Chapter 3 - The Woman From His Father’s PastThe warehouse looked abandoned.
It wasn't.
Luca knew that before he stepped through the door.
The silence was wrong.
Too clean.
Too deliberate.
He raised one hand.
Every member of his team stopped.
“Snipers,” he whispered.
Marco looked upward.
“Where?”
“Everywhere.”
Then the lights came on.
One by one.
A hundred dim bulbs illuminating the warehouse floor.
At the center sat Rachel.
Her hands were tied.
Her face was bruised.
But she was conscious.
“Luca!”
His entire body went rigid.
He hadn't heard her voice say his name in years.
Rachel looked at him.
And for one heartbreaking second, all the hatred in her eyes disappeared.
Then she saw the blood on his shirt.
“You came.”
“Where is Emma?”
“She took her.”
“Who?”
Rachel swallowed.
“Isabella.”
Luca looked around.
“You knew her?”
Rachel's expression broke.
“Yes.”
That one word changed everything.
“What aren't you telling me?”
Rachel looked down.
“She found me six months before Emma was born.”
“What did she want?”
“You.”
Luca walked closer.
“Why?”
Rachel's lips trembled.
“Because she said your father stole something from her.”
“What?”
“I don't know.”
“Rachel.”
“I swear.”
Luca stopped.
“Then why didn't you tell me?”
“Because you were dying.”
He froze.
“What?”
Rachel's eyes filled with tears.
“You weren't the only one who knew about your heart.”
Luca stared at her.
She continued.
“Your father had records.”
“What records?”
“Medical records. Genetic testing. He knew this disease ran in the family.”
Luca's blood ran cold.
“My father knew?”
Rachel nodded.
“He knew you could inherit it.”
“Why didn't he tell me?”
Rachel looked away.
“Because he was afraid.”
Luca's voice became dangerous.
“Of what?”
Rachel whispered,
“That you would become like him.”
Silence.
Then a slow clap echoed through the warehouse.
Isabella emerged from the shadows.
Emma was beside her.
Alive.
Safe.
Holding her rabbit.
“Bravo,” Isabella said.
Luca's eyes locked onto his daughter.
Emma looked at him.
She didn't know him.
But something in her face changed.
Like she recognized him from somewhere she couldn't explain.
“Daddy?”
Luca couldn't breathe.
The word struck him harder than any bullet.
He took one step.
Isabella raised a gun.
“Another step and she dies.”
Luca froze.
Emma looked frightened.
“Daddy?”
Luca swallowed.
“It's okay.”
His voice shook.
Emma stared at him.
“You're Daddy?”
“Yes.”
The word almost broke him.
“Yes, sweetheart.”
Isabella smiled.
“So sentimental.”
Luca glared at her.
“Let her go.”
“No.”
“What do you want?”
“Your father's vault.”
Luca frowned.
“My father had no vault.”
“He did.”
“I searched every property he owned.”
“Of course you did.”
Isabella pointed the gun at Emma.
“He wanted you to search the obvious places.”
Luca's jaw tightened.
“What was inside?”
Isabella smiled.
“The truth.”
Rachel suddenly screamed.
“No!”
Everyone looked at her.
Rachel was shaking.
“Don't open it.”
Luca turned.
“You know what's inside.”
Rachel's voice broke.
“Yes.”
“What?”
She looked at Emma.
Then at Luca.
“A record.”
“Of what?”
Rachel whispered the words.
“Your father had another child.”
Luca went still.
Another child.
Isabella's smile widened.
“And that child is alive.”
The warehouse seemed to shrink.
Luca looked at Rachel.
“Who?”
Rachel couldn't answer.
Isabella did.
“Your brother.”
Marco instinctively reached for his gun.
“That's impossible.”
Isabella laughed.
“Your father hid him because the boy was the only person who could inherit the Bellini empire legally.”
Luca's face hardened.
“You're lying.”
“I brought proof.”
She held up an old photograph.
A boy.
Maybe ten years old.
Standing beside Luca's father.
The same dark eyes.
The same sharp jaw.
The same blood.
Luca stared.
Then Isabella spoke.
“And he has been looking for Emma.”
A gunshot exploded.
The photograph fell.
The lights went out.
Emma screamed.
When the lights returned, Isabella was gone.
So was Emma.
May you like
And on the floor, beside Luca's foot, lay a single note.
ASK YOUR MOTHER WHAT SHE DID TO YOUR BROTHER.
