Chapter 8 - The Suitcase With Another Name
“Then why did you send her away?”
Luca stood across the kitchen table from his father.
Frank stared at the photograph.
“I made a decision.”
“You destroyed her childhood.”
“I thought I knew what was best.”
Luca struck the table with his open palm.
I flinched.
He immediately stepped back.
“I'm sorry, Claire.”
Then he looked at his father.
“But I'm tired of hearing that you thought you were doing the right thing.”
Frank removed his overcoat.
For the first time, I noticed how much he'd aged.
His hands looked unsteady.
His face was thinner than the photographs I'd seen around the mansion.
But none of that changed what he'd done.
“Your mother wanted a different life,” Frank said.
Luca frowned.
“What does that mean?”
“She wanted you in ordinary schools. Ordinary neighborhoods. She hated the men who came to the house.”
“And you refused to leave the business.”
Frank looked away.
“I had obligations.”
“You had children.”
The older man lowered his eyes.
Before he could answer, Mrs. Carter appeared at the doorway.
“Mia is here.”
Frank stood so quickly that his chair nearly tipped over.
Luca looked toward the hall.
His sister entered wearing a brown coat and carrying the old photograph.
She stopped when she saw Frank.
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Then Mia said, “Hello, Dad.”
Frank's face crumpled.
“Mia.”
She shook her head.
“Please don't pretend we know each other.”
He sank back into his chair.
Mia remained standing.
“Luca told me you agreed to explain what happened.”
Frank nodded.
“Sit down, sweetheart.”
“No, thank you.”
I watched her hands tighten around the photograph.
“I've spent twenty-seven years being told where to sit, where to stay, and when I could visit my own mother.”
Frank looked ashamed.
“I understand.”
“I don't think you do.”
She placed the photograph on the table.
“When I was five, Teresa told me I could stay here.”
Frank looked at the picture.
“She loved you very much.”
“Then why didn't you let her?”
He didn't answer.
Mia continued.
“Evelyn told me the danger was over years before my eighteenth birthday. I kept hoping that meant you'd change your mind.”
Luca moved beside her.
“She's asking you a question, Dad.”
Frank swallowed.
“I was afraid of what would happen to the family.”
Mia stared at him.
“I was your family.”
The words brought tears to Mrs. Carter's eyes.
Then Vanessa appeared in the hallway.
She'd come to retrieve the belongings she'd left after the disastrous engagement dinner.
When she saw Mia, she stopped.
“I'm sorry,” she whispered.
Mia turned.
“Are you?”
Vanessa nodded.
“Then tell Luca what his mother really asked you.”
The room went silent.
Luca looked at Vanessa.
She gripped her handbag.
“Teresa asked me to keep Rose safe.”
“From whom?” Mia asked.
Vanessa glanced at Frank.
“From anyone who would use her to control you.”
Mia frowned.
“Then why did you tell my brother she wanted us kept apart?”
Vanessa began crying.
“Because my father told me that was what Teresa had always wanted.”
Mrs. Carter shook her head.
“Teresa wanted the opposite.”
Vanessa looked at her.
“I know that now.”
“No,” Luca said. “You knew my mother wanted her children together. You chose not to believe it because it was easier.”
Vanessa's expression tightened.
“My father has spent my whole life telling me what happens when the Bellinis disappoint the Morettis.”
She looked at Frank.
“I grew up listening to men decide where women could live, what they could say, and whom they were allowed to love.”
Her voice broke.
“I thought if I kept Mia away, nobody would get hurt.”
Mia stared at her.
“You hurt my daughter.”
Vanessa lowered her eyes.
“I know.”
Luca stepped forward.
“Who did you actually promise?”
Vanessa looked at him.
“My father.”
Frank closed his eyes.
“Angelo made me promise I wouldn't let Mia speak to you before the wedding,” Vanessa admitted. “He said reopening the past would destroy the families' relationship.”
“And you believed him?” Luca asked.
“At first.”
“Then?”
She looked toward Mia.
“Then I met Rose. And I knew I was doing something cruel.”
“Why didn't you stop?”
Vanessa's voice became almost inaudible.
“Because I was terrified you'd choose your sister over me.”
Luca looked at her for a long moment.
“You made that choice for me.”
Vanessa didn't answer.
Mia turned toward Frank.
“Your son knows the truth now. Vanessa's admitted what she did. What are you still hiding?”
Frank looked toward the doorway.
The little pencil line seemed to hold his attention.
MIA — COMING HOME.
His eyes filled.
“Your mother packed that brown suitcase herself.”
Mia nodded.
“I remember.”
“She bought you new shoes. She had your bedroom ready. She told the cook to make your favorite supper.”
“Then why did you send me back?”
Frank's voice trembled.
“Because I came home and discovered something she hadn't told me.”
Luca leaned forward.
“What?”
Frank stared at his son.
“Your mother wasn't planning for only Mia to stay.”
The kitchen went silent.
He looked toward the old photograph.
Then whispered the truth he'd spent twenty-two years hiding.
“There were two suitcases in that kitchen.”
May you like
His eyes filled.
“The second one had Luca's name on it.”
