Chapter 10 - THE POCKET WATCH
Luca stared at the heavy gold pocket watch resting in the velvet box.
It was an exquisite piece of craftsmanship, the casing etched with intricate floral patterns.
“Whose is this?” Luca asked, looking up at Margaret.
“It belonged to your father,” Margaret replied softly. “But Isabella kept it hidden after he passed away.”
Luca frowned. He knew his father’s belongings intimately. He had inherited his watches, his cufflinks, his entire wardrobe. He had never seen this piece.
He lifted the watch from the box. It was surprisingly heavy.
He pressed the latch, and the gold cover popped open.
The clock face was pristine, the hands frozen precisely at 3:15.
But it was the inscription on the inside of the cover that caught his attention.
To the man who saved my life. — Isabella.
Luca ran his thumb over the engraved letters. “Saved her life? When did my father save her life?”
Margaret looked away, her expression guarded.
“You should ask Elizabeth.”
Luca felt a prickle of unease. He closed the watch and walked across the ballroom to where Elizabeth was sitting with Madison and Leo.
“Mrs. Reed,” Luca said gently, pulling up a chair beside her wheelchair. “Margaret gave me this.”
He handed her the pocket watch.
Elizabeth took it, her hands trembling slightly as she recognized the gold casing. A sad, nostalgic smile touched her lips.
“I haven't seen this in thirty years.”
“Margaret said my father saved my mother’s life,” Luca said. “But the inscription... my mother never spoke to my father like that. Their marriage was arranged. It was business.”
Elizabeth sighed, tracing the floral etching.
“That’s because Isabella didn't give this watch to your father, Luca.”
Madison stopped playing with Leo and looked up, instantly sensing the shift in the room’s energy.
“What do you mean?” Madison asked.
Elizabeth looked at the two siblings.
“Before Isabella was forced to marry your father, she was in love with someone else. A young, brilliant doctor who worked at the free clinic in Little Italy.”
Luca went perfectly still.
“His name was Thomas Reed,” Elizabeth said quietly.
Madison gasped. “My father?”
Elizabeth nodded, tears filling her eyes. “Thomas was the love of Isabella’s life. When the rival families put a hit out on her to stop the Moretti marriage, Thomas threw himself in front of the bullets. He saved her. But he was paralyzed from the waist down.”
The room fell dead silent.
“Isabella was forced to marry Moretti to stop the war,” Elizabeth continued, her voice breaking. “But she never stopped loving Thomas. And when she discovered she was pregnant with Madison... she knew she couldn't let Moretti raise the child of the man she truly loved.”
Luca stared at Elizabeth, his mind struggling to comprehend the magnitude of the secret.
“Wait,” Luca said, his heart pounding. “If Madison is Thomas’s daughter... and I am Moretti’s son...”
Elizabeth looked at him with profound sadness.
“You are half-siblings, Luca. You share a mother. But Madison was born of love. You were born of duty.”
Madison covered her mouth, sobbing silently.
She hadn't just been given away to protect her from the mob. She had been given away to protect her from the man who was legally her father—a man who would have killed her if he knew she wasn't his.
Luca stood up, walking toward the large bay windows overlooking the gardens.
He had spent his entire life trying to live up to the ruthless legacy of the Moretti name. He had built walls, locked away his emotions, and nearly married a monster just to maintain the empire.
But his mother’s true legacy wasn't the mafia.
It was love. It was sacrifice.
He turned back to Madison, who was clutching the pocket watch to her chest.
“Does Thomas know?” Luca asked quietly.
Elizabeth shook her head. “Thomas passed away ten years ago. He never knew Isabella had his child. He died believing she simply moved on.”
Madison closed her eyes, the weight of the tragedy settling over her.
But Luca wasn't finished.
He walked over to the velvet box Margaret had given him. He picked it up and examined the bottom.
He pressed his thumb against the velvet lining, and a false bottom popped loose.
Inside was a small, folded piece of thick parchment.
May you like
It was a deed.
“There’s one more thing,” Luca said, unfolding the paper.
