Chapter 12 - THE REAL FATHERThe man standing beside Victor looked nothing like Luca.
Tall.
Dark hair.
A scar across his throat.
Eyes that carried something painfully familiar.
Elena stared at him.
“Who are you?”
The man looked at her.
“Your mother called me Rafael.”
Luca felt the world tilt.
“Rafael what?”
“Rafael Russo.”
Marco's eyes widened.
“Gabriel?”
Rafael shook his head.
“Gabriel was my brother.”
Elena stopped breathing.
“My father?”
“Your uncle.”
“Then where is Gabriel?”
Rafael looked toward Victor.
Victor answered.
“Dead.”
Elena's face crumpled.
“Then why did everyone keep pretending he was alive?”
“Because your grandfather used his identity for years.”
Rafael looked at Luca.
“And because I was supposed to die with him.”
Luca stepped forward.
“Are you my father?”
Rafael nodded.
“Yes.”
Silence.
Luca stared at him.
Every memory of Victor suddenly felt unstable.
The man who raised him.
The man who taught him to shoot.
The man who taught him never to trust anyone.
Had never been his biological father.
Victor looked at Luca.
“I loved you like my son.”
Luca's voice cracked.
“But I wasn't.”
“No.”
“Did you know?”
“From the day you were born.”
Luca laughed bitterly.
“Then why?”
“Because Rafael couldn't protect you.”
Rafael looked down.
“Your grandfather would have killed you both.”
“So Victor took me.”
“Yes.”
“And Elena?”
“We hid her.”
Luca looked at her.
“We spent our whole lives being hidden.”
“Yes.”
The truth was finally complete.
Or so Luca thought.
Then Rafael took something from his coat.
A ring.
The Valenti crest.
But there was no family symbol inside.
Instead, a tiny engraving:
BELLINI TRUST ORIGINAL BENEFICIARY.
He handed it to Luca.
“Your grandfather never owned the trust.”
“Then who did?”
Rafael looked at Elena.
“Your mother.”
Elena stared.
“She created it?”
“No.”
“She inherited it.”
“When?”
“When the previous Bellini family died.”
Luca frowned.
“Then why did your grandfather control it?”
“Because he murdered the trustees.”
A silence.
Rafael continued.
“Your mother discovered the truth.”
“She tried to expose him.”
“He hunted her.”
“And Victor protected her.”
“Yes.”
“But she still died.”
Rafael nodded.
“Because Isabella found her.”
Luca looked at Victor.
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“And you let Isabella live.”
Victor lowered his eyes.
“I needed her.”
“For what?”
“To find your grandfather.”
The patriarch's voice suddenly came through the intercom.
“You're wasting your time.”
Everyone looked up.
“This family always destroys itself.”
The garage doors began closing.
Rafael moved.
“Run.”
They escaped through a narrow tunnel.
At the end was Room 318.
A small chamber.
Inside was a single desk.
On it lay a sealed letter.
Elena opened it.
Her mother's handwriting.
My children,
If you are reading this, you have survived the first test.
Luca stared.
“First?”
Elena continued.
Your grandfather will tell you that only one of you can inherit the trust.
That is a lie.
Her hand trembled.
The trust was created to protect the powerless.
Your grandfather corrupted it.
He turned a shield into a weapon.
The next page read:
The original trust has one final clause.
Luca turned the page.
If the two blood heirs unite voluntarily, all controlling rights transfer to them.
Elena looked at Luca.
“Then we can stop him.”
“Why did no one do it before?”
“Because the two heirs could never trust each other.”
Rafael nodded.
“That was the entire point.”
A sound echoed from the corridor.
Footsteps.
Slow.
Measured.
Someone was coming.
Victor grabbed his gun.
“It's him.”
Luca looked toward the door.
“Grandfather?”
Victor nodded.
The steel door opened.
An old man entered in a wheelchair.
The patriarch.
He looked at the four of them.
Then smiled.
“You finally understand the game.”
Luca raised his weapon.
“It's over.”
The old man laughed.
“No.”
He looked at Elena.
“Ask your brother what your mother asked him to do.”
Luca turned.
Elena's face changed.
“What is he talking about?”
Rafael's expression became tense.
The patriarch smiled.
“Ask him why he never told you…”
He leaned forward.
“…that your mother gave him an order.”
Elena looked at Rafael.
“What order?”
Rafael closed his eyes.
May you like
The old man answered for him.
“To kill Luca.”
