Chapter 8 - The Two Brothers Who Refused to Stay Dead

They found Marco Moretti that night.

Not hiding well.

A private apartment under his own middle name.

He agreed to a video call.

Luca wanted answers first.

Marco appeared on the screen.

Sixty-five.

Thin.

Gray beard.

Oxygen line beneath his nose.

Luca stared.

"My uncle."

Marco smiled weakly.

"Still."

Carlo stood beside the table.

His biological father.

The man he had not seen in years.

Marco looked at him.

"Gabriel."

Carlo's face hardened.

"Carlo."

Marco nodded.

"Right."

Luca asked:

"Where is my father?"

Marco's eyes changed.

"Alive."

Silence.

"Where?"

"Milwaukee."

Vanessa whispered:

"That close?"

Marco nodded.

Luca stared.

"Why?"

"Because he came back three years ago."

Richard closed his eyes.

Luca noticed.

"You knew."

Richard whispered:

"Yes."

Vanessa looked at him.

"Dad."

Luca ignored her.

"Why didn't Salvatore contact me?"

Marco answered:

"He did."

Luca's face hardened.

"No."

"He sent letters."

Richard looked away.

Luca turned.

"How many?"

Richard whispered:

"Three."

Vanessa started crying.

Luca stared.

"You intercepted three letters from my father."

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because Salvatore wanted you to stop the Crane acquisition."

Luca laughed in disbelief.

"So you kept him dead until I signed."

Richard said nothing.

Carlo whispered:

"That's why I tried to steal the contract."

Luca looked at him.

"You knew Salvatore was alive."

"Two weeks."

Vanessa stared at Carlo.

"You didn't tell me."

He looked ashamed.

"I was trying to fix it first."

She laughed through tears.

"You sound like Dad."

That silenced him.

Luca looked back at Marco.

"Why did you poison my father?"

Marco's face changed.

"I did."

"No excuse?"

"No."

"Why?"

"I wanted control."

Luca waited.

Marco continued:

"I thought Salvatore would destroy everything we built."

"So you tried to kill him."

"Yes."

"And your son helped."

Marco looked at Carlo.

"I lied to him."

"Still helped."

"Yes."

Carlo looked away.

Luca asked:

"Did you regret it?"

Marco nodded.

"Too late."

"When?"

"The moment I realized he survived."

Luca laughed.

"Convenient."

Marco accepted it.

"Yes."

Then Luca asked:

"Why did you disappear five years ago?"

"Because Salvatore found me."

"Did he try to kill you?"

"No."

"What did he do?"

Marco smiled sadly.

"He forgave me."

Silence.

Luca stared.

"That is why you ran?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because I didn't know what to do with it."

Marco continued:

"He told me to testify against Carlo's shell network."

"I refused."

"Then I got sick."

Luca looked at the oxygen line.

"Cancer?"

"Pulmonary fibrosis."

Luca asked:

"Where exactly is my father?"

Marco gave an address.

Small house.

Milwaukee suburb.

Luca looked at Richard.

"You kept that from me."

Richard nodded.

"Yes."

Luca asked:

"Why is he there?"

Marco answered:

"Because he was waiting for tonight."

Luca frowned.

"What happens tonight?"

Marco looked at the clock.

"Midnight."

"What at midnight?"

"The old shareholder agreement expires."

Silence.

Richard went pale.

Luca saw.

Marco continued:

"If you do not claim the shares before midnight, they revert to the trust."

Vanessa's face changed.

"Which trust?"

Marco looked at her.

"Yours."

Luca laughed softly.

Everything.

Every lie.

Every hidden letter.

All aimed at one deadline.

He looked at Dominic.

"What time?"

"Eleven sixteen."

Forty-four minutes.

Luca stood.

Richard stepped forward.

"You need the papers."

Luca looked at him.

"No."

"You need to claim the shares."

"No."

Richard stared.

"If you don't, Vanessa's trust gains control."

Luca looked at his fiancée.

She shook her head immediately.

"I don't want it."

Richard said:

"That doesn't matter legally."

Luca turned.

"Then we make it matter."

He looked at Vanessa.

"Will you sign them back?"

"Yes."

"No conditions?"

"None."

"Even if we do not marry?"

Her face broke.

"Yes."

That answer mattered.

Luca looked at Richard.

"Prepare the transfer."

Then at Carlo.

"You."

Carlo looked up.

"You're coming with me."

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"Where?"

"To my father."