Chapter 4 – The Woman In The Trench Coat

“Mommy?”

Noah’s voice was so small, so fragile, it broke my heart in two.

The woman in the doorway looked up at the balcony. Tears spilled over her eyelashes, streaming down her pale cheeks.

“Oh, my sweet boy,” she sobbed, holding her hand out. “My beautiful, brave boy.”

Noah didn’t hesitate.

He ran down the stairs as fast as his little legs could carry him.

He collided with her, burying his face into her trench coat, sobbing uncontrollably. Anna dropped her revolver and collapsed to her knees, wrapping her arms tightly around him, burying her face in his neck.

“I’m here, baby,” she wept. “Mommy’s here. I’ve got you.”

Luca stood frozen in the center of the ruined dining room.

His chest heaved. He couldn’t speak. He couldn’t move.

He was looking at the wife he had buried two years ago.

Robert, however, recovered quickly.

The older man lunged toward the gun Luca had dropped on the floor.

But Elena was faster.

The seventy-six-year-old woman kicked the gun across the marble floor, sending it sliding far out of Robert’s reach.

“Don’t you dare,” Elena hissed, standing over him with the silver carving fork still in her hand.

Suddenly, the flashing red and blue lights of police cruisers illuminated the windows.

Dozens of Luca’s men, accompanied by federal agents, swarmed into the dining room. They pinned Robert to the floor and dragged a sobbing Vanessa to her feet.

Luca didn’t look at the police. He didn’t look at Robert.

He walked slowly toward the doorway.

Anna looked up at him, her arms still wrapped tightly around Noah.

Luca fell to his knees in front of them.

He reached out with a trembling, tattooed hand and gently touched her cheek.

She leaned into his palm, closing her eyes.

“How?” Luca whispered, his voice cracking. “I buried you. I saw the car. I saw the ashes.”

Anna opened her eyes. They were completely haunted.

“You buried my sister, Luca,” she said softly.

Luca frowned in confusion. “Clara? You told me Clara died of leukemia when you were teenagers.”

Anna shook her head slowly.

“That’s what Robert forced me to tell you,” she explained, her voice trembling. “Clara didn’t die. Robert kept her locked away in a private facility. He used her to control me. He told me that if I didn’t marry into the Moretti family, he would stop paying for her medical care.”

Luca’s eyes widened in horror.

“But then Robert realized you were too strong,” Anna continued, wiping her tears. “He realized he couldn’t control your empire through me. So he arranged the car crash.”

She looked down at Noah, stroking his hair.

“The night of the crash,” Anna whispered, “Clara escaped the facility. She came to the house to warn me. But Robert’s men were already outside.”

She swallowed hard.

“Clara took my coat. She took my keys. She told me to take Noah and run out the back door. She got in the car to distract them.”

Anna began crying again.

“She burned in that car so I could live. So Noah could live.”

Luca pulled her into his arms, crushing both her and Noah against his chest. He buried his face in her dark hair, his broad shoulders shaking as he finally broke down.

I stood on the balcony, watching them.

A family, miraculously put back together.

I felt a warm tear slide down my cheek. I was so happy for Noah. He finally had his mother back.

But as I turned to walk away, to let them have their private moment, I noticed something strange.

Robert was being handcuffed by two federal agents.

But he wasn’t resisting.

He was looking up at me on the balcony.

And he was smiling.

It was a cold, cruel, terrifying smile.

“You think this is over, Luca?” Robert called out over the chaos.

Luca slowly stood up, keeping Anna and Noah behind him.

“It’s over, Robert,” Luca said darkly. “You’re going to federal prison for the rest of your life.”

Robert laughed.

“Am I?” Robert asked. “You haven’t figured it out yet, have you?”

Luca frowned. “Figured what out?”

Robert nodded toward the balcony. Toward me.

“Ask your little maid where she was born,” Robert sneered.

The entire room went quiet.

Luca looked up at me. Anna looked up at me.

“What is he talking about, Rachel?” Luca asked, confusion in his eyes.

My heart began to hammer against my ribs.

“I… I don’t know,” I stammered. “I grew up in foster care in New York.”

Robert’s cruel laughter echoed off the marble walls.

“Foster care in New York,” Robert mocked. “Tell me, Rachel. Did they ever give you a blue velvet box when you turned eighteen? Something left by your biological mother?”

I froze.

All the blood drained from my face.

How did he know about the box? I had never told anyone in Chicago about it. I kept it hidden in the bottom of my suitcase.

“How do you know about that?” I whispered.

Robert looked at Luca, his eyes gleaming with malicious victory.

“Because Anna wasn’t the only child I stole from the true Moretti bloodline,” Robert said.

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