Chapter 2 - Blood Doesn't Make You LoyalBy sunrise, Luca had replaced half the security team.
No one was given the full reason.
That was deliberate.
For years, Luca survived by understanding one simple truth: secrets were most dangerous when everyone knew there was one.
He told his chief of security, Gabriel Torres, only what mattered.
"Matteo doesn't enter."
Gabriel stared at him.
"Your brother?"
"Did I hesitate?"
"No."
"Then don't make me repeat myself."
Gabriel nodded.
He had served Luca for eleven years and knew questions had expiration dates.
At 7:30, Elena came downstairs carrying a suitcase.
Luca was waiting in the library.
"Where are you going?"
"A hotel."
"No."
Her eyebrows rose.
"You don't get to decide that."
"Correct. But I'm still saying no."
"Luca—"
"If Matteo did this, you walk into a hotel alone and you're exposed."
"He won't come after me."
"Then why did he text me four minutes after you said his name?"
That silenced her.
Luca pointed toward the chair opposite him.
"Sit."
"I'm not one of your employees right now."
"You literally are."
"You know what I mean."
"I do."
His tone softened slightly.
"Sit anyway."
She remained standing.
Luca sighed.
"Fine. Stand dramatically."
That earned him a glare.
Good.
Anger was healthier than fear.
"How long?" he asked.
Elena's expression changed.
"How long what?"
"Has Matteo been hurting you?"
She looked away.
"Three months."
Luca felt something cold settle inside him.
Three months.
Matteo had eaten at his table during those months.
Sat across from him during meetings.
Joked about baseball.
Brought Luca expensive cigars from Havana.
All while Elena moved around the same rooms with bruises beneath her clothes.
"Why?"
"It started because of my father."
"Your father died two years ago."
Elena looked startled.
"You checked?"
"I check everyone who works in this house."
"Of course you do."
"Your father, Anthony Russo. Bookkeeper. Heart attack at fifty-eight."
Her laugh held no humor.
"That's the official version."
Luca leaned forward.
"What is the unofficial version?"
"My father kept financial records for someone."
"Who?"
"Matteo."
The room became still.
Elena opened her handbag and removed an old brass key.
"My father called me two nights before he died. He sounded terrified. He said if anything happened, I should take this key and never trust anyone with the Moretti name."
Luca absorbed the insult without reacting.
"Yet you took a job in my house."
"Because I needed to get close enough to know which Moretti he meant."
"That was dangerous."
"I know."
"You deliberately infiltrated my home."
"Yes."
"You're terrible at comforting people."
"I wasn't trying to comfort you."
Luca almost respected that.
"Continue."
"My father said there was evidence. Records showing money disappearing from businesses connected to your family. He hid copies somewhere."
"And Matteo thinks you know where."
Elena nodded.
"At first he tried being charming. Then threatening. Yesterday he stopped pretending."
Luca's hand tightened around the arm of his chair.
"What exactly did he want?"
"The key."
"The one you're holding?"
"Yes."
"Why didn't he take it?"
"Because I don't carry it."
Luca looked at her hand.
Elena gave him a tired smile.
"This is a copy."
For the first time that morning, Luca looked genuinely surprised.
"My father taught me never to carry the real key."
"Your father was smarter than most of the men I employ."
"He was also terrified of your family."
Luca accepted that too.
"Where's the original?"
"I'm not telling you."
"You think I might be involved."
"I don't know what to think."
A knock interrupted them.
Gabriel entered.
"Boss."
"What?"
"Matteo's at the gate."
Elena froze.
Luca didn't move.
"What does he want?"
"Says it's family business."
"Tell him family business is canceled."
Gabriel hesitated.
"He brought Victor Salvi."
That mattered.
Victor was one of the oldest captains in the organization.
If Matteo had brought him, this wasn't a private confrontation.
It was political.
Luca stood.
"Keep Elena here."
"No," Elena said immediately.
Luca looked at her.
"I'm not a prisoner."
"You're also the reason my brother is at the gate with a senior captain."
"Then I should hear what he's saying."
"Absolutely not."
"Why?"
"Because if Matteo realizes how much you've told me—"
"He already knows."
They stared at each other.
She was right.
Luca hated that.
Five minutes later, the front doors opened.
Matteo entered smiling.
He was thirty-three, six years younger than Luca, with the effortless charm Luca had never possessed.
Victor followed silently.
Matteo spread his hands.
"Brother."
"You're banned from my property."
"So Gabriel mentioned."
"Yet here you are."
"I thought you'd want to hear the truth before you make a mistake."
His gaze shifted.
Elena had entered the hall behind Luca.
Matteo's smile vanished for half a second.
Only half.
But Luca saw it.
"There she is."
Elena's face tightened.
Matteo shook his head sympathetically.
"Elena, what have you told him?"
"Enough."
"Really?"
Matteo turned to Luca.
"She's blackmailing us."
Luca said nothing.
"Her father stole money. When he died, she inherited evidence of his theft. She's been threatening me for months."
Elena laughed incredulously.
"You're insane."
"I've got messages."
Matteo produced his phone.
"She demanded two million dollars."
Luca took it.
The conversation appeared real.
Messages from Elena's number.
Pay me or Luca gets everything.
Another:
You have until Friday.
Elena stared at the screen.
"I never sent those."
"Convenient," Matteo said.
Luca's expression remained unreadable.
Matteo stepped closer.
"You've known me your whole life."
"Yes."
"You've known her four months."
"Also yes."
"And you're seriously considering her word over mine?"
Luca looked at his brother.
"I haven't told you what she accused you of."
Matteo went still.
Victor's eyes sharpened.
Elena stopped breathing.
Luca continued quietly.
"Yet you arrived here before breakfast carrying evidence meant to discredit her."
Matteo recovered quickly.
"Because I knew she was planning something."
"How?"
"She threatened me."
"Then why didn't you tell me yesterday?"
Matteo's jaw flexed.
Luca stepped toward him.
"You know what your problem is?"
"What?"
"You prepared for the accusation before you knew I'd heard it."
Silence filled the hallway.
Then Matteo smiled.
But this smile looked different.
Thin.
Cold.
"Careful, Luca."
"Are you threatening me?"
"I'm reminding you that one frightened woman shouldn't come between brothers."
Elena flinched.
Luca saw it.
And something inside him settled.
He no longer needed absolute proof to know Elena feared Matteo.
Whether every detail was true would be investigated.
But the fear was real.
Luca stepped between them.
"Look at her again like that and I'll forget we're brothers."
Matteo's face hardened.
Victor quietly backed away.
Everyone in the room understood what had just happened.
A line had been drawn.
Matteo turned toward the door.
Before leaving, he glanced over his shoulder.
"You've always believed you were the smarter brother."
Luca said nothing.
Matteo smiled.
"Ask Elena what her father was really keeping records of."
The door closed.
Luca turned toward her.
Her face had gone white.
"What did he mean?"
Elena swallowed.
"My father wasn't tracking stolen money."
"What was he tracking?"
May you like
She looked at him.
"Murders."
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