Chapter 4 – THE TRUST FUND AND THE TICKET
The weight of Marco’s words crushed the air out of the room.
Half the Moretti empire. Hotels, shipping lines, billions of dollars in legitimate assets.
Vincenzo hadn’t ordered Grace’s death. He had ordered her mother’s death to sever the child’s ties to Anna, planning to raise Grace himself as the ultimate bargaining chip against the Romanos. But Celia had intervened, stealing the child and hiding the truth.
“You knew,” Luca said, turning slowly to look at his aunt. His voice was terrifyingly quiet. “You knew about the trust.”
Celia pressed her back against the clinic wall, looking trapped.
“I discovered the paperwork five years ago,” Celia admitted, her voice trembling. “That’s when Marco found out Grace was alive. He threatened to go to the family lawyers and claim custody to take the empire. That’s why I paid him the blackmail! To protect your business, Luca!”
“You protected your own lifestyle,” Anna spat, stepping forward. “You used my daughter as a shield to keep your mansions and your diamond bracelets!”
Marco sighed, checking his expensive wristwatch. “This family drama is touching, but I have a schedule to keep. Grace. Come to your father.”
He held out his hand.
Grace pressed herself tighter against my side. She was trembling, staring at the man with the scarred face. She didn’t see a father. She saw a monster holding a gun.
“I’m not going with you,” Grace whispered.
Marco’s smile tightened. “It wasn’t a request, sweetheart.”
Luca raised his weapon higher. “You aren’t taking her, Marco. The trust requires legal custody. You don’t have it.”
“Actually, I do,” Marco said smoothly. He gestured to the clinic doctor, who was cowering behind his desk. “Dr. Evans forged the death certificate, but he didn’t forge the birth certificate. My name is on it. I am the sole surviving biological parent.”
Marco looked at Celia. “And since Celia was never legally granted custody by a court—she just took the girl—my rights supersede hers.”
My mind raced. Marco was right. Legally, Grace was his. If he took her to a judge tomorrow, he would win. And with her, he would take half of Luca’s empire.
But as I looked at Celia’s designer handbag resting on the clinic floor where she had dropped it, something caught my eye.
The clasp had popped open when it fell. Poking out of the silk lining was a heavy, glossy piece of paper. It looked like a travel document.
While Luca and Marco were locked in their standoff, I slowly reached down and pulled it out.
It was a train ticket. First class. Departing from Chicago’s Union Station.
Departure time: Midnight. Tonight.
Passenger: Grace Moretti.
But there was no return ticket. And the destination wasn’t a vacation spot. It was a remote town in northern Canada.
“Mr. Moretti,” I whispered, urgently tugging on the back of Luca’s jacket.
Luca didn’t look away from Marco, but he tilted his head slightly to show he was listening.
I passed the ticket into his free hand.
Luca glanced down. I watched his jaw clench so hard a muscle ticked near his ear.
“You weren’t going to tell me about the trust,” Luca said, looking up at Celia with pure disgust. “You missed the blackmail payments. You knew Marco was coming for her tonight. You threw my birthday party as a distraction while you planned to put a thirteen-year-old girl on a freight train to Canada to hide her permanently.”
Celia flinched. “I was saving her!”
“You were securing your bank accounts,” Anna cried out. “You were going to send my baby away alone in the middle of the night!”
Marco laughed, a harsh, grating sound. “You see, Anna? The Morettis don’t care about family. They care about power. Come home with me. Both of you.”
Anna looked at Marco. For a moment, the nineteen-year-old girl who had fallen in love with him flickered in her eyes.
“You really want to be a father?” Anna asked, her voice shaking.
“Of course,” Marco said softly.
“Then why did you put a hit on my brother?” Anna asked.
Marco’s smile vanished.
“I saw the financial records when I lived in your apartment,” Anna said, stepping forward, fueled by thirteen years of grief. “I knew you were siphoning money from Vincenzo. I knew you planned to kill Luca to weaken the family. That’s why Vincenzo found out about us. I told him.”
The room went dead silent.
Anna had betrayed the man she loved to save her brother’s life. That’s why Vincenzo had ordered the hit on Marco.
Marco stared at Anna, his eyes darkening into pools of absolute malice.
“You always were too smart for your own good,” Marco said coldly. He raised his gun, pointing it directly at Anna’s chest. “Take the girl. Shoot the rest.”
“Get down!” Luca roared.
I grabbed Grace and dove behind the heavy metal desk just as the clinic erupted in deafening gunfire.
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