Chapter 2 - THE SILVER-HAIRED STRANGER TRIED TO ERASE HER
The dining room became so quiet you could hear the crystal chandeliers chiming softly in the draft.
Luca’s gaze was locked on the silver-haired man.
Marcus Thorne was a titan in Chicago real estate. He was Vanessa’s father’s oldest friend. He always wore custom Italian suits, and his smile never reached his cold, slate-grey eyes.
Right now, that smile was completely gone.
Marcus slowly picked up his linen napkin and dabbed the corner of his mouth. He didn’t look at Ruth. He didn’t even look at Luca. He looked at Vanessa’s father, Arthur Bellini, who was suddenly sweating in his tuxedo.
“Luca, son,” Marcus said, his voice smooth and patronizing. “Let’s not ruin a beautiful evening with misunderstandings.”
Luca didn’t blink. “Explain the misunderstanding, Marcus. Why were you at my mother’s house yesterday?”
Marcus leaned back in his chair. “I was doing Arthur a favor. The Bellini family is merging their legacy with yours. That comes with certain… public relations requirements. We simply needed to clean up the paperwork regarding your youth.”
“Clean up?” Luca repeated. His voice was dangerously low.
I stood a few feet behind Ruth’s chair. I could see her frail shoulders trembling under her blue cardigan. She was gripping the edge of the mahogany table as if it were the only thing keeping her from collapsing.
Vanessa stepped forward, her red satin gown rustling. “Luca, please. Marcus was just trying to protect our brand. The press is going to dig into your past. Having an official adoption record tied to a… cafeteria worker… it complicates the narrative.”
Luca turned slowly to look at his fiancée.
“The narrative?” he asked softly.
Vanessa swallowed hard. “The story of our families coming together. Two dynasties. It’s what my father wants.”
“I don’t care what your father wants,” Luca said. The words cracked through the room like a whip. “I asked why this man threatened the woman who raised me.”
Marcus finally looked at Luca. The older man’s eyes were hard. “I didn’t threaten her. I offered her a generous compensation package to sign a non-disclosure agreement and annul the adoption. It was a business transaction.”
Ruth let out a broken sob. “You told me if I didn’t sign it, you would take away the house Luca bought me. You said you had friends in the zoning department.”
The guests gasped.
Luca’s hands curled into fists at his sides. The veins in his neck were visible. For a man who controlled half the city’s underground and legitimate shipping lanes, he rarely showed his temper. But right now, I saw the lethal edge that made other men fear him.
“You went to her home,” Luca said, his voice dropping to a terrifying whisper. “You stood in her living room. And you threatened to make her homeless.”
Marcus scoffed. “Luca, grow up. You’re playing at being a mobster with a heart of gold. I’m trying to secure a billion-dollar merger. She’s a loose end.”
Luca walked around the table. He didn’t rush. He moved with the terrifying, deliberate grace of a predator.
Arthur Bellini stood up, holding his hands out. “Luca, wait, he overstepped, I admit it—”
Luca ignored him. He reached Marcus’s chair, grabbed the back of it, and violently yanked it backward.
Marcus stumbled to his feet, his wineglass shattering on the marble floor.
“Get out,” Luca said.
Marcus straightened his jacket, his face flushing with humiliation. “You’re making a mistake, boy. You need my backing for the shipyard deal.”
“I said get out of my house,” Luca roared. The sound vibrated in my chest.
Several guests scrambled out of their chairs. Vanessa grabbed Luca’s arm, tears ruining her flawless makeup. “Luca, please! Don’t do this! You’re humiliating my family!”
Luca looked down at her hand on his arm. Then he looked at her face.
“You knew he went to see her,” Luca said. It wasn’t a question.
Vanessa’s silence was all the answer he needed.
“The wedding is on hold,” Luca said.
Vanessa stumbled back as if she’d been struck. “What?”
“Until I get to the bottom of this, nobody in your family is welcome in my home. All of you. Leave. Now.”
The room erupted into chaotic whispers. Arthur Bellini grabbed his wife’s arm and began dragging her toward the door. The caterers quickly backed into the kitchen.
Marcus Thorne didn’t run. He stood his ground for a moment, glaring at Luca.
“You think you’re so smart, Moretti,” Marcus sneered. “You think this old woman is a saint? You think she just coincidentally found you when you were nine?”
Luca stepped closer to him. “What are you talking about?”
Marcus smirked. “Ask her how she knew your birth mother. Ask her what really happened in 1997.”
Marcus turned on his heel and walked out, his expensive shoes crunching on the broken glass.
The dining room emptied in less than three minutes. The heavy oak front doors slammed shut, leaving a haunting silence behind.
Luca stood perfectly still. Then, very slowly, he turned to look at Ruth.
Ruth was pale. Her lips were blue. She was clutching her chest, gasping for air.
“Mrs. Ellis!” I shouted, rushing forward to catch her as she swayed.
Luca was there in a second, catching her in his strong arms. “Mom! Mom, look at me. Breathe.”
Ruth’s hands were shaking violently. As she clutched at the collar of her modest blue dress, something snapped.
A heavy, tarnished silver rosary spilled from beneath her collar, the broken chain falling onto the marble floor with a sharp clatter.
Luca stared at the cross. The breath left his lungs.
“He recognized it,” Ruth whispered, tears streaming down her wrinkled cheeks. “He knew it was hers.”
Luca picked up the rosary. His hands were trembling just as badly as hers.
May you like
“This was my mother’s,” Luca said, his voice breaking. “She was wearing it the night she died. How do you have this?”
TITLE: THE SECRET HIDDEN IN THE YELLOW LUNCHBOX
