Chapter 4 - The Face In The Rain
The room went dead silent.
Luca slowly stood up.
“My father?” he asked, his voice hollow. “My father drove the truck?”
My mother blinked, the momentary clarity already fading from her eyes.
“So much rain,” she mumbled, looking away. “The poor girl. She just wanted to protect the boy.”
Luca grabbed the edge of the hospital bed.
“What boy? Mom, look at me. What boy?”
But she was gone. She hummed a soft, tuneless song and closed her eyes.
I put my hand on Luca’s shoulder.
“We can't push her. Once the fog rolls in, she’s gone.”
Luca walked out into the sterile hallway.
I followed him.
He leaned against the wall, rubbing his face.
“My father killed her. He ran her off the road because she knew about his affair with Vanessa.”
“Wait,” I said, my mind racing. “If Vanessa was having an affair with your father thirteen years ago... why is she marrying you now?”
Luca looked at me.
The realization hit him like a physical blow.
“Because my father’s will,” Luca whispered. “He left fifty percent of the Moretti estate to me. And the other fifty percent in a blind trust for an unnamed beneficiary.”
“And she’s trying to get your half.”
“No,” Luca said, his eyes darkening. “She already has my father’s half. She’s marrying me to control the whole board.”
He pulled his phone from his pocket.
“I need to talk to Frank again. He knows more than he’s saying.”
He dialed the security desk at the mansion.
Daniel answered.
“Sir, where are you? Miss Bellini is looking everywhere.”
“Daniel, go to the pantry. Put Frank Delaney on the phone.”
A pause.
“Sir... Frank isn't here.”
Luca stiffened. “What do you mean he isn't there? I told him to wait.”
“The pantry doors were unlocked when I checked five minutes ago,” Daniel said. “Frank is gone. But sir... he left something on the counter for you.”
“What?”
“It’s a blue velvet box. It looks like a child’s rosary.”
Luca closed his eyes.
“Don't touch it, Daniel. Lock the room.”
He hung up and looked at me.
“It’s not a child’s rosary,” Luca said softly. “It’s my baby brother’s.”
I stared at him. “You don't have a brother.”
“I had one,” Luca corrected. “He died in childbirth thirty years ago. My father buried him with that rosary.”
My heart hammered in my chest.
“If it was buried... how does Frank have it?”
May you like
Luca’s expression turned to ice.
“Because Frank didn't just drive my father. He buried his secrets. And we need to find him before Vanessa does.”
