Chapter 11 - The Sins of the Father
I stared at the paper in my hand, the words blurring as the room spun.
Father: Vincenzo Moretti.
"Luca," I gasped, holding the paper out. "What is this?"
Luca turned, seeing the paper in my hand. The color drained from his face entirely. He took the paper, his eyes scanning the ink he had clearly never seen before.
"This... this makes no sense," Luca stammered. "Sam is your brother. Arthur is his father."
"He's ten years younger than me," I said, my voice rising in panic. "My mother always said he was a miracle baby. A surprise."
Luca looked at the dates. "Sam was born the year before my father 'died.' The year before Arthur was taken by the Bellinis."
We threw on clothes and ran downstairs. The house was quiet, save for the guards at the doors.
We found my father, Arthur, in the library, sitting by the fireplace with a book. He looked up, smiling when he saw us, but his smile faded when he saw Luca's expression.
Luca placed the birth certificate on the coffee table.
"Arthur," Luca said, his voice devoid of emotion. "Tell me this is a forgery."
My father looked at the paper. His hands began to shake. He didn't reach for it. He just stared at the fire, a profound sadness settling over his frail shoulders.
"It's not a forgery," Arthur whispered.
I felt like the floor had opened up beneath me. "Dad? What are you saying? Mom... Mom had an affair?"
Arthur closed his eyes. "Your mother was a beautiful woman, Emily. And I was always working. Always fixing Vincenzo's messes. Vincenzo was powerful. Charismatic. He gave her the attention I was too tired to give."
"My father slept with your wife," Luca said, his voice rising, a dangerous edge bleeding into his tone. "And you knew?"
"I found out when she got pregnant," Arthur said, a tear slipping down his weathered cheek. "I confronted Vincenzo. He begged for my forgiveness. He swore it was a mistake."
"And you stayed?" I cried. "You stayed and worked for him? You raised his son?"
"I stayed for you, Emily!" Arthur pleaded, looking at me. "If I left, Vincenzo would have taken Sam. He would have raised him in this life. In the mafia. I couldn't let my son—my boy—become a killer. So I forgave Vincenzo on one condition: Sam was mine. Vincenzo would never claim him."
Luca stepped back, running a hand through his hair. "That's why Carlo Bellini targeted you. It wasn't just about the accounts. Carlo found out about the affair. He used it to tear our families apart."
"And it's why I gave myself up to Carlo," Arthur said softly. "Carlo threatened to tell Teresa. He threatened to kill Sam. I went to the Bellinis to protect my son. To protect my wife."
The sacrifice was unbearable. This gentle accountant had spent twenty years in a dungeon to protect a child that wasn't even his by blood, just to save him from a life of violence.
"Does my mother know?" Luca asked, his voice cracking.
"Teresa?" A voice asked from the doorway.
We all turned. Vincenzo stood there, wearing a silk robe, looking older than he had hours ago. Teresa stood beside him, her face unreadable.
"I have known for nineteen years," Teresa said quietly.
Luca stared at his mother. "You knew he had a child with another woman?"
"I found out after Vincenzo went into hiding," Teresa said, stepping into the room. "I hated him for it. I hated Arthur's wife. But when she died... I saw you, Emily, struggling to pay for Sam's schooling. I saw Arthur's face in you, and Vincenzo's face in Sam. And I knew I had to protect you both."
Vincenzo looked at Arthur, the guilt of two decades hanging between them. "Arthur... I have spent every day of the last twenty years hating myself for what I did to you."
"You don't owe me an apology, Vincenzo," Arthur said quietly. "You owe Sam a better life than the one you built."
Vincenzo nodded slowly. He looked at Luca.
"The Commission meeting tomorrow," Vincenzo said, his voice hardening into the Don he used to be. "We aren't trading the binder for a truce."
Luca looked at his father. "Then what are we doing?"
"We are trading it to the FBI," Vincenzo said. "I am turning state's evidence on the entire New York Commission. I'm going to prison, Luca. For the rest of my life."
"Dad, no," Luca said, stepping forward.
May you like
"It's the only way," Vincenzo said firmly. "It's the only way to sever the head of the snake. If I take down the Commission, they can't come after you. They can't come after Emily. Or Sam."
Vincenzo looked at me. "It's the only way I can pay the debt I owe your family."
