Chapter 5 - THE MAN IN THE PHOTOGRAPH
Luca held the brass button beneath the library lamp.
The Moretti crest caught the light.
Antonio stood beside him, pale and motionless.
“Do you recognize it?” Luca asked.
Antonio nodded.
“Your father's security men wore those buttons.”
“Which man?”
“There were six.”
“Then give me their names.”
Antonio hesitated.
Luca looked at him.
“Antonio.”
“One of them still works for this family.”
My eyes moved toward the hallway.
Marco DeSantis stood several feet away.
He had been Luca's security chief for nearly ten years.
Before that, he'd worked for Salvatore Moretti.
Marco looked at the button.
Then he removed his jacket.
The dark vest beneath had an empty place where a brass button had once been sewn.
Sophie gripped my hand.
Ethan stepped backward.
Luca stared.
“Marco?”
The security chief looked at the children.
Then at Luca.
“I hoped we'd have this conversation under different circumstances.”
Luca's voice dropped.
“You took my son?”
Marco shook his head.
“I carried a child out of a hospital. That's true.”
Luca moved toward him.
I instinctively guided the children behind me.
“Was that child Ethan?”
“Yes.”
The word seemed to empty the room.
Luca stood motionless.
For a second, I thought he might strike Marco.
Instead, he asked:
“Why?”
Marco's jaw tightened.
“Your father ordered me to transport a baby to a private clinic.”
“You knew he was mine.”
“I suspected.”
“Did you hear them say he died?”
“Yes.”
Luca closed his eyes.
Marco continued.
“I was twenty-six. Your father had paid for my mother's surgery. He told me the child was being moved for treatment.”
“Did you believe him?”
“At first.”
“And later?”
Marco looked toward Ethan.
“Later, I realized I had helped something terrible happen.”
Ethan's voice was barely audible.
“Did you hurt me?”
Marco's face changed.
“No, son.”
“Then why didn't you bring me home?”
Marco swallowed.
“Because I was afraid of the people giving orders.”
Ethan considered this.
Then he said:
“Mrs. Whitaker gets scared too. She still helps me.”
The words struck harder than any accusation.
Marco lowered his head.
Luca took one step backward.
“Emily, take the children upstairs.”
Sophie started protesting.
But I knelt beside her.
“Your father needs to ask some questions. We can get you both something warm to drink.”
Ethan looked toward Luca.
“Will he still be here?”
Luca met his eyes.
“Yes.”
“Promise?”
“I promise.”
We went upstairs.
I knew Luca wanted privacy.
But I also knew the truth was becoming more dangerous with every answer.
In the children's sitting room, I prepared warm milk.
Sophie brought Ethan a soft blanket.
He accepted it without speaking.
After several minutes, he asked:
“Do you think I can stay tonight?”
Sophie looked offended.
“Of course.”
I smiled gently.
“We'll make sure you have a comfortable room.”
He stared at his cup.
“Mrs. Whitaker says people should always know where they're sleeping.”
I wondered how often that poor boy had been moved without warning.
Sophie placed her blue ribbon beside his.
“Here,” she said. “You can keep them together.”
He touched them carefully.
Then he looked at me.
“Emily?”
“Yes?”
“Do you work here because you're family?”
I hesitated.
“No. I work here because Mr. Moretti hired me.”
Sophie frowned.
“But she's my friend.”
Ethan thought about that.
“Then she's kind of family.”
I swallowed past the lump in my throat.
“That's a lovely thing to say.”
Downstairs, voices rose.
I recognized Luca's.
Then Marco's.
Then Vanessa's.
A few minutes later, Antonio came upstairs.
His hands were trembling.
“Emily, would you come down?”
I looked toward the children.
“Are they safe?”
“Yes. Marco's men are outside, and Luca has told them not to admit visitors.”
I asked another housekeeper, Mrs. Delgado, to sit with Sophie and Ethan.
Then I followed Antonio.
Luca stood near the fireplace.
Marco had placed several old photographs on the table.
One showed Salvatore Moretti.
Another showed Dr. Bellini.
A third showed Ruth Whitaker.
And the fourth showed Elena.
They were standing together outside a medical building.
The date was five months after the twins' birth.
Luca looked at me.
“Emily, you noticed the watch.”
“Yes, sir.”
He pointed toward the photograph.
“Look again.”
Dr. Bellini stood beside Salvatore.
On the doctor's wrist was the gold watch.
The same watch I'd seen last week.
But the photograph was dated years before Salvatore's death.
“That means your father gave it to him while he was alive,” I said.
Marco nodded.
“It was part of the arrangement.”
Luca looked at him sharply.
“What arrangement?”
Marco took a breath.
“Your father wasn't paying to have Ethan taken.”
Vanessa laughed bitterly.
“Don't start protecting Salvatore now.”
Marco ignored her.
“He was paying to bring the boy back.”
Luca stared.
“What?”
“Dr. Bellini demanded money after the delivery. Your father learned the child was alive. He paid to secure his return.”
Antonio gripped the table.
“Then why didn't Ethan come home?”
Marco looked toward Vanessa.
“Because the doctor took the money and disappeared with him.”
Vanessa shook her head.
“My father told me Salvatore bought the child.”
“He lied to you,” Marco said.
Luca examined the bank receipt again.
There was a notation beneath the amount.
Release and transport.
For years, he'd assumed his father had arranged the separation.
Now the same receipt suggested the opposite.
“Why didn't my father tell me?” Luca asked.
Marco's expression darkened.
“Because Bellini threatened to expose the Moretti family accounts used to move illegal money through his medical foundation.”
Luca stared.
“My father's business?”
Marco nodded.
“Bellini had records that could destroy the family.”
Luca's mouth tightened.
“And my father chose to protect those records?”
“He said he needed time to secure the child without endangering the rest of the family.”
“And he died before he could?”
“Yes.”
Luca looked toward Antonio.
“Did Elena know?”
The chef nodded slowly.
“She knew your father had tried to bring Ethan home.”
“Then why didn't she tell me?”
Antonio looked at Marco.
Marco answered.
“Because someone warned her that Sophie would be taken next.”
The room went silent.
Vanessa sank into a chair.
Luca looked at her.
“Who warned Elena?”
Vanessa's voice shook.
“My father.”
“Why?”
“Because Elena had found Ruth Whitaker.”
Marco nodded.
“Ruth was one of the nurses involved. She secretly took Ethan away from the people Bellini planned to give him to.”
I felt cold.
“Then Ruth saved him?”
“Yes,” Marco said.
“But she couldn't safely return him. Bellini kept searching for him.”
Luca turned toward Vanessa.
“You knew that?”
She began crying.
“I knew Ruth had him. I didn't know why she refused to give him back.”
“Then why bring Ethan here?”
“Because my father found out where he was living.”
She looked down.
“He threatened to take him again.”
Luca's face hardened.
“And you thought pretending he was your nephew would protect him?”
“I thought if I could marry you first, I could force my father to leave us alone.”
Luca stared.
“You were going to bargain with my son?”
Vanessa covered her face.
“I was trying to buy time.”
Marco placed one final photograph on the table.
It showed Elena outside the Milwaukee cottage.
Beside her stood Ruth.
And behind them was a man in a dark coat.
His face was partly hidden.
But on his wrist was a familiar gold watch.
Luca leaned closer.
“Bellini?”
Marco shook his head.
“No.”
Antonio stared at the photograph.
Then he whispered:
“I know that man.”
Luca turned.
“Who?”
Antonio's voice broke.
“The man your father trusted to investigate the hospital.”
“Name him.”
Antonio looked toward the open doorway.
And suddenly, he stopped breathing.
I followed his gaze.
A silver-haired man stood in the hall, leaning on a polished black cane.
Vanessa went completely pale.
Luca stared.
“Dr. Bellini?”
The elderly doctor smiled weakly.
“Hello, Luca.”
May you like
Then he looked directly at Ethan's photograph.
“BEFORE YOU ASK ME ABOUT YOUR SON, YOU SHOULD KNOW THAT ELENA FOUND HIM SIX YEARS AGO—AND SHE WAS THE ONE WHO ASKED RUTH TO KEEP HIM HIDDEN.”
