Chapter 3 - The Ghost in the Ink
The dining room suddenly felt freezing, as if all the oxygen had been violently sucked out of it.
I stared at the black ink slashing across the yellowed page.
You’re looking at the wrong sister, Luca.
Luca’s hands gripped the notebook so hard his knuckles turned white. He didn't look angry; he looked completely, fundamentally terrified. He slowly turned his head to look at Rose.
Rose was staring at the book, her face completely blank. The warm, tearful sister who had just held him seemed to vanish, replaced by something rigidly still.
"Rose," Luca said, his voice dropping into a dangerous, gravelly whisper. "What does this mean?"
Rose didn't answer. She took a slow step backward, pulling her old beige coat tighter around her shoulders.
"Rosie, talk to me," Luca demanded, taking a step toward her. "Why did Vanessa write this? What is she talking about?"
"I don't know," Rose said, her voice strangely flat. "She’s just trying to manipulate you, Luca. She’s angry."
"She didn't write this in the dining room," Luca pointed out, his eyes narrowing. "She wrote this before tonight. She set a trap. Why would she point me toward you?"
Rose shook her head, backing up until she hit the edge of the long dining table. "I don't know, Luca! I’m just your sister! The sister who raised you!"
"Then why are you backing away from me?" Luca asked softly.
The silence that followed was agonizing.
I stood paralyzed by the kitchen door, watching a family reunion fracture into a nightmare.
Suddenly, the heavy oak doors of the dining room swung open. Marco stepped inside, looking grim.
"Boss," Marco said, "Miss Bellini is secured in the guest wing. She’s demanding to speak with you."
Luca didn't look away from Rose. "Bring her back here."
Marco hesitated. "Boss, she’s hysterical—"
"Bring her here, Marco. Now."
Marco nodded and disappeared.
A minute later, Vanessa was dragged back into the dining room. Her red engagement dress was wrinkled, her makeup completely ruined. But when she saw Luca holding the open notebook, a bitter, triumphant smile twisted her lips.
"Did you read it?" Vanessa sneered, ripping her arm out of Marco’s grip.
"What game are you playing, Vanessa?" Luca asked, his voice lethal.
"No game, darling," Vanessa laughed coldly. She looked at Rose, who was now staring at the floor, refusing to make eye contact. "I was looking for your mother’s ledger, yes. My father told me he took it the night she died. But when I opened his safe three months ago, the ledger wasn't there."
Luca frowned. "Arthur just said your father kept it."
"Arthur is an idiot who believes what my father wanted him to believe," Vanessa snapped. "My father didn't take the ledger that night, Luca."
"Rose said the man in the coat took it," Luca countered.
"Oh, the man in the coat," Vanessa mocked, pacing slowly around the table. "The mysterious killer who broke in, argued with your mother, and left her dead on the floor. That’s the story Rose told you, right?"
Luca didn't answer. He just stared at Vanessa, waiting.
"My father was the man in the coat, Luca," Vanessa admitted, the confession hanging heavy in the air. "He went to your house that night to take the ledger. But when he got there... your mother was already dead."
The room spun.
I looked at Rose. She was trembling violently now.
"My father found her on the floor," Vanessa continued, her eyes fixed on Rose. "And he found a terrified fifteen-year-old girl standing over the body, holding the ledger."
Luca went completely still. "No."
"Yes," Vanessa whispered. "My father didn't kill your mother, Luca. He just made a deal with the girl who did. He promised to keep Rose’s secret, if she gave him the ledger."
"You’re lying," Luca roared, stepping toward Vanessa. "My sister loved our mother! She sacrificed everything for me!"
"She sacrificed everything because she was eaten alive by guilt!" Vanessa screamed back. "Your mother was going to turn the ledger over to the feds, Luca! She was going to take you and put you both in witness protection! But Rose didn't want to leave her boyfriend. They fought. Your mother had a bad heart, and Rose pushed her too far!"
Luca stopped. He turned slowly, looking at the woman in the beige coat.
"Rose?" Luca’s voice broke. It was the sound of a little boy whose entire world had just been shattered. "Tell me she’s lying."
Rose didn't look up. Tears were silently falling onto the hardwood floor.
"Rosie. Please."
Rose finally looked at him. Her eyes were hollow, empty of the warmth I had seen earlier.
"Mom was going to take us away," Rose whispered, her voice devoid of emotion. "She was going to take me away from Chicago. From my life. She said the mafia was poison. She had the ledger in her hand. I tried to take it from her. We struggled. She fell."
Luca staggered backward, as if he had been physically struck. "She fell?"
"She hit her head on the fireplace hearth," Rose sobbed, the dam finally breaking. "She couldn't breathe. I panicked, Luca! I was fifteen! When Vanessa’s father walked in, he said he would call the police and tell them I murdered her, unless I gave him the book. So I did!"
"And you lied to me," Luca breathed, horrified. "For twenty-nine years, you told me her heart gave out in her sleep. You let me believe it was natural."
"I protected you!" Rose cried, stepping toward him. "I raised you! I kept you fed! I loved you, Luca!"
"You didn't protect me," Luca said, his voice turning into ice. "You protected yourself. You bought your freedom with my mother’s blood."
Vanessa smirked, leaning against the table. "I found out the truth three months ago, Luca. I realized my father never had the real ledger. He had a fake one your mother kept as a decoy. Rose kept the real one."
Luca turned his furious gaze on Vanessa. "And you tried to pay her to disappear so I would never find out."
"I tried to pay her to get the real ledger!" Vanessa argued. "I wanted to destroy it to protect our future!"
"You wanted to use it to control me," Luca corrected coldly.
He looked at Marco. "Take Miss Bellini back to the guest wing. Tell Arthur his niece is no longer under his protection."
Vanessa’s smirk vanished. "Luca, no! You need me!"
Marco dragged her away, her protests echoing down the hall.
Luca turned back to his sister.
Rose was sobbing, holding the old blue tie in her hands like a shield. "I’m sorry, Luca. I’m so sorry."
"Where is the real ledger, Rose?" Luca asked, his voice dead.
"I burned it," Rose wept. "Ten years ago. I couldn't bear to look at it anymore."
Luca stared at her for a long, agonizing moment. The brother who had hugged her twenty minutes ago was gone. The ruthless syndicate boss had returned.
"Leave," Luca said quietly.
Rose gasped. "Luca..."
"Leave this house, Rose. And never come back."
"Please don't do this. I’m all the family you have left!"
"I have no family," Luca said. He turned his back on her.
Rose stood there for a moment, absolutely broken. Then, she turned and walked slowly out of the dining room, her beige coat dragging behind her like a ghost.
I stood by the kitchen door, my heart aching for the man standing alone in the massive dining room. He had lost his fiancée and his sister in the span of an hour.
Luca looked down at the table. He picked up the leather notebook Vanessa had left behind.
He stared at it for a second, then threw it violently across the room. It smashed into a crystal vase, shattering it into a hundred pieces.
He braced his hands on the table, his head bowed, his shoulders shaking slightly.
I didn't think. I just moved.
I walked over to the shattered vase. I carefully picked up the leather notebook from the debris and walked back to the table.
I set it gently beside his hand.
Luca looked up at me, his eyes dark and haunted. "I told everyone to leave, Emma."
"I know, sir," I said softly. "But someone needs to clean up the glass."
Luca looked at me for a long time. The anger in his eyes slowly faded into a profound, exhausted sadness.
"You kept the tie," Luca murmured.
"Yes, sir."
"Why?"
"Because sometimes, even when things are broken, they still matter."
Luca reached out and touched the cover of the notebook. He opened it again, staring at the single sentence Vanessa had written.
Then, he frowned.
He ran his thumb over the page.
"Emma," Luca said, his voice suddenly sharp.
"Yes, sir?"
"This ink is wet."
I blinked. "Wet?"
"Vanessa wrote this just before she was brought back in here," Luca said, his mind working rapidly. "She didn't write it to warn me about Rose. She wrote it to distract me."
He looked up at me, his eyes wide with a sudden, terrifying realization.
"She wanted me to kick Rose out of the house," Luca whispered.
"Why?" I asked, a cold knot forming in my stomach.
Luca didn't answer. He sprinted out of the dining room, yelling for Marco.
I ran after him, out into the grand foyer, just as Marco was rushing through the front doors.
"Boss!" Marco yelled, his face pale.
"Did Rose leave the property?" Luca demanded.
"She walked out the front gates, boss," Marco panted. "But a black SUV was waiting for her."
"Who was in it?" Luca roared.
May you like
Marco swallowed hard.
"It was Arthur Bellini, sir. He put her in the back seat and drove away."
