Chapter 6 - Vittorio Walked Back Into the House

Vittorio arrived at dawn.

No escort.

No convoy.

One black car.

One old man.

Silver hair.

Black coat.

Moretti ring.

Luca met him in the foyer.

Caterina stood ten feet away.

She did not move toward her husband.

Vittorio looked at her first.

“You look well.”

Caterina answered:

“You look alive.”

Then he looked at Luca.

“My son.”

Luca did not answer.

Vittorio noticed Lily in Emma’s arms.

His expression changed.

Not enough.

Emma hated him immediately.

Luca saw.

Good.

He trusted Emma’s first reactions more than most men’s sworn testimony.

“Start,” Luca said.

Vittorio did.

Antonio had spent fifteen years moving money through Moretti charities, clinics, and political foundations.

Belini’s father helped.

When Caterina discovered it, Vittorio staged her death.

Years later, Belini inherited her father’s accounts.

She learned what he had done.

Instead of exposing Antonio, she used the information.

Belini looked at Vittorio.

“I was twenty-two.”

“You were old enough to blackmail him.”

“Yes.”

Antonio smiled from his chair.

“She learned quickly.”

Luca ignored him.

“And Lily?”

Vittorio looked at Emma.

“I knew Emma was pregnant before Luca did.”

“How?”

“Antonio had the clinic watched.”

Emma’s face hardened.

“So you followed me.”

“I protected you.”

“No.”

Her voice was sharp.

“You watched me.”

Vittorio accepted the correction.

“When Lily was born, Antonio wanted the child taken.”

“Why?”

Vittorio looked at Luca.

“Because your daughter changed succession.”

Luca frowned.

“She was an infant.”

“The family trust was written before you were born. First direct descendant controls a dormant voting block after age twenty-five.”

Belini whispered:

“Eight percent.”

Luca looked at her.

She knew.

Of course she knew.

Vittorio continued.

“If Lily lived, nobody marrying Luca could inherit that block through him.”

Emma understood.

Belini’s engagement suddenly looked different.

Not romance.

Access.

Leverage.

Timing.

Luca asked:

“Did Belini know Lily was mine?”

Vittorio answered.

“Yes.”

Belini stood.

“I knew after she was born.”

Emma turned.

“You told me Luca wanted nothing to do with her.”

Belini’s face tightened.

“I was told he would marry me.”

“That is your defense?”

“No.”

For once, Belini did not pretend.

“It is the reason.”

Caterina looked disgusted.

Vittorio continued.

“I ordered the false stillbirth record. I moved Emma’s file. I arranged the nurse’s silence.”

Emma stared at him.

“And then?”

“I told Caterina to get you out.”

Emma looked at Caterina.

“You?”

Caterina nodded.

“I moved you to the apartment where you lived after Lily was born.”

Emma’s memory shifted.

New landlord.

Cash rent.

No questions.

A job offer at a hotel.

All of it.

Moretti.

“You controlled my life.”

“We kept Antonio away.”

Emma shook her head.

“You keep calling control protection.”

Luca looked at his father.

The sentence landed.

Vittorio looked older.

“I know.”

Marco entered.

“Boss.”

“What?”

“We found the security leak.”

Everyone turned.

Marco’s face was pale.

“It’s not one of my men.”

“Who?”

Marco looked at Caterina.

“Her.”

Caterina went still.

Luca stared.

Marco held up a device.

“This transmitter has been sending the house security feed for three months.”

Emma’s stomach dropped.

Caterina whispered:

“I did not put that there.”

Antonio laughed.

And suddenly Luca understood.

The transmitter had been found in Caterina’s coat.

The same coat she had worn into the house.

Someone had planted it.

Someone who expected them to find it.

Luca looked toward Antonio.

He was no longer smiling.

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Because Luca was not looking at Caterina anymore.

He was looking at Belini.