Chapter 15 - THE CHURCH WHERE EVERYTHING BEGAN|
Luca wanted to refuse.
But Victor had been absent for seven years, and the opportunity to confront him was too important to ignore.
Dominic assembled a security team.
Luca insisted that I remain at the mansion.
I refused.
"You cannot keep sending everyone into danger while I wait for another phone call."
He looked at me.
"Emma, this isn't a hospital."
"I know."
"People die here."
"I know that too."
He stepped closer.
"And I cannot watch you get hurt."
I took a breath.
"Then don't make decisions for me."
He stared at me for several seconds.
Finally, he agreed to let me accompany the team, provided I remained in the armored vehicle.
The church stood on a quiet street in Queens.
It was an old building with stained glass windows and a small cemetery behind it.
Luca entered alone.
Victor was waiting near the altar.
He looked older than the photograph.
But his posture was still commanding.
"My son."
Luca raised his weapon.
"Don't."
Victor smiled.
"You came."
"Why did you fake your death?"
"Because I needed you to become stronger."
"You murdered my mother."
Victor's expression changed.
"Your mother was weak."
Luca stepped closer.
"She was better than you."
Victor laughed.
"That's why she died."
He explained that Sofia had discovered the financial network and intended to expose him.
She had collected evidence with Michael Shaw.
Victor had ordered Anthony to recover the documents.
But when Sofia refused to surrender them, he had confronted her himself.
The argument had turned violent.
Luca's hands tightened around his weapon.
"Did you kill her?"
Victor looked directly at him.
"Yes."
For a moment, the church was silent.
Luca's eyes filled with something I had never seen before.
Grief.
Rage.
And the terrible knowledge that the man he had spent his life trying to impress was responsible for destroying his family.
"Why?"
"Because she chose strangers over her husband."
"She chose the truth."
Victor stepped closer.
"She chose you. She wanted to take you away from me."
Luca's voice dropped.
"Maybe she was right."
Victor's smile disappeared.
Then he pulled a remote control from his pocket.
Outside, Dominic's radio crackled.
"Boss, we've got movement."
Luca looked toward the doors.
Victor pressed the button.
An explosion shook the cemetery.
The church windows shattered.
I ducked inside the vehicle.
The guards rushed toward the building.
Smoke filled the entrance.
When Luca emerged, his face was covered in dust.
Victor was gone.
But on the altar lay a small envelope.
Luca opened it.
Inside was a photograph of me standing outside Mercy General.
The back carried a handwritten message.
THE NURSE IS THE FINAL PIECE. ASK HER WHAT HER FATHER STOLE.
May you like
Luca looked at me.
And for the first time, I saw doubt in his eyes.
