Chapter 3 - The Gold Money Clip
The screech of an arriving train drowned out the silence on Platform 4.
Luca stared at the gold money clip in his hand. The initials D.B. glinted under the harsh fluorescent lights of Union Station. Dominic Bellini. The man who had smiled, shaken Luca’s hand, and given away his daughter at the engagement dinner just two hours ago.
"Jenna," Luca said, his voice vibrating with a terrifying, coiled tension. "Are you absolutely certain Vanessa was the one in the study?"
Jenna nodded, shrinking slightly against her father. "I recognized her voice. She was demanding Grandpa sign over the deeds to the southside warehouses. Grandpa told her the Bellini family would never touch Moretti territory while he was breathing."
"And then?" Michael asked gently, putting an arm around his daughter's shoulders.
"Then there was a crash," Jenna whispered. "Like glass breaking. I heard Vanessa say, 'That can be arranged.' When I finally got the courage to go in, Grandpa was on the floor, holding his chest. But his hand was clenched around that money clip. I think he pulled it from her coat pocket when he fell."
Luca closed his fist, the sharp edges of the gold clip biting into his palm.
"Why didn't you tell the police?" I asked softly, the question slipping out before I could stop myself.
Jenna looked down at her shoes. "I was seventeen. The police said it was a massive coronary. Nobody suspected foul play. And a week later, Vanessa started dating Uncle Luca."
She looked up at Luca, her eyes filled with fear. "I tried to tell Dad, but... that was when the drinking got really bad. He wouldn't listen. Then Vanessa found out I was in the house that night. She cornered me. She said if I ever told anyone, she would frame Dad for embezzling from the family business, and the police would put him away forever. I was terrified. So I just stopped talking to him."
Michael closed his eyes, the guilt of his addiction crashing over him. "Oh, God, Jenna. I'm so sorry. I left you alone with that monster."
"It's over now, Mike," Luca said quietly. He slipped the money clip into his inside pocket. "She isn't touching Jenna. She isn't touching this family anymore."
Luca turned toward me. "Natalie, take Jenna and Michael back to the restaurant. Have Marcus lock down the building. No one goes in or out without my permission."
"Where are you going?" Michael asked, a protective panic rising in his voice.
"To finish a conversation with my former fiancée," Luca said coldly.
"Luca, wait!" Michael grabbed his brother’s arm. "Dominic Bellini is ruthless. If he was in the study that night, or if Vanessa is protecting him, they will kill you to keep this quiet."
Luca didn't flinch. "I'm counting on them trying."
He pulled his arm away and vanished into the crowded station.
I escorted Michael and Jenna back to the SUV. The ride back to the restaurant was quiet, but the air felt lighter. Jenna sat close to her father, and Michael finally gave her the small silver bracelet. When she clipped it around her wrist, Michael looked like a man who had just been handed the keys to heaven.
When we returned to the restaurant, the heavy front doors were locked. Marcus, the head of security, let us in through the service entrance.
"Mr. Moretti ordered a full lockdown," Marcus said grimly. "We've swept the building. The Bellini family is gone, but they left a mess."
We walked into the private dining room. The caterers had stopped cleaning.
Sitting in the exact center of the ruined, wine-stained tablecloth was a single, black envelope.
Marcus pointed to it. "Dominic Bellini handed that to me right before he walked out. Said to make sure Luca read it tonight."
Michael stepped forward and picked up the envelope. He tore it open.
Inside was a single sheet of heavy parchment paper, and a glossy photograph.
Michael looked at the photograph, and all the color drained from his face. He stumbled backward, hitting the back of a chair.
"Dad? What is it?" Jenna asked, rushing to his side.
Michael didn't answer. He just handed the photograph to me.
I looked at the image.
It was a picture taken from a security camera, timestamped three years ago—the night the old Moretti patriarch died.
The photo showed the hallway outside the patriarch's study. It clearly showed Vanessa Bellini walking out of the room, looking panicked.
But that wasn't the horrifying part.
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The horrifying part was the man standing in the hallway, watching her leave. The man who then calmly walked into the study while the old man was dying on the floor.
It was Michael.
