Chapter 6 – The Sins of the Father

The kitchen spun violently. I gripped the edge of the counter, my knuckles turning white, staring at the yellowed piece of paper as if it were a venomous snake.

Richard Bennett.

“No,” I gasped, the word tearing from my throat. “No, that’s impossible. Vincent’s father was Carlo Moretti. Everyone knows that.”

My mother walked into the kitchen, drawn by my cry. She looked at the birth certificate on the table. Her face didn’t register shock. It registered absolute, devastating defeat.

“Mom?” I asked, my voice trembling. “Tell me this is a forgery. Tell me my father faked this to control him.”

Margaret closed her eyes, leaning heavily against the doorframe.

“Carlo Moretti couldn’t have children,” she whispered. “His wife was desperate for an heir to keep their family strong. She paid Richard for… a transaction. Richard fathered Vincent, and Carlo raised him as his own.”

I felt violently ill. I stumbled backward, hitting the refrigerator.

“You knew?” I screamed. “You knew I was marrying my own half-brother and you said nothing?!”

“Evelyn, please!” Margaret cried, reaching for me. “You aren’t related to him! You aren’t Richard’s biological daughter, remember? You are a Lucchese! You share no blood with Vincent!”

I froze, my mind struggling to untangle the horrifying web of lies.

“I’m a Lucchese,” I repeated numbly.

“Yes,” Margaret sobbed. “But Vincent didn’t know that. When Richard ordered him to marry you, Vincent believed he was marrying his half-sister.”

I stared at the wall, the memories of seventeen years crashing over me.

That was why Vincent had never looked at me with passion in the beginning. That was why he had been so distant, so tormented. He thought he was committing an unspeakable sin to pay off a debt to a monster.

“He fell in love with you anyway,” Margaret whispered. “When he realized how pure and kind you were, he broke down. He told me everything. He begged me to help him find a way out.”

“And that’s when you told him the truth?” Anthony asked quietly, his eyes locked on his grandmother. “That my mom wasn’t Richard’s real daughter?”

Margaret nodded. “I told Vincent he wasn’t committing a sin. But I swore him to secrecy. If Richard ever found out you were a Lucchese, Evelyn, he would have sold you back to New York to secure an alliance.”

Anthony buried his face in his hands. “My entire life is a lie built on top of a lie.”

I walked over and wrapped my arms around my son, pressing my face into his hair. “I’m so sorry, Anthony. I’m so sorry I brought you into this.”

“It’s not your fault, Mom,” he whispered, hugging me back tightly.

Suddenly, the front door of the safe house rattled.

We all froze.

A key turned in the lock. The heavy deadbolt clicked open.

Anthony immediately grabbed his grandmother’s discarded pistol from the kitchen counter and aimed it at the hallway.

“Who’s there?” Anthony yelled, his voice cracking but his hands steady.

The door opened slowly.

Standing in the doorway, clutching his bleeding shoulder, his white shirt soaked in crimson, was Vincent.

He leaned heavily against the frame, gasping for air.

“Anthony,” Vincent choked out, coughing. “Put the gun down. It’s just me.”

“You’re supposed to be in the hospital!” I cried, running toward him.

Vincent held up a hand to stop me. “No time. They’re coming.”

“Who is coming?” I demanded. “Dad is arrested! Matteo Lucchese promised us safety!”

Vincent stumbled into the living room and collapsed onto the sofa. “Not Matteo. The Feds. Celeste set us up.”

I stared at him in disbelief. “Celeste saved us in the chapel! She told us to come here!”

Vincent pulled a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket. It was a one-way ferry ticket to Canada.

“Celeste isn’t trying to protect us, Evelyn,” Vincent gasped, his face pale with blood loss. “She’s trying to clean house. The SD card she gave you… it doesn’t just have the proof of Richard’s crimes.”

I reached into my pocket and pulled out the velvet box.

“It has everything,” Vincent whispered. “The names of every dirty judge, every corrupt cop, every federal agent on Richard’s payroll. Including Celeste’s boss.”

“So she brought us here to protect the evidence?” Anthony asked.

“No,” Vincent shook his head sadly. “She brought you here to bury it. And to bury the only people who know it exists.”

Before we could process the horrifying truth, the sound of heavy tires screeching to a halt echoed from the street outside.

Red and blue lights didn’t flash through the windows this time.

It was a convoy of unmarked black SUVs.

“They’re not here to arrest us,” Vincent said, struggling to stand. He reached into his coat and pulled out a heavy revolver, handing it to Anthony.

“They’re here to execute us.”

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