Chapter 2 - The Name She Was Never Supposed to Know
Luca moved Ava and Lily to a safe residence within twenty minutes.
Not the Moretti mansion.
That surprised Ava.
“You’re not taking us to your house?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because whoever fired at you knew exactly where I would be this afternoon.”
She stared.
“You think someone on your security team told them?”
“I think possibilities stay possibilities until I have proof.”
That sentence made her look at him differently.
Maybe she expected a mob boss to start shooting suspects until truth fell out.
Old Luca might have.
Current Luca had buried too many men because someone else claimed certainty.
They went to a townhouse in Beacon Hill owned through a law firm with no visible Moretti connection.
Mateo came.
Two independent guards.
Nobody else.
Lily fell asleep in Ava’s arms before they reached it.
Luca watched her from the opposite seat.
The resemblance became worse every minute.
Nico’s brow.
Nico’s stubborn lower lip.
Their mother’s hands.
“How long were you with my brother?”
Ava looked out the window.
“Depends what you mean by with.”
“Relationship.”
“Almost three years.”
Luca stared.
Impossible.
“I saw him every week.”
“You saw the version he wanted you to see.”
That hurt.
“What version?”
“Nico Mercer.”
Luca frowned.
“What?”
“He introduced himself as Nicholas Mercer.”
Ava looked at him.
“I didn’t know Moretti existed until I was pregnant.”
That explained the surname.
Ava Mercer.
Nico had borrowed it?
No.
“Mercer was your name.”
“Yes.”
“So he used yours?”
“After we met.”
That was strange.
“How did you meet?”
A legal-aid fundraiser.
Ava worked as a forensic accountant for a nonprofit investigating housing fraud.
Nico attended under another identity.
“He said he consulted for shipping companies.”
“He did.”
“Technically.”
She gave him a look.
Fair.
They fell in love.
Nico kept family separate.
Ava thought it was embarrassment.
Then she became pregnant.
Everything changed.
“He panicked?”
“No.”
Her voice softened.
“He cried.”
That sounded like Nico.
“He wanted her.”
She looked at Lily.
“He wanted us.”
“What happened?”
“He told me he had something to finish.”
Luca hated that phrase already.
“What?”
Ava shook her head.
“He never said.”
“Then?”
“He started disappearing.”
Meetings.
Burner phones.
Fear.
Nico taught Ava emergency routes.
Told her never to use same daycare twice a week.
Told her if anyone mentioned Luca’s name, she should leave immediately.
Luca felt the words like insult.
“He told you to fear me.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“He didn’t say.”
“Do you?”
Ava considered.
“Less than I did an hour ago.”
Progress.
Then she said:
“Nico believed someone close to you was moving money through your legitimate companies.”
Luca’s attention sharpened.
“What money?”
“Protection payments. Drug revenue. extortion funds.”
“No.”
Ava laughed quietly.
“That confidence is adorable.”
“I closed those operations.”
“Maybe you did.”
She met his eyes.
“Someone reopened them using your companies.”
Nico discovered altered freight accounts and construction invoices.
He suspected the network funded violent crews without Luca’s authorization.
“He was gathering proof.”
“For whom?”
“You.”
That stopped him.
Nico intended to bring evidence to Luca.
Then Ava gave birth.
Lily stayed in NICU three days.
Nico visited once at night.
“He held her for forty-five minutes.”
Ava looked away.
“He sang badly.”
Luca smiled despite pain.
“He always did.”
“He told her she had an uncle who would probably spoil her.”
Luca’s chest tightened.
“Then why hide her from me?”
“Because after he left the hospital, someone followed him.”
The next morning, Nico called Ava.
One instruction.
Leave Boston.
He transferred money.
Provided forged documents.
Then disappeared.
Two weeks later, his burned car was found.
Luca stared.
“You said he died two years ago.”
“He did.”
“Lily was almost two.”
“Yes.”
“You lived hidden with her for two years while Nico was alive?”
“Yes.”
“Did you see him?”
“Twice.”
The room went quiet.
Luca leaned forward.
“Where?”
“Providence.”
“When?”
“Six months before he died.”
“Second?”
“Three days before.”
Luca’s pulse shifted.
“What did he tell you?”
“That he was close.”
“To proving who?”
“Yes.”
“Name?”
“He refused.”
“Why?”
“He said if I knew, they could get it out of me.”
Nico had always believed secrets protected people.
Family disease.
Luca hated it.
“Did he leave anything?”
Ava looked toward sleeping Lily.
“Maybe.”
“What?”
“Nico gave Lily that rabbit.”
Luca looked.
Stuffed beige rabbit.
Nothing unusual.
“He told me never to throw it away.”
“Did you check it?”
“Yes.”
“Nothing?”
“Nothing I could find.”
Mateo entered.
“Boss.”
“What?”
“We traced the call.”
“And?”
“Disposable phone. Activated this morning.”
“Camera footage?”
“We have black Audi.”
He showed image.
Driver obscured.
Passenger visible for one frame.
Older man.
Gray hair.
Ava looked.
Her face changed.
“You know him.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“I've seen him.”
“Where?”
She swallowed.
“At Nico’s funeral.”
Luca looked again.
His stomach turned.
“That’s my uncle.”
Salvatore Moretti.
His father’s younger brother.
Retired publicly.
Family adviser privately.
The man who stood beside Luca while Nico’s coffin lowered.
Ava whispered:
“Nico called him Uncle Sal.”
Luca closed his eyes.
Too easy.
He wanted proof.
Not rage.
“Where is Salvatore now?”
Mateo checked.
“New York.”
“Verify physically.”
Mateo nodded.
Ava watched.
“You don't believe it.”
“I believe photographs can be manipulated and frightened people can misidentify faces.”
“You saw him.”
“I saw a frame.”
She looked surprised.
“You really don’t shoot first.”
“Disappointed?”
“Confused.”
Good.
Lily woke.
She rubbed her eyes.
Then looked directly at Luca.
“Uncle?”
He didn't answer fast enough.
She climbed down from sofa.
Walked toward him.
Ava watched carefully.
Lily held up rabbit.
“Bunny has ouchie.”
One seam had opened slightly near belly.
Ava reached.
“I’ll fix it.”
Luca saw something inside.
Not stuffing.
Black plastic.
“Wait.”
Ava froze.
Luca took rabbit gently.
Opened torn seam.
Pulled out a tiny waterproof memory card.
Nobody spoke.
Ava’s face went white.
“Nico.”
Luca held card between two fingers.
His brother had hidden evidence inside his daughter’s toy.
A toy that had stayed beside Lily every night for two years.
Mateo brought an isolated laptop.
They inserted card.
Encrypted files.
One folder opened without password.
Only a photograph.
Nico standing beside Luca.
Brothers.
Taken years earlier.
On back, a handwritten scan:
IF LUCA IS READING THIS, THEN I FAILED.
Below it:
THE NAME IS NOT SALVATORE.
Luca stared.
A second line appeared.
THE MAN YOU TRUST MOST USES SALVATORE AS COVER.
Ava whispered:
“Who do you trust most?”
Luca looked toward Mateo.
Mateo looked back.
Neither spoke.
Then the screen refreshed.
One final file appeared.
A bank authorization.
May you like
Signed digitally by:
MATTEO RINALDI.
