Chapter 9: The Brother Who Stole Forty Years
Vincent Moretti had spent most of his life believing betrayal came from enemies.
That was the mistake powerful people made.
They watched strangers.
They watched competitors.
They watched the people standing across from them.
But they rarely watched the person standing beside them.
Molly watched the color disappear from Vincent’s face as he stared at the photograph.
She had seen him angry.
She had seen him cold.
She had seen him in control.
She had never seen him look lost.
“Your brother?”” she whispered.
Vincent did not answer.
Thomas placed the photograph on the table.
“His name was Luca Moretti.””
The name seemed to pull Vincent backward through time.
“My brother was dead.””
Thomas nodded.
“That’s what everyone believed.””
Molly looked between them.
“Everyone?””
Vincent finally spoke.
“Luca disappeared years ago.””
His voice was quiet.
“I thought he was killed.””
Thomas looked at him.
“No.””
A pause.
“He was hiding.””
The room became heavy.
Molly looked at the photograph again.
Luca stood beside Vincent and Elena, smiling like someone who belonged there.
Like family.
Like trust.
“How could he do this?””
Vincent stared at the picture.
“I don’t know.””
Thomas gave him a hard look.
“You do.””
Vincent looked up.
Thomas continued.
“You just don’t want to admit it.””
The words hit harder because Vincent knew they were true.
Molly watched the older man carefully.
“You knew?””
Thomas sighed.
“I knew Luca was dangerous.””
“Then why didn’t you tell my mother?””
“I tried.””
His voice cracked.
“She didn’t want to believe it.””
Molly looked at him.
“My mother trusted him too?””
Thomas nodded.
“Everyone did.””
Vincent stood silently.
Because that was the part that hurt most.
Luca had not been a stranger.
He had been family.
They had grown up together.
They had built their first business together.
They had protected each other.
Vincent remembered being twenty-five years old, standing beside his brother, believing there was nothing in the world they could not overcome.
He remembered Luca telling him:
“Everybody else will leave. Blood is different.””
And Vincent had believed him.
The irony almost made him laugh.
But he couldn’t.
“He wanted control,” Vincent said.
Molly looked at him.
“What?””
Vincent stared at the photograph.
“That was always Luca’s weakness.””
Thomas nodded.
“He believed you were too soft.””
Molly frowned.
“Soft?””
Vincent almost smiled.
“My brother thought caring about people made you weak.””
“And your mother?””
Vincent’s expression changed.
“Elena proved him wrong.””
Thomas looked at Molly.
“She was the only person who could make Vincent question himself.””
Molly looked down.
She finally understood.
Her mother had not been a victim waiting to be saved.
She had been someone powerful in her own way.
Someone who challenged powerful men.
“What happened the night she disappeared?”” Molly asked.
Vincent took a breath.
“I met Elena at an old restaurant outside the city.””
His voice slowed.
“She told me she was leaving.””
Molly listened.
“She said she had proof that Luca was planning something.””
Thomas nodded.
“She found his records.””
Vincent continued.
“She wanted me to go with her.””
A silence followed.
“But I didn’t.””
Molly saw the pain return.
“Why?””
“Because I thought I could handle Luca.””
Vincent shook his head.
“I thought my brother loved me.””
Nobody spoke.
“He knew Elena was my weakness.””
Vincent looked at Molly.
“But he didn’t understand something.””
“What?””
Vincent’s voice softened.
“Elena was never my weakness.””
He looked at the photograph.
“She was the reason I wanted to become better.””
For a moment, Molly saw the man her mother knew.
Not the boss.
Not the legend.
Just Vincent.
A man who lost the person who believed in him.
Thomas opened the wooden box again.
“There is one more thing.””
He removed a small key.
Molly frowned.
“What is that?””
“Your mother hid something.””
Vincent looked at it.
“Where?””
Thomas handed it to him.
“A place Luca never knew about.””
Vincent studied the key.
Then his eyes changed.
Recognition.
“The old apartment.””
Thomas nodded.
“The one where you and Elena first lived.””
Molly watched him.
“You kept that place?””
Vincent looked away.
“Yes.””
She did not know why that surprised her.
Maybe because she had only known the man everyone feared.
She had not known the man who kept an apartment because it contained memories of a woman he lost.
“We need to go there,” Vincent said.
Thomas shook his head.
“Not yet.””
Vincent looked at him.
“Why?””
“Because if Luca knows you have the key, he knows you found the truth.””
Molly looked toward the window.
“Doesn’t he already know?””
Nobody answered.
That was the answer.
A sound came from outside.
A car door closing.
Vincent immediately turned.
Thomas’s face tightened.
“He found us.””
Molly’s heart started racing.
Vincent moved toward the window.
Across the street, a dark vehicle sat parked.
Someone was inside.
Watching.
“Luca?”” Molly whispered.
Vincent stared.
“No.””
His expression hardened.
“Someone working for him.””
Thomas moved toward a hidden drawer and pulled out an old envelope.
He handed it to Molly.
“Take this.””
She looked confused.
“What is it?””
“Insurance.””
Vincent looked back.
“Thomas.””
The older man ignored him.
“Your mother knew this day might come.””
Molly held the envelope.
“What does it say?””
Thomas looked at her.
“Only open it if Vincent fails.””
The words chilled her.
“Fails?””
Thomas nodded.
“Because Elena knew one thing.””
He looked toward the window.
“Powerful men always think they can fix what they broke.””
Vincent stared at him.
“And what did Elena know?””
May you like
Thomas looked at Molly.
“That sometimes the truth has to survive without them.””
