Chapter 5 - The Night Luca Stopped Trusting Everyone
The rose was impossible.
The ring was real.
Julian's ring remained missing.
Yet the identical hawk ring had been left outside the safe room.
Luca held it.
His face was grim.
“This isn't mine.”
I looked at him.
“Then whose?”
He didn't answer.
Julian remained under guard while doctors treated his shoulder.
Alejandro was missing.
Marcus hadn't answered his phone.
Victor was supposedly dead.
And now Mason's name was appearing in files Luca had never seen.
The entire Valente family had become a maze.
Luca ordered everyone into the main hall.
For the first time, I saw the full organization gathered.
Captains.
Drivers.
Accountants.
Security chiefs.
Lawyers.
People who had spent years pretending to be loyal.
Luca stood at the top of the stairs.
He placed the hawk ring on the table.
“Someone inside this family has been feeding information to our enemies.”
Nobody moved.
“If you think I'm bluffing, leave.”
No one did.
He continued.
“Three months ago, shipments began disappearing.”
“Two months ago, money vanished.”
“One month ago, someone started tracking my house.”
“And last night, someone tried to kill my maid and her child.”
His eyes swept the room.
“That ends now.”
He pointed at the table.
“The person responsible has until midnight to come forward.”
Silence.
Then a man stepped forward.
Elliot Grayson.
One of Luca's oldest captains.
“I know something.”
Luca looked at him.
“What?”
“Mason Ward.”
My heart stopped.
Elliot continued.
“Your father trusted him.”
“He knew about the network.”
“He was collecting evidence.”
“Then one night, he disappeared.”
“How?”
“Because someone inside the organization sold him.”
Luca asked,
“Who?”
Elliot looked at Julian.
Everyone turned.
Julian's face became hard.
“I didn't.”
Elliot shook his head.
“Not Julian.”
He pointed toward the back of the room.
“Elias.”
Luca went still.
“Elias was my uncle.”
“Yes.”
“He died twelve years ago.”
“No.”
I looked at Julian.
He was pale.
“Elias is alive.”
Luca turned.
“Where?”
Elliot swallowed.
“He's been running the internal operation for years.”
“Behind my back?”
“Yes.”
“Who knew?”
“Your father.”
Luca looked devastated.
“My father was protecting him?”
“No.”
Elliot's voice softened.
“Your father was trying to expose him.”
Luca stared at the floor.
For the first time, I saw uncertainty in the man everyone called untouchable.
He had built his life on a dead father's betrayal.
Now he was discovering that the story had been backwards.
“Where is Elias?”
Elliot gave him an address.
An old monastery outside Albany.
Luca turned toward Julian.
“You're coming.”
Julian stood despite the pain.
“Yes.”
I stepped forward.
“So am I.”
Luca shook his head.
“No.”
“I know Mason's name.”
“You're staying here.”
“I won't.”
He looked at me.
“This isn't a debate.”
“It is when the evidence concerns my daughter.”
His expression softened.
Just slightly.
Then he nodded.
“You stay beside me.”
We drove north.
Mia slept in the back seat.
Teddy in her arms.
Snow covered the roads.
Luca sat beside me.
Julian sat opposite.
For several miles, nobody spoke.
Then Luca said,
“Tell me about Mason.”
I looked at the window.
“He was kind.”
“That's rare.”
“He believed people could change.”
“Did he change?”
I swallowed.
“Yes.”
“How?”
“After we had Mia.”
“What changed?”
“He became afraid.”
“Of what?”
“That his work would reach us.”
Luca's jaw tightened.
“He knew someone was after him.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't he tell you?”
“He tried.”
I looked at Mia.
“He left the note before he disappeared.”
“What note?”
“He wrote…”
My voice broke.
“Don't trust the man who smiles when everyone else is afraid.”
Luca went still.
“Mia said the same thing.”
I nodded.
“That's why I was afraid.”
The monastery appeared through the trees.
Dark.
Abandoned.
We entered.
The main hall was empty.
A fire burned in the hearth.
A chair sat near it.
And a man stood with his back to us.
Older.
Gray hair.
Black coat.
He turned.
I recognized him.
Not from memory.
From photographs.
Elias Costa.
Luca's uncle.
Alive.
He smiled.
Exactly as Mason had described.
The man who smiles when everyone else is afraid.
“Luca.”
Luca raised his gun.
“Don't.”
Elias laughed.
“I see you brought the woman.”
His eyes moved to me.
“And the child.”
Mia stirred.
I held her tighter.
“You know my daughter?”
“Of course.”
“How?”
Elias smiled.
“Because I watched her grow.”
My blood ran cold.
“You've been watching us?”
“For years.”
Luca stepped forward.
“Why?”
Elias looked at him.
“Because your father was right.”
“About what?”
“That the only way to destroy the network…”
He looked at Mia.
“…was to let them think they had already won.”
A shot rang out from the balcony.
Luca shoved me down.
Julian returned fire.
Elias disappeared through a hidden door.
Luca turned toward me.
“Are you hurt?”
I shook my head.
Mia was crying.
He took her from my arms.
She grabbed his shirt.
“Don't let him take Mommy.”
Luca held her close.
“I won't.”
Then Mia looked at Elias's ring.
It was different.
A hawk.
With a tiny star carved beneath it.
She pointed.
“That's Daddy's.”
Everyone went silent.
Elias stopped near the door.
“What did she say?”
Mia looked at him.
“Daddy gave it to Mommy.”
I stared at the ring.
My husband had owned the same symbol.
All these years, I had believed Mason was a victim.
But perhaps he had been something else.
A guardian.
An insider.
A man who knew the secret before anyone else.
Elias looked at me.
“You really don't know.”
“Know what?”
May you like
He smiled sadly.
“Your husband never died.”
