Chapter 7 - The Partner Vittorio Never Named

Vittorio refused to speak.

For eleven hours.

Luca did not threaten him.

That made Belini nervous.

Emma understood why.

Luca did not need noise when silence did more.

They moved everyone to a Moretti villa outside Noto.

Vittorio stayed under guard.

Marianne slept for the first time in two days.

Ferrante catalogued the archive.

Emma sat on a terrace overlooking the sea and tried not to think about owning anything worth killing for.

Luca joined her.

No jacket.

No tie.

Still dangerous.

“You should sleep.”

“So should you.”

“I asked first.”

“That is not how sleep works.”

A faint smile touched his mouth.

Then disappeared.

Emma looked toward the dark water.

“Did you believe your father was a good man?”

Luca took too long.

“I believed he was my father.”

“That wasn’t my question.”

“No.”

He sat beside her.

“I knew what he was capable of. I didn’t know what he regretted.”

Emma understood that more than she wanted to.

“My mother lied to me for twelve years.”

“To keep you alive.”

“That doesn’t make it hurt less.”

“No.”

For a while, neither spoke.

Then Marco arrived with a folder.

“Found the missing partner.”

Luca stood.

“Name?”

Marco looked toward Emma first.

That was becoming a habit she hated.

“Judge Evelyn Harper.”

Emma stared.

“The invitation.”

“Yes.”

Luca’s face hardened.

“Explain.”

Marco opened the file.

Evelyn Harper had once been legal counsel for Antonio Moretti.

Later a judge.

Later the person who certified Daniel Carter’s death records.

Emma felt sick.

“She sent me to the gala.”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

Marco handed Luca a second page.

“Because Vittorio paid her for years.”

Belini entered from the terrace doors.

“No.”

Everyone turned.

She looked at the document.

“My father hated Harper.”

Marco shook his head.

“He paid her through intermediaries.”

Luca read the transfers.

“Then why send Emma to me?”

Marianne appeared behind them.

“Because Evelyn changed sides.”

Emma turned.

“You knew?”

“I suspected.”

Marianne sat.

“Antonio trusted her once. Vittorio corrupted her later. But guilt makes unreliable servants.”

Marco placed another item on the table.

A voicemail recovered from Harper’s private phone.

They played it.

Her voice was weak.

If Emma reaches Moretti, tell her I am sorry. Vittorio knows Marianne survived. The archive cannot stay hidden anymore.

Emma gripped the chair.

Luca asked, “Where is Harper now?”

Marco’s expression darkened.

“Dead.”

“When?”

“Two hours after the gala.”

Emma closed her eyes.

Natural causes would have been too easy.

“Officially?” Luca asked.

“Stroke.”

“Actually?”

“Unknown.”

Belini looked toward the villa interior where her father was held.

“He had her killed.”

Marianne’s expression said maybe.

Luca noticed.

“What?”

Marianne looked at him.

“Vittorio could not have arranged Harper’s death after the gala. He was trapped in the hotel.”

Marco nodded.

“So the partner is still active.”

Emma looked at the payment list.

Then saw one familiar name.

Dario Crane.

She frowned.

“Crane.”

Silas Crane.

The photographer.

Marco followed her gaze.

“Same family.”

Luca’s eyes sharpened.

Silas had claimed Marianne hired him.

Maybe that was true.

Maybe not.

They brought Silas in.

He sat across from them, wrists restrained, looking tired rather than frightened.

Luca placed Dario’s name on the table.

“Relationship?”

“My brother.”

“Who does he work for?”

Silas smiled without humor.

“You finally asked the right question.”

Emma leaned forward.

“Who?”

Silas looked at her.

“Your grandfather’s second apprentice.”

Ferrante went still.

Marianne whispered, “There was no second apprentice.”

Silas nodded.

“That is what he wanted you to think.”

Luca’s voice lowered.

“Name.”

Silas looked toward the dark window.

“Father Tomas Reed.”

Emma’s heart stopped.

“My grandfather had a brother?”

Marianne stood so fast the chair fell behind her.

“No.”

Silas looked at her.

“Yes.”

Marianne’s face emptied.

“He died in 1989.”

“No.”

Silas smiled sadly.

“He took a vow.”

Emma stared.

“Where is he?”

Silas answered.

“In Rome.”

Luca already had his phone out.

Silas added one more thing.

“And he is the reason Vittorio never needed the Keeper.”

Everyone looked at him.

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Silas nodded toward Emma.

“He already had one.”