Chapter 6 - THE CALL FROM THE DEAD
Luca couldn't speak.
The room seemed to tilt around him.
His father was dead.
He had buried him.
He had watched the coffin disappear beneath the earth.
He had spent twenty-eight years believing that the last words he heard from Rafael were spoken in a hospital corridor.
Yet the voice on the phone was his.
"Who is this?"
The man laughed quietly.
"You know who."
Luca tightened his grip on the phone.
"Where are you?"
"Not so fast."
"Where are you?"
"You sound exactly like me when you're angry."
"Stop playing games."
"I wish I could."
Luca looked at Isabella.
She had tears streaming down her face.
She wasn't surprised.
She had known.
All these years, she had known.
Luca whispered:
"You knew he was alive."
Isabella lowered her head.
Rafael's voice came through the phone.
"Your mother didn't betray you."
Luca's eyes hardened.
"Then why didn't she tell me?"
"Because I asked her not to."
"Why?"
"Because the men who came after me would have killed you."
Luca laughed bitterly.
"They already tried."
"I know."
"You sent Vivian?"
Silence.
Then:
"No."
"Then who did?"
"I don't know."
Luca frowned.
"You're telling me you don't know?"
"I know who started it."
"Who?"
"Someone inside my old organization."
Luca looked at the ledger.
"The council."
Rafael didn't answer.
That was confirmation enough.
"Why Vivian?"
"Because she is part of the truth."
Luca stared at the photograph.
"Who is she?"
"Your sister."
The world stopped.
Luca looked at Naomi.
She stared back.
"What?"
Rafael repeated:
"Vivian is your sister."
Luca's voice cracked.
"No."
"Your father had another child?"
"Yes."
"With whom?"
"Her mother was a woman named Elena."
Luca closed his eyes.
He remembered hearing the name once.
Only once.
His mother had destroyed an old photograph after hearing it.
He had assumed it was a forgotten family friend.
"Why did she come after Ma?"
"She didn't."
Luca opened his eyes.
"What?"
"Vivian was trying to stop them."
Luca stared at the phone.
"She was forcing my mother's fingerprint."
"To protect her."
"That makes no sense."
"It will."
Rafael's voice became weaker.
"Luca, listen carefully. You have very little time."
"Where are you?"
"I can't tell you."
"Then how do I find you?"
"Go to the old Saint Mary's chapel."
Luca knew it.
An abandoned chapel outside the city.
His father used to take him there as a child.
"Why?"
"Because beneath the altar is a room."
"What is inside?"
"The truth."
The call crackled.
"Wait."
Luca heard another voice in the background.
A woman.
Then a door.
Rafael whispered:
"They found me."
"Who?"
"Your—"
The call ended.
Luca immediately called back.
Disconnected.
His security chief entered.
"Boss."
Luca turned.
"We found Vivian."
"Where?"
"An abandoned warehouse."
"Alive?"
"Yes."
"Bring her here."
The man hesitated.
"Boss, there's something you need to know."
"What?"
"She was found with two dead men."
Luca's expression hardened.
"Who killed them?"
"We don't know."
Luca grabbed his coat.
"I'm going."
Naomi stepped forward.
"I'm coming."
"No."
"Your mother trusts me."
Luca looked at Isabella.
She nodded.
Naomi continued.
"She needs someone she knows."
Luca considered it.
"Fine."
They left.
The warehouse was silent when they arrived.
Vivian sat against a concrete wall.
Her hands were tied.
Blood covered her dress.
Luca approached.
She looked up.
"Luca."
He stopped.
"You knew my father."
Vivian stared at him.
Her face changed.
"Who told you?"
"He called me."
Vivian's eyes widened.
"He what?"
"He said you were my sister."
Vivian closed her eyes.
For several seconds, she didn't move.
Then she began crying.
"I never wanted this."
Luca's voice was cold.
"Did you attack my mother?"
"No."
"Did you force her to sign?"
"I was trying to stop someone else from doing it."
"Why?"
"Because if she signed, they could take everything."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Vivian looked at him.
"Would you have believed me?"
Luca didn't answer.
She smiled sadly.
"I tried."
"When?"
"The first month after I met you."
"What did you say?"
"I told you your father had secrets."
Luca remembered.
Vivian had mentioned Rafael once.
Luca had assumed she was simply curious.
"Why did you become my fiancée?"
"Because I was supposed to get close to you."
"By whom?"
"The man who raised me."
Luca's eyes narrowed.
"Who?"
Vivian whispered:
"Victor."
"Victor is dead."
"No."
She looked directly at him.
"He's alive."
Luca stared.
"Who is he?"
Vivian shook her head.
"You don't know him by that name."
"Then tell me his real name."
Vivian swallowed.
"Alexander Cole."
Luca froze.
"Your father?"
Vivian nodded.
"He's not my father."
She wiped her tears.
"He raised me after my mother died."
"And he is the man behind this?"
Vivian nodded.
"He killed Rafael's identity twenty-eight years ago. He made everyone believe your father died."
Luca stepped closer.
"Where is he?"
Vivian looked terrified.
"I don't know."
"You expect me to believe that?"
"He doesn't tell me anything."
"Then why did he send you?"
"Because he thought I hated you."
"Do you?"
Vivian shook her head.
"I hated what he told me."
"What did he tell you?"
"That Rafael abandoned my mother."
Luca said nothing.
"That your mother destroyed our family."
Vivian's voice broke.
"That you stole the life I should have had."
She looked at him.
"Then I met you."
"What changed?"
"You weren't the monster he described."
Luca looked away.
For the first time, Vivian seemed genuinely ashamed.
"I fell in love with you."
The silence was painful.
Then Luca asked:
"Who is Alexander Cole?"
Vivian's face went pale.
"The man who has been controlling the Moretti family for twenty-eight years."
A gunshot cracked outside.
Vivian ducked.
Luca pulled Naomi behind a concrete pillar.
His security team returned fire.
Then another bullet tore through the wall.
Vivian screamed.
Luca looked toward the doorway.
A figure stood outside.
A man in a gray coat.
He didn't shoot again.
He simply called out:
"Luca."
Luca froze.
The man's voice was familiar.
The figure stepped into the light.
Luca stared.
The face was older.
Scarred.
But he knew it.
The man standing there was the person he had mourned for twenty-eight years.
Rafael Moretti.
His father.
Rafael looked directly at him.
"I'm sorry, son."
Then he dropped to one knee.
Blood soaked his shirt.
May you like
And behind him, three black SUVs arrived at the warehouse.
The council had come.
