Chapter 19 - Luca’s Father
The room went silent.
Every person looked at Luca.
Subject D.
Donato Moretti.
His name.
His face became unreadable.
“I didn’t know Eleanor then.”
Sofia stepped forward.
“No.”
Everyone turned.
“Subject D wasn’t Luca.”
The agent frowned.
“The file says Donato Moretti.”
Sofia nodded.
“There were two.”
Luca stared at her.
“What?”
“Your grandfather had another son.”
Alessandra arrived thirty minutes later.
One look at Sofia told her the secret was over.
“My father had a child outside his marriage.”
Luca’s jaw tightened.
“Named Donato?”
“Yes.”
“Where is he?”
Alessandra looked toward the evidence table.
“We believed he died as a teenager.”
Sofia shook her head.
“No.”
She had discovered the truth years later.
Antonio secretly kept his half brother alive and used him for work the legitimate family could never be connected to.
Intimidation.
Collections.
Disappearances.
Including Eleanor.
“Was he the driver?”
“Yes.”
My legs weakened.
“Where is he now?”
Sofia looked at Luca.
“Carlo helped him disappear after Antonio died.”
That explained Carlo’s final threat.
He was never the last danger.
Federal agents searched databases.
Old identities.
Border records.
Private financial systems.
Hours passed.
Then one match appeared.
A man named Dominic Vale.
Silver-haired.
Seventy-two.
Living in Westchester.
The photograph appeared on-screen.
I knew him.
My blood went cold.
“No.”
Luca turned toward me.
“What?”
“That man came to my mother’s funeral.”
I remembered him clearly.
He had stood behind me beneath a black umbrella.
After the burial, he gave me a white rose.
Then he said something I had forgotten until now.
Your mother was braver than she needed to be.
I whispered the words aloud.
Luca’s expression hardened.
Agents moved immediately.
Dominic’s Westchester property was empty.
The closets had been cleared.
The garage was open.
He had left recently.
Then my phone rang.
Unknown number.
Luca looked at me.
I answered.
An old man spoke.
“Emma Hayes.”
My blood froze.
“Dominic.”
A soft laugh.
“So Eleanor told you enough to remember me.”
“You killed my mother.”
Silence.
Then he said something worse.
“No.”
I stopped.
“What?”
“I tried.”
Luca moved closer.
Dominic continued.
“But your mother survived the first impact.”
My knees weakened.
“The crash didn’t kill Eleanor.”
I could not breathe.
“What did?”
Dominic laughed quietly.
“Ask the man who found her before I did.”
The call ended.
I stared at Luca.
“What does that mean?”
No one knew.
Then Alessandra turned pale.
“There was one person who arrived at the crash before police.”
“Who?”
May you like
She looked at Luca.
“Your father.”
