Chapter 11 - THE ENVELOPE CONTAINED A HANDWRITTEN WILL
Luca handed me the heavy envelope.
The red wax seal bore the crest of a law firm I didn’t recognize.
“This wasn’t here earlier,” Luca said, his eyes scanning the room as if expecting an intruder to jump from the shadows.
“Mrs. Carter must have left it,” I murmured, breaking the wax seal.
I pulled out a thick stack of folded legal documents.
At the top was a handwritten letter.
The handwriting belonged to Carlo Bellini.
My stomach twisted.
“If you are reading this, Isabella, it means I have failed. Thorne has either killed me, or Luca has defeated us both. But there is a final truth you must know before you take your place in the Moretti family.”
I read the words out loud. Luca stood right beside me, his shoulder brushing mine.
“Your father, David Santos, was a good man. He didn’t crash the car on purpose. Thorne cut the brakes. I helped him do it.”
Tears immediately pricked my eyes. My father was truly innocent. He had been murdered.
I kept reading.
“But David was not stupid. He knew we were coming for him. Before he died, he transferred something into a trust for you. Something he stole from Thorne’s safe twelve years ago to guarantee your safety.”
I flipped to the legal document beneath the letter.
It was a deed.
I read the address.
I gasped, dropping the papers onto the desk.
“What is it?” Luca asked, picking them up.
His eyes widened as he read the deed.
“The deed to the Lakefront Salvage warehouse,” Luca breathed. “And the land beneath it.”
“The warehouse that burned down tonight?” I asked.
“Yes,” Luca said.
A slow, calculating smile spread across his face.
“Thorne thought he was burning my mother’s stained glass to destroy the evidence against him. He thought the warehouse belonged to his front company.”
Luca looked at me, his eyes shining with brilliant, absolute victory.
“Your father owned the land. Thorne just committed arson on a multi-million dollar commercial property owned by the niece of the Moretti family.”
He laughed. It was a deep, rich sound that echoed in the quiet bedroom.
“He didn’t just burn the evidence. He handed the FBI a federal arson and racketeering charge on a silver platter. Thorne will never see the outside of a prison cell again.”
My father had won.
Twelve years after his death, a simple mechanic had outsmarted the most dangerous mafia boss in Chicago to protect his little girl.
I covered my face with my hands, overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of it all.
Luca gently pulled my hands away.
He smiled down at me.
“Your father was a brilliant man, Maria. He made sure you would never be helpless.”
He took the deed and placed it back on the desk.
Then, he took both of my hands in his.
“No more secrets,” Luca said softly. “No more enemies hiding in the shadows. It’s over.”
“It’s over,” I repeated, the weight of the last twenty-four hours finally lifting from my shoulders.
Luca’s gaze dropped to my lips.
The air in the room grew heavy again.
“There’s just one thing left to do,” he whispered.
“What?” I breathed.
He slowly reached into his suit pocket.
He pulled out a small, velvet box.
Not the heavy mahogany box from the altar. A small, delicate jeweler’s box.
He didn’t open it.
He just held it in his palm.
“This was in my pocket all night,” Luca said.
“I bought it three weeks ago. I was going to give it to Vanessa tomorrow.”
He looked down at the box with disgust.
May you like
He walked over to the fireplace, where a small fire was still burning.
Without a second thought, Luca tossed the velvet box directly into the flames.
