Chapter 5 – THE BLOOD TIE

I stared at the silver bracelet, the truth hitting me like a physical blow.

Teresa Moretti was a Bellini by blood.

“You’re Vanessa’s aunt?” I asked, my voice barely working.

Teresa nodded, tears streaming down her face. “My family disowned me sixty years ago when I married Antonio. The Bellinis and Morettis were rivals. Carlo hated Antonio. He swore he would destroy him.”

I helped her out of bed, keeping my voice low. “But why force Luca to marry Vanessa? If you’re family, why is he doing this?”

“Because he wants the Moretti empire,” Teresa sobbed. “If Luca and Vanessa marry, Carlo controls it all. He used Antonio’s secret against him to force the engagement. And now, he’s using it against Luca.”

“The secret,” I said. “Mia.”

Teresa stopped moving. “How do you know about Mia?”

“Luca found the drawing in Walter’s bed.”

Teresa covered her mouth. “Oh, God. The drawing.”

“Mrs. Moretti, who is Mia?”

Before she could answer, we heard heavy footsteps rushing up the stairs.

“Claire!” Luca’s voice echoed down the hall.

He burst into the bedroom, holding a crowbar he must have found in the basement. He looked at the unconscious man on the floor, then at me.

“Are you hurt?” he demanded, his chest heaving.

“No. We’re okay.”

Luca walked over to his mother. He saw the silver bracelet on her wrist, completely exposed.

He stared at it.

“Mom,” Luca said quietly. “Why are you wearing a Bellini bracelet?”

Teresa broke down.

For ten minutes, in the dark bedroom while Walter kept watch at the door, Teresa confessed everything. The blood tie. The rivalry. The blackmail.

Luca listened, his face turning to stone.

“So Vanessa is my cousin,” Luca said, utterly disgusted.

“Second cousin,” Teresa wept. “But that’s not the worst part, Luca.”

She looked at the drawing of Mia and Walter that Luca still held in his hand.

“Mia isn’t Antonio’s daughter.”

Luca frowned. “But the drawing says ‘To Daddy.’”

“I know,” Teresa whispered. “Because Antonio wasn’t protecting his own child. He was protecting yours.”

The crowbar slipped from Luca’s hand and hit the floor.

“Mine?”

“Seven years ago,” Teresa explained, her voice trembling. “Before you went to New York. You were dating a girl named Sarah. You didn’t know she was pregnant when you left.”

Luca stopped breathing.

“Sarah died in childbirth,” Teresa cried. “Antonio found out. He took the baby in secret to protect her from our enemies. He raised her in a safe house upstate. Walter was her guard dog.”

Luca stared at the drawing, his hands shaking so violently the paper crinkled.

He had a daughter.

For seven years, his father had protected her. And Carlo Bellini found out.

“Where is she, Mom?” Luca asked, his voice breaking. “Where is my little girl?”

Teresa looked at him with absolute despair.

“Carlo has her.”