Chapter 4 - THE SECRET IN THE SAFE
Elena didn't sleep.
At four in the morning, she was still sitting at the kitchen table.
The note lay in front of her.
ASK ABOUT LUCAS.
She read it again.
And again.
At sunrise, she called the number on Sofia's card.
No answer.
She called again.
Nothing.
At seven-thirty, someone knocked on her apartment door.
Elena froze.
She looked through the peephole.
Marco Bellini stood outside.
Alone.
She opened the door only a few inches.
"You came early."
"I didn't sleep."
"Neither did I."
His eyes dropped to the chain on the door.
"I need to talk to you."
"About the key?"
"About everything."
Elena didn't move.
Marco lowered his voice.
"My mother told me you received a note."
Elena's heart stopped.
"What note?"
"Don't lie to me."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
Marco stared at her.
Then his expression changed.
Not anger.
Recognition.
"You know Lucas."
Elena's fingers tightened around the door.
"How do you know that name?"
Marco didn't answer.
Instead, he said:
"Because my father knew him."
Elena opened the door.
"What?"
Marco stepped inside.
He looked around the tiny apartment.
A secondhand sofa.
A small kitchen.
Children's drawings taped to the refrigerator.
Mia's pink backpack on a chair.
There was nothing luxurious.
Nothing dangerous.
Nothing that explained why his mother's key had ended up there.
Marco noticed a framed photograph.
A younger Elena stood beside a young man.
Marco walked toward it.
He stopped.
The man in the photograph had dark hair.
A sharp jaw.
A familiar scar above his eyebrow.
Marco knew that face.
His brother.
Lucas Bellini.
Elena saw his expression.
"Who is he?"
Marco slowly looked at her.
"My brother."
Elena felt the room tilt.
"No."
"You knew him."
"I knew a man named Lucas."
"My brother."
"He told me his name was Lucas."
Marco's voice was barely audible.
"How long?"
"Six months."
"Five years ago?"
"Yes."
"Did he tell you he was married?"
"No."
"Did he tell you he had a family?"
"No."
"Did he tell you who he really was?"
"No."
Marco stared at the photograph.
"What happened?"
Elena's eyes filled with tears.
"He disappeared."
"When?"
"Three days before Mia was born."
Marco looked at her.
"Was Mia his daughter?"
Elena didn't answer.
She didn't have to.
The silence said everything.
Marco stepped backward.
"Why didn't you contact us?"
"I didn't know who you were."
"How?"
"Lucas told me his family was dangerous."
Marco's face tightened.
"He was right."
Elena looked at him.
"Is he alive?"
Marco said nothing.
"Is he?"
"I don't know."
Elena's knees weakened.
She grabbed the back of a chair.
"Someone told me he died."
"Who?"
"I don't know."
"Who told you?"
"A man."
"What man?"
"He came to my apartment after Lucas disappeared."
Marco's eyes hardened.
"What did he say?"
"He said Lucas was dead. He said if I asked questions, Mia would disappear too."
Marco went completely still.
Then his phone rang.
Daniel.
Marco answered.
"What?"
Daniel spoke rapidly.
Marco's expression changed.
"Send it to me."
He hung up.
"What?"
Marco looked at Elena.
"We found something."
He showed her his phone.
A photograph.
A warehouse.
An old security camera image.
A man carrying a box.
The timestamp was five years old.
Elena leaned closer.
Her heart stopped.
"That's Lucas."
Marco nodded.
"Taken three weeks after the night you were told he died."
Elena covered her mouth.
"He's alive."
"Maybe."
"What does that mean?"
"It means someone wanted both of us to believe he was dead."
Suddenly, Mia's bedroom door opened.
She appeared holding her stuffed rabbit.
"Mommy?"
Elena wiped her tears.
"Come here, sweetheart."
Mia walked toward her.
Marco crouched down.
"Hi, Mia."
Mia stared at him.
"You're the scary man."
Marco almost smiled.
"That's what your mother says?"
"No."
Mia looked at Elena.
"You look scared."
Marco glanced at Elena.
Mia looked back at him.
"Are you my daddy's friend?"
The room went silent.
Marco's eyes widened.
Elena whispered:
"Why would you ask that?"
Mia shrugged.
"Because Miss Sofia said I have Bellini eyes."
Marco stood slowly.
Bellini eyes.
His mother's words from the previous night suddenly made sense.
He stared at the child.
Dark curls.
Brown eyes.
The scar-shaped birthmark near her left shoulder that was visible beneath her pajama collar.
His brother had the same mark.
Marco's phone rang again.
Daniel.
This time his voice was urgent.
"Marco."
"What?"
"We opened your father's old safe."
"And?"
"There was a photograph inside."
"Of Lucas?"
"No."
Daniel hesitated.
"Of Elena."
Marco's blood ran cold.
"Send it."
A photograph arrived.
It showed Elena five years earlier.
Standing beside Lucas.
But they weren't alone.
Behind them stood Sofia.
And beside Sofia...
was Marco's father.
Alive.
The date on the photograph was three months after the official date of his father's death.
Marco stared at the image.
Then whispered:
"My father didn't die when we were told."
Elena looked at him.
"What?"
May you like
Marco's face became expressionless.
"My family has been lying to me."
