Chapter 5 - MIDNIGHT AT BELLINI HOUSE
Hannah moved toward the television.
Luca caught her arm before she reached it.
“Let go.”
“No.”
“He has my father.”
“I see that.”
“Then let go.”
“So you can do what?”
She turned on him.
“Whatever I have to.”
“That's what he wants.”
“I don't care.”
“I do.”
The words came out harder than Luca intended.
Hannah froze.
So did everyone else.
Luca released her arm.
He lowered his voice.
“Bellini went through a great deal of trouble to get every person connected to this history into one house tonight. That means Daniel isn't the objective.”
Hannah stared at him.
“I am.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Gabriel answered from behind her.
“Because you're the only confirmed descendant of Michael DeLuca.”
Hannah turned.
“So?”
Gabriel looked at Elisabetta.
She understood.
“The inheritance.”
Luca frowned.
“What inheritance?”
Elisabetta sat slowly.
“My father created trusts.”
Luca almost laughed.
“This is about money?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
“Control.”
She looked toward Hannah.
“The original Rinaldi medical holdings were placed into a bloodline trust. Clinics, research companies, property. Whoever could establish descent from Carlo's eldest surviving male line gained voting authority at age thirty.”
Hannah felt sick.
“How old am I?”
“Twenty-nine,” Patricia said.
“I know how old I am.”
Hannah looked at Gabriel.
“When do I turn thirty?”
“Seven weeks.”
Luca understood.
“Bellini needs her before the trust activates.”
Gabriel nodded.
“Or he needs her signature.”
“On what?”
“A waiver. Transfer. Maybe both.”
Hannah stared at the television.
Daniel had always hated paperwork he couldn't read twice.
The thought nearly made her cry.
Luca pulled out his phone.
“Dante.”
“Here.”
“Can you trace the feed?”
Dante was already working at a laptop beside Marco.
“Give me five.”
Bellini's voice came through again.
“You have fifty-two minutes.”
The screen went black.
Luca looked at Gabriel.
“Bellini House?”
Gabriel nodded.
“His estate in Alpine.”
“Too obvious.”
“That's why he'll use it.”
Luca looked at Hannah.
“You're not going.”
She laughed.
“Try stopping me.”
“I can.”
“You can lock me in a basement. Apparently that's a family tradition.”
That hit.
Luca's face changed.
Hannah regretted it immediately.
Not because it was false.
Because Owen and Ben were standing nearby.
Rebecca touched Ben's shoulder.
Hannah crouched in front of the boys.
“I'm sorry.”
Owen whispered, “Is Mr. Brooks your dad?”
“Yes.”
“Like Dad is my dad?”
“Exactly.”
“Then you have to get him.”
Hannah looked at Luca.
Owen had just ended the argument.
Luca exhaled.
“Fine.”
Rebecca said, “Luca.”
“I won't leave her here while Bellini owns the cameras, tunnels and half the people we thought were dead.”
“That doesn't mean she walks into his house.”
“No.”
Luca looked at Hannah.
“She walks in with me.”
Twenty-eight minutes later, three vehicles left the DeLuca estate.
Police were finally arriving.
Detective Marcus Hale entered through the west gate as Luca's convoy left through the east.
The plan was simple enough to be dangerous.
Gabriel would enter first.
Bellini knew him.
Hannah and Luca would follow.
Dante would lead a second team through the rear property line.
Detective Hale would wait for proof Daniel was inside before moving.
Hannah sat beside Luca in the SUV.
Neither spoke for several minutes.
Finally she said, “You really didn't know?”
“About you?”
“Any of it.”
“No.”
“Ben?”
“No.”
“Rebecca?”
Luca looked out the window.
“No.”
Hannah believed him.
That somehow made the entire thing sadder.
“What did you bury?”
He looked at her.
“Rebecca's coffin.”
“What was inside?”
“I don't know.”
“You never saw her?”
“The hospital said the accident had caused extensive burns.”
Hannah closed her eyes.
Another lie.
Luca continued.
“I saw a hand. A wedding ring.”
“Could have been anyone.”
“Yes.”
His voice became distant.
“I was too broken to question it.”
Hannah thought about her own mother's funeral.
“I understand.”
Bellini's estate appeared behind iron gates.
White stone.
Perfect landscaping.
Warm lights.
A home designed to suggest respectability.
Gabriel drove through first.
The gates opened.
Luca's vehicle followed.
No guards stopped them.
That was worse.
Bellini stood in the entrance hall.
Alone.
“Luca.”
“Daniel.”
Bellini smiled.
“Straight to business.”
“Hannah first,” Luca said.
“No.”
Hannah stepped around him.
“I want to see my father.”
Bellini studied her.
She hated the way he looked at her.
Not like a person.
Like a laboratory result.
“You resemble Michael.”
Gabriel's jaw tightened.
Hannah said, “Where is Daniel?”
Bellini gestured toward the dining room.
Daniel sat at the long table.
Untied.
Hannah ran toward him.
“Dad!”
He stood.
She hugged him so hard his chair fell backward.
“I’m okay,” he whispered.
“Did they hurt you?”
“No.”
“You were tied up.”
“For the camera.”
Hannah turned toward Bellini.
“You kidnapped him.”
Daniel shook his head.
“Hannah.”
Something was wrong.
She looked at her father.
He wouldn't meet her eyes.
“Dad?”
Bellini poured wine.
“Daniel came voluntarily.”
Hannah stared.
“What?”
Daniel's face broke.
“I thought I could stop him.”
“Stop who?”
“Michael.”
Gabriel stepped into the room.
Daniel looked at him with naked hatred.
“You.”
Gabriel stopped.
The two men stared at each other.
Hannah suddenly understood this wasn't their first meeting.
“You know each other.”
Daniel gave a humorless laugh.
“Twenty-nine years.”
Patricia entered behind Luca.
Daniel saw her.
Every ounce of color left his face.
The glass in his hand slipped.
It shattered on the floor.
“Patty?”
Patricia began crying.
Daniel didn't move.
“You're dead.”
“I know.”
“You let me bury you.”
“I was trying to protect—”
“Don't.”
His voice cracked.
“Don't say you were protecting me.”
Hannah had never heard him speak like that.
Patricia stopped.
Daniel looked at Hannah.
“Did she tell you?”
“About Michael?”
His expression hardened.
“So she did.”
Hannah nodded.
“You're my father.”
Daniel looked down.
“That was never in question.”
Gabriel's face changed slightly.
Respect.
Bellini clapped once.
“Beautiful. Truly.”
Luca stepped toward him.
“You're enjoying this too much.”
Bellini smiled.
“Families are so predictable when you finally put them in one room.”
“What do you want?”
Bellini placed a folder on the table.
Hannah saw her name on the first page.
“Sign.”
“No.”
“You haven't read it.”
“I don't need to.”
Bellini looked toward Daniel.
Hannah followed his gaze.
A red laser dot appeared on Daniel's chest.
Sniper.
Luca's weapon came up.
Bellini remained calm.
“If I die, someone shoots him.”
Hannah went cold.
Bellini pushed the folder closer.
“Sign.”
Gabriel said, “Don't.”
Bellini smiled at him.
“Still trying to save the daughter you never met?”
Hannah looked between them.
“What's in the document?”
“Transfer of voting rights.”
“To you?”
“To the Bellini Foundation.”
“How convenient.”
Bellini's smile faded.
“Hannah.”
Luca quietly shifted position.
She noticed.
Bellini didn't.
Hannah picked up the pen.
Daniel whispered, “No.”
She looked at her father.
“I can't let him kill you.”
“You can.”
Her eyes filled.
“No.”
“Yes.”
He stepped forward despite the red dot.
“A father does not let his daughter sell her future to save his life.”
Bellini sighed.
“This is becoming sentimental.”
Daniel looked directly at Hannah.
“You don't sign.”
Bellini's voice hardened.
“Then we try another incentive.”
He pressed a button on his phone.
A door opened at the far end of the room.
Celeste entered.
Her hands were bound.
Behind her walked a nurse pushing a wheelchair.
Rebecca sat in it.
Unconscious.
Luca's face turned to stone.
Hannah whispered, “How?”
Bellini smiled.
“Did you really think all of the tunnels beneath DeLuca House belonged to the DeLucas?”
Luca took one step forward.
The laser moved from Daniel.
To Rebecca.
Bellini leaned toward Hannah.
“Now sign.”
Hannah gripped the pen.
Then Rebecca's eyes opened.
Just barely.
She looked at Luca.
Then Hannah.
And whispered one word.
“Don't.”
A gunshot exploded outside.
The dining room lights died.
Luca moved.
So did Gabriel.
Hannah heard glass break.
Someone screamed.
When the emergency lights came on three seconds later, Bellini was gone.
So was Rebecca.
And the unsigned contract on the table had been replaced by a photograph.
It showed a little girl around twelve years old.
Dark hair.
Gray eyes.
May you like
On the back were four handwritten words:
OWEN AND BEN'S SISTER.
