Chapter 4 - Hannah Found Her Father's Name Inside the Locked Moretti FilesThe Moretti estate sat behind twelve-foot iron gates and enough security cameras to monitor a small airport.
Hannah stared through the windshield.
“You live here?”
“Yes.”
“This isn't a house.”
“No.”
“It's a fortress.”
Vincent glanced at her.
“Yes.”
She sighed.
“Of course.”
Daniel opened the gate.
As they drove inside, Hannah saw men positioned in the gardens.
Security.
At least ten of them.
She leaned toward Vincent.
“How many people live here?”
“One.”
“That's ridiculous.”
“I don't disagree.”
The front doors opened before they reached them.
An elderly woman stood there.
“Mr. Moretti.”
“Maria.”
Her eyes moved to Hannah.
For one strange second, she looked shocked.
Then emotional.
“Oh.”
Vincent noticed.
“What?”
Maria shook her head.
“Nothing.”
Hannah felt uncomfortable.
Vincent touched her lower back.
“Come inside.”
She looked down at his hand.
He immediately removed it.
Neither spoke.
Inside, the estate was colder than the hallway at Moretti Holdings.
Hannah understood instantly why Vincent seemed like a man who had forgotten how to feel safe.
The house had too many rooms.
Too many locked doors.
Too many photographs of dead people.
Daniel led them into a library.
Vincent closed the doors.
“What do you know?” Hannah asked.
“About what?”
“My father.”
She had never known him.
Her mother had always refused to talk about him.
She had said only one thing.
He was dangerous.
Vincent opened a drawer.
“You should know the truth.”
He removed a file.
The name on it made Hannah's stomach twist.
JAMES BLAKE.
She stared.
“That’s my father.”
Vincent nodded.
“He worked for my father.”
“How?”
“Accounting.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“My mother said they met after I was born.”
“They didn't.”
Hannah looked at him.
“Are you saying my mother lied?”
“I’m saying she was trying to keep you alive.”
Vincent handed her a document.
It was a photograph of James Blake.
Hannah felt her world shift.
He looked nothing like the monster she'd imagined.
He looked young.
Kind.
He was smiling.
And beside him stood Evelyn.
Hannah's mother.
Both of them were holding a baby.
Hannah.
Tears burned her eyes.
“They knew each other.”
“They were married.”
Hannah looked at Vincent.
“No.”
“They were.”
“But my mother…”
“Divorced him after she discovered what he was involved in.”
“What was he involved in?”
Vincent's expression darkened.
“Money laundering.”
Hannah sat down.
“My father was a criminal?”
“Not at first.”
“What happened?”
“My uncle recruited him.”
“Matteo.”
“Yes.”
“He forced him?”
“That's what the records suggest.”
Hannah read the pages.
Numbers.
Transfers.
Shell companies.
Names.
One name kept appearing.
Victor Moretti.
“Who is Victor?”
Vincent took a breath.
“My cousin.”
“Where is he?”
“Here.”
Hannah looked up.
“What?”
The library doors opened.
A man stood there.
Early forties.
Dark suit.
Perfect smile.
Cold eyes.
“Hello, Hannah.”
She rose.
“How do you know my name?”
Victor smiled.
“Vincent talks about you.”
Vincent immediately stepped between them.
“Leave.”
Victor laughed.
“Still protecting strangers?”
“She isn't a stranger.”
Hannah's pulse jumped.
Victor noticed.
“Oh.”
Vincent's expression hardened.
Victor walked closer.
“You really don't know who she is, do you?”
Hannah frowned.
“Who am I?”
Victor looked directly at Vincent.
“Your father's daughter.”
“I know.”
“No.”
He smiled.
“Not James Blake's daughter.”
Silence.
Hannah's heart stopped.
Victor leaned closer.
“She is also a Moretti.”
Vincent froze.
Hannah stared at him.
“What?”
Victor laughed softly.
“Eighteen years ago, Matteo didn't just steal money.”
Vincent's eyes became murderous.
“Enough.”
Victor continued anyway.
“He stole blood.”
Hannah's voice trembled.
“What does that mean?”
Victor looked at Vincent.
“Your mother never told you because she was afraid you'd learn the truth.”
Hannah turned toward Vincent.
“Tell me.”
Vincent said nothing.
“Tell me!”
He closed his eyes.
Then opened them.
“You were born six months after the explosion.”
Hannah's heart pounded.
“So?”
“Your biological father wasn't James.”
Silence.
Vincent's voice broke.
“It was my younger brother Luca.”
Hannah couldn't breathe.
“No.”
“The relationship was hidden because your father suspected Matteo would use you.”
“Luca died before I was born.”
“I know.”
“Then how?”
Vincent looked away.
“Because the night of the explosion, Luca survived long enough to see your mother.”
Hannah's knees weakened.
Daniel caught her.
She shoved him away.
“No.”
Vincent moved toward her.
She stepped back.
“You knew.”
“I suspected.”
“You knew?”
“Not until today.”
Victor smiled.
“That’s the beautiful part.”
Vincent's eyes flashed.
“Get out.”
Victor shrugged.
“The truth is already here.”
Hannah stared at the photograph again.
Luca.
The young man had Vincent's eyes.
The same green.
The same face.
And suddenly she understood why Vincent had looked at her differently from the moment they met.
He hadn't known why.
But some part of him had recognized her.
A piece of his brother.
A piece of his family.
She touched her own face.
“Why didn't anyone tell me?”
Vincent answered quietly.
“Because everyone who knew was either dead…”
May you like
He looked at Victor.
“…or wanted you dead.”
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