Chapter 7 - The Mother Behind the Lie
"She didn't do this," Luca said.
Sofia studied the photograph.
"How do you know?"
"Because she wouldn't call me son."
Sofia frowned.
"What?"
"My mother calls me Luchino when we're alone."
The message was wrong.
Someone wanted Luca to believe Isabella had betrayed him.
Again, appearances.
Again, manipulation.
"Adrian," Sofia said.
"Probably."
They returned to headquarters through a private entrance.
Matteo was gone.
So was Isabella.
Security footage had been erased.
But Sofia noticed something on Luca's desk.
A book.
She hadn't left it there.
Luca hadn't either.
The Count of Monte Cristo.
The battered copy from his penthouse.
Inside, one sentence had been underlined.
WAIT AND HOPE.
Luca stared.
"My mother."
"Message?"
"Yes."
Sofia turned pages.
Another mark.
Page 214.
Bank box number.
She checked the corresponding line.
A location was circled in pencil.
Pier 17.
They went with trusted security.
No Isabella.
No Matteo.
Only a phone sitting on a bench.
It rang.
Luca answered.
Adrian.
"Come to the old Bellucci warehouse."
"You keep repeating yourself."
"This time I'm holding your mother and your lieutenant."
Luca's jaw tightened.
"And if I don't?"
"Then Sofia loses two more people because they stood too close to you."
Sofia saw the hit land.
Adrian knew Luca's deepest fear.
Everyone he loved became a target.
The call ended.
Luca turned away.
"You're staying here."
"No."
"Sofia."
"You know how this conversation ends."
"This isn't the same."
"It is exactly the same."
He faced her.
"If something happens to you—"
She stepped closer.
"Then we'll face it together."
"You don't understand."
"I understand perfectly. Adrian has spent years isolating people with fear. Your father sent your mother away. My father disappeared. Everyone lied to protect everyone else, and Adrian benefited from every separation."
Luca stared.
Sofia took his hand.
"We stop doing that."
The old Bellucci warehouse had once belonged to Antonio.
Inside, Adrian waited.
Isabella and Matteo were tied to chairs.
Matteo looked irritated more than frightened.
"You took your time."
Adrian struck him.
"Don't touch him," Luca said.
Adrian smiled.
"You brought Sofia."
"She brought herself," Luca replied.
Sofia almost smiled.
Progress.
Adrian wanted the storage card.
Luca handed it over.
Adrian inserted it into a laptop.
"Encrypted."
"Of course."
"Password?"
Luca looked at Sofia.
Adrian followed his gaze.
"Ah."
Sofia understood.
He thought she knew it.
She didn't.
But she knew Carlo.
Libraries never forget.
"What happens after I give it to you?"
"You leave."
"Liar."
Adrian smiled.
"Smart girl."
Sofia walked closer to the laptop.
"Sofia," Luca warned.
She ignored him.
"What did you do to Antonio?"
Adrian's smile faded.
"Your curiosity really is a problem."
"What did you do?"
"He became sentimental."
"About his family?"
"About legitimacy. He wanted to turn Luca into something respectable."
Luca said nothing.
Adrian laughed.
"Imagine that. Antonio Bellucci suddenly pretending decades of blood could be washed away with libraries and charities."
Sofia looked at the laptop.
A recording icon blinked.
Matteo's eyes shifted toward it.
He'd activated something before being tied.
Sofia understood.
Keep him talking.
"So you killed him."
"I corrected his mistake."
Luca's face became stone.
"And Carlo?"
"Another sentimental old fool."
"And my father?"
"Marco was supposed to die."
Sofia felt cold.
"But he escaped."
"Because Antonio warned him."
Adrian stepped closer.
"Your families kept surviving. Very inconvenient."
Sofia saw Luca's hand tighten.
Don't.
She looked at him.
Wait.
Adrian continued.
"I built half Luca's empire while he was still grieving."
"No," Luca said.
"You stole from it."
Adrian smiled.
"Same difference."
"Not to me."
Sirens sounded in the distance.
Adrian turned.
Matteo grinned despite his bruised face.
"Technology is amazing."
Adrian looked at the laptop.
Recording.
Transmission active.
His confession had been sent.
He grabbed Sofia.
Luca moved.
"Don't."
Adrian held something sharp against Sofia's side.
Everyone froze.
"Back."
Luca backed away.
Sofia breathed slowly.
She remembered Luca's words.
Fear changes behavior.
She refused to give Adrian hers.
"You won't hurt me," she said.
Adrian laughed.
"Why?"
"Because I'm your exit."
His grip shifted.
One second.
Sofia drove her heel onto his foot and dropped.
Luca crossed the space instantly.
Matteo kicked the chair sideways into Adrian's legs.
Isabella moved away.
Security entered.
Then police.
It ended faster than Sofia expected.
Adrian lay restrained on the concrete floor.
Luca stood over him.
Years of rage were visible in his face.
Adrian smiled.
"Do it."
Luca could have.
Everyone knew it.
Instead, Luca stepped backward.
"No."
Adrian's smile disappeared.
"You don't get to turn me into you."
Police took Adrian away.
Outside, dawn was approaching.
Isabella hugged Luca.
Matteo complained about his shoulder.
Sofia stood beside the river.
Luca approached.
"It's over."
"Almost."
He looked at her.
She took his injured hand.
"You chose differently."
"My father wanted me to."
"No."
Sofia shook her head.
"You wanted to."
Luca looked at her for a long moment.
Then kissed her forehead.
His phone rang.
An attorney.
The evidence had been received.
Arrests were beginning.
Riccardo was cooperating.
Adrian's network was collapsing.
Luca exhaled.
Then Sofia's phone vibrated.
A message from Mrs. Alvarez.
Sofia smiled at first.
Then she opened the attached photograph.
Her smile vanished.
"What?"
She handed Luca the phone.
The photograph showed the neighborhood library.
Its front door stood open.
A cardboard box sat on Sofia's desk.
The same box she'd carried when Luca fired her.
On top was a single black envelope.
Her name was written across it.
May you like
And beneath her name were two words:
FROM CARLO.
