.
“I really do see Marina in you.”
“People keep saying that.”
He gestured to a laptop.
Live video.
Gabriel.
In a crib.
Alive.
Elina’s knees almost weakened.
She controlled herself.
“Bring him down.”
“After.”
“No.”
Sebastian sat.
“You are not negotiating.”
Elina sat across from him.
“Then why are there documents?”
His smile disappeared.
Good.
She had him talking.
“Sign.”
“Tell me about Sofia.”
“No.”
“You promised.”
“I promised truth after signature.”
Elina leaned back.
“Then I guess we sit.”
Sebastian stared.
“You think Luca is coming.”
“No.”
He studied her.
“You’re lying.”
“I work for tips. I lie about customers’ jokes being funny all night.”
Somewhere outside, agents were listening.
She needed more.
“Did Sofia beg?”
Sebastian’s expression changed.
There.
Elina pushed.
“When you killed her.”
“I didn’t touch her.”
“Coward.”
His eyes hardened.
“She caused her own death.”
“By driving?”
“By refusing to understand.”
“What?”
“That family companies belong to people capable of protecting them.”
“Men?”
“Competent people.”
“She was competent enough to find your routes.”
Sebastian leaned forward.
“She was reckless.”
“Did you hit her car?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
He smiled.
“Matteo disabled the tracking.”
Elina’s pulse jumped.
Admission.
“What did you do?”
“I arranged for her brakes to fail.”
The words were almost casual.
Elina wanted to hit him.
Instead she smiled bitterly.
“And you think you’re competent.”
His face changed.
Then alarms sounded outside.
Too early.
Sebastian stood.
“What did you do?”
Elina’s heart dropped.
“I’m sitting here.”
He grabbed her arm.
A voice shouted from upstairs.
“Police!”
Sebastian swore.
He dragged Elina toward a side corridor.
“Move.”
She fought.
He pulled a gun.
Everything slowed.
Then a baby screamed upstairs.
Gabriel.
Elina stopped fighting.
Sebastian looked at her.
Mistake.
She slammed her heel down on his foot and twisted.
The gun shifted.
A shot hit the ceiling.
Luca appeared at the corridor entrance.
“Let her go.”
Sebastian grabbed Elina around the throat and dragged her back.
Gun against her side.
Luca froze.
Behind him, agents raised weapons.
Sebastian smiled.
“There he is.”
Luca looked only at Elina.
“You okay?”
She could barely breathe.
“Been better.”
Sebastian laughed.
“You always did choose women badly.”
Luca’s eyes hardened.
“No.”
He looked at Elina.
“I chose one very well.”
Elina’s heart stumbled.
Terrible timing.
Absolutely terrible.
Then Gabriel screamed again.
Sebastian glanced upward.
Elina saw Luca’s eyes shift.
Signal.
She dropped.
Agents moved.
Sebastian fired.
Luca lunged.
The shot hit metal.
Then bodies collided.
Police reached Sebastian.
Luca went down.
Elina crawled backward.
“Luca!”
He rolled.
Alive.
Blood on his arm.
Not chest.
She exhaled.
Then she ran upstairs.
Not toward him.
Toward Gabriel.
The office door stood open.
A frightened nurse backed away.
Elina saw the crib.
“Gabriel.”
The baby turned.
For one second, silence.
Then he reached both arms toward her.
Desperate.
Exactly like the restaurant.
Elina picked him up.
He buried his face against her chest.
“It’s okay.”
She cried.
“You’re okay.”
Footsteps approached.
Luca.
Arm bleeding.
Face pale.
But standing.
Gabriel heard him.
Turned.
Then something happened Elina had never seen.
The baby reached one arm toward his father while still holding Elina with the other.
Luca stopped.
His face broke.
May you like
Elina smiled through tears.
“I think he finally figured out he can have both.”
