Chapter 7 - The Secret Elena Never Told HimLuca moved Elena into the safest bedroom in the estate.
Directly across from his.
Neither commented on that detail.
Security doubled.
Windows were reinforced.
Vehicles changed daily.
Salvatore Greco disappeared.
For nine days there was silence.
Too much silence.
Then Elena received a phone call.
A woman's voice.
"Your father is alive."
Elena nearly dropped the phone.
"What?"
"Anthony Russo is alive."
"Who is this?"
"Ask Luca what happened at St. Matthew's Hospital two years ago."
The call ended.
Elena found Luca downstairs.
"What happened at St. Matthew's?"
He stared at her.
"What?"
"Two years ago."
The color left his face.
That was enough.
"You know."
"Elena—"
"You knew my father?"
"Listen to me."
"You knew?"
Luca shut the office door.
"Not the way you think."
"Then explain it."
Two years earlier, Luca had received an anonymous call from Anthony Russo.
Anthony said he had discovered Matteo stealing from the organization.
He wanted protection.
Luca arranged a meeting.
Anthony never arrived.
Hours later, police reported his death from cardiac arrest.
"I sent a man to the hospital," Luca said.
"Who?"
"Gabriel."
Elena laughed bitterly.
"Of course."
"He confirmed the body."
"Did you?"
"No."
"Then you never actually saw my father dead."
"No."
She paced.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because I didn't know your father was the Anthony Russo who called me until I saw his ledger."
"And then?"
"I started investigating."
"Without telling me."
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because if there was even a chance he lived, I wouldn't give you hope until I had proof."
"You don't get to decide what truth I can handle!"
Luca flinched.
She was right.
Again.
"I know."
"No, you don't."
She grabbed her coat.
"Where are you going?"
"Away from you."
"Elena, Greco is still—"
"Don't."
She turned.
"For once, don't use danger as an excuse to control me."
The words landed.
Luca stepped back.
"Okay."
She hadn't expected that.
"I'm not stopping you."
He took a set of keys from his desk.
"But take the armored car."
Despite herself, she almost laughed.
"I'm serious."
"I know."
She left.
An hour later, Elena arrived at her small apartment.
Everything looked untouched.
She sat on the bed and finally cried.
Not because Luca had lied.
Because she cared that he had.
Her phone rang again.
Unknown number.
This time she answered immediately.
"Where is my father?"
"St. Agnes care facility. Rockford."
"Who are you?"
"Someone who owes him."
She drove there.
Alone.
That was the mistake.
St. Agnes existed, but there was no Anthony Russo registered.
When Elena returned to the parking lot, Salvatore Greco was leaning against her car.
"Hello, Elena."
She stopped.
He was older than Luca, silver-haired and elegantly dressed.
"Where's my father?"
"Alive."
Her heart stopped.
"Prove it."
Salvatore showed her a photograph.
Anthony Russo sat in a wheelchair.
Older.
Thinner.
But unmistakably alive.
Elena's knees nearly gave out.
"What did you do to him?"
"Saved him."
"From Matteo?"
"From everyone."
"Where is he?"
"Come with me."
"No."
Salvatore smiled.
"You're smarter than that."
"Why did you keep him?"
"Because Anthony knows where Luca's father hid something very valuable."
Elena stared.
"This isn't about Matteo."
"It never was entirely about Matteo."
Salvatore stepped closer.
"Your father discovered the Moretti empire wasn't really Luca's."
Elena frowned.
"What?"
"The legitimate companies. The land. The estate."
He smiled.
"They belong to someone else."
"Who?"
"You."
The world tilted.
Salvatore explained.
Decades earlier, Elena's grandfather had been Luca's grandfather's business partner.
Much of what became the Moretti legitimate empire had been purchased using Russo family assets during a federal investigation, then never returned.
Anthony discovered original deeds proving the arrangement.
Matteo wanted them because whoever controlled the legitimate holdings controlled most of Luca's legal power.
"That's why Matteo went after him."
"Partly."
"And you?"
"I prefer contracts to bullets."
Salvatore held out his hand.
"Come with me and see your father."
Elena knew she shouldn't.
Then she heard a voice from inside the vehicle.
Weak.
Familiar.
"Ellie?"
Her breath disappeared.
The rear window lowered.
Anthony Russo looked out.
"Dad?"
He began crying.
Elena ran.
Salvatore opened the door.
She climbed inside.
And the locks clicked.
Meanwhile, back at the Moretti estate, Luca stared at the location tracker in Elena's armored car.
It hadn't moved in twenty-three minutes.
He called.
No answer.
Then Gabriel entered.
"We found Greco."
"Where?"
Gabriel looked grim.
"With Elena."
Luca reached for his coat.
"And Anthony Russo."
Luca froze.
"Alive?"
"Alive."
For the first time all day, Luca smiled.
Then Gabriel added:
"There's something else."
"What?"
"Greco has documents showing Elena legally owns this house."
Luca looked around his office.
May you like
Gabriel continued.
"And almost everything else with the Moretti name on it."
Related Stories
