Chapter 4 - The Trap
The fire was spreading fast.
Smoke poured through the upper corridors, turning the mansion's elegant interior into a maze of shadows.
Luca sent Marco ahead with two guards.
I stayed beside Mrs. Moretti.
She refused to move without me.
“Sophie,” she said quietly, “I need you to trust me.”
“I do.”
“Then don't trust anyone else.”
I frowned.
“Not even Luca?”
She smiled faintly.
“Especially not the men who think they have no secrets.”
Luca heard her.
He turned.
“Mom.”
She gave him a look that would have frightened a lesser man.
“You know I love you.”
“I know.”
“But you're your father's son.”
Luca stared at her.
“That means nothing.”
“It means everything.”
Before I could ask what she meant, a gunshot cracked somewhere downstairs.
Luca immediately pushed me behind him.
“Stay here.”
“I'm coming.”
“No.”
“You may need me.”
His eyes softened.
“That's exactly what worries me.”
Another shot.
Marco's voice came through the radio.
“Boss, the west corridor is blocked.”
Luca took my hand.
“We're leaving through the tunnel.”
We moved quickly.
As we reached the hidden entrance, the lights flickered.
Then every phone in the mansion rang simultaneously.
Luca stopped.
Nobody answered.
The ringing continued.
Finally, Mrs. Moretti said, “He's here.”
“Who?”
She looked at her son.
“Your father's partner.”
Luca's face changed.
“My father had no partner.”
“He did.”
“Who?”
Mrs. Moretti whispered one name.
“Richard Bellini.”
Vanessa's father.
I stared.
“That can't be true.”
“It is.”
Luca's entire history was collapsing around him.
Richard Bellini had supposedly died in a prison riot eleven years ago.
But Mrs. Moretti said he had escaped years earlier.
He had built a new identity.
He had raised Vanessa.
And he had been controlling her from the beginning.
“The engagement,” Luca said slowly.
“It was never about marriage.”
Mrs. Moretti shook her head.
“It was about ownership.”
Luca looked at me.
“Ownership of what?”
She reached into her coat and gave him another envelope.
“The Moretti empire.”
Inside was an old agreement.
If Luca married Vanessa, control of several legitimate businesses would transfer to a foundation controlled by the Bellini family.
But there was more.
If Luca died before the transfer was complete, Vanessa would inherit everything.
I felt sick.
“She was going to kill you.”
Luca didn't answer.
His eyes were fixed on the signature.
Then he looked at me.
“And your mother knew.”
I nodded.
A sound echoed behind us.
Footsteps.
Someone was approaching through the tunnel.
Marco raised his weapon.
“Boss.”
A man stepped into the light.
Older.
Gray-haired.
Calm.
He smiled.
“Hello, Luca.”
Luca froze.
“Richard Bellini.”
The man spread his arms.
“You finally figured it out.”
Vanessa's father looked at me.
“And that must be little Sophie.”
I felt a chill.
“You know me?”
“I knew your mother.”
Luca stepped in front of me.
Richard laughed.
“Still protecting everyone except yourself.”
“Where is Vanessa?”
“Safe.”
“Where?”
“She made one mistake.”
“What?”
“She fell in love with you.”
Luca's expression darkened.
Richard looked toward the burning house.
“She was supposed to marry you and take your empire. But then she started believing she could have both the money and you.”
“Where is she?”
Richard sighed.
“She couldn't follow orders.”
“So you kidnapped my mother.”
“No.”
Richard's eyes moved to Mrs. Moretti.
“She came willingly.”
Mrs. Moretti laughed.
“Don't flatter yourself.”
Richard smiled.
“You've always been difficult.”
Then the ceiling above us groaned.
Richard stepped backward.
“You have ten minutes.”
“For what?”
“To decide who you want to save.”
He pressed a remote.
Three red lights appeared.
One over the tunnel entrance.
One over the basement.
One over the main ballroom.
“Three buildings connected to this house are rigged.”
Luca stared.
“You'll kill innocent people.”
Richard shrugged.
“That depends on you.”
He disappeared through a side passage.
Marco moved after him.
“Forget him,” Luca said.
“Boss—”
“My mother first.”
We ran.
At the basement level, we found Vanessa.
She was tied to a chair.
Her red dress was stained with dust.
When she saw Luca, she started crying.
“Luca.”
He stopped.
“You knew.”
She shook her head.
“I knew my father was dangerous. I didn't know about the explosives.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because he threatened to kill you.”
“You were going to marry me.”
“I was terrified.”
Mrs. Moretti stared at her.
“You lied for months.”
“I was trying to protect him.”
“No.”
Vanessa lowered her head.
“I loved him.”
Luca's face remained cold.
“Love doesn't excuse what you did.”
She cried.
“I know.”
A timer beeped.
Nine minutes.
Marco examined the explosives.
“Boss, these are connected to the main grid.”
“Can you disarm them?”
“Not all three.”
Luca looked at me.
“What did your mother teach you?”
I blinked.
“What?”
“She worked around electrical systems?”
“Yes.”
“Did she ever teach you anything unusual?”
I remembered.
A strange memory from childhood.
My mother sitting beside me at the kitchen table, showing me how to identify emergency circuits.
“Never cut the red wire,” she had joked.
I looked at the panel.
Then understood.
“This isn't an explosive system.”
Marco looked at me.
“What?”
“It's a trigger system.”
Luca turned.
“How do you know?”
“Because the wires are arranged by priority, not ignition.”
Marco checked the panel.
“She’s right.”
We worked together.
One circuit.
Then another.
The third would not respond.
Then I saw a tiny symbol stamped beneath the wiring.
A silver key.
My key.
I pulled it from my pocket.
Luca stared.
“No.”
I inserted it.
A hidden compartment opened.
Inside was a recording.
My mother's voice.
“If you are hearing this, then they found you.”
I couldn't breathe.
Her voice continued.
“I need you to know one thing. I never abandoned you.”
Tears filled my eyes.
“I was forced to disappear because Richard Bellini wanted the evidence I had.”
The recording continued.
“The evidence is not money.”
“It is a list.”
“Names.”
“Judges.”
“Police officers.”
“Bankers.”
“Politicians.”
“Every person who helped turn the city into a machine for murder.”
Luca's face became grim.
“And if they discover the list still exists…”
The recording paused.
Then my mother spoke again.
“It is hidden inside the only person they would never suspect.”
The audio ended.
Silence.
Luca looked at me.
“Who?”
I stared at him.
May you like
Then the answer came.
Me.
