Chapter 8 - THE WOMAN HE WAS WILLING TO LOSE EVERYTHING FOR
Marco Bellini stood in the hospital corridor, staring at the photograph of Anna on his phone.
Somewhere nearby, a man was watching her.
And the person behind him had already threatened to kill her.
"Dominic."
His security chief approached.
"Find whoever took this photograph."
Dominic examined the image.
The angle suggested it had been taken from beside the nurses' station.
Within minutes, security officers identified a man wearing hospital maintenance clothes who had entered the floor without authorization.
They caught him near the service elevator.
He carried a second phone.
On it were photographs of Anna, Elena, Teresa, and Marco.
There were also instructions from an encrypted account.
Stay close to the cook. Wait for confirmation.
Marco studied the messages.
Then he looked at the frightened man sitting between two security officers.
"Who hired you?"
The man shook his head.
"I don't know his name."
"You photographed my family."
"He paid me."
"How much?"
"Ten thousand dollars."
Marco stared at him.
Ten thousand dollars.
That was the price Luca had placed on watching the people Marco loved.
The thought made him sick.
Agent Shaw arrived shortly afterward and took custody of the man and his phone.
Marco returned to Anna's room.
She was sitting on the edge of the bed, trying to fasten the buttons of her borrowed cardigan.
Her bandaged hand made the task difficult.
He approached.
"Let me."
Anna looked up.
"I can do it."
"I know."
She studied him.
Then reluctantly lowered her hand.
Marco fastened the final button.
His fingers lingered for a moment.
"Someone was watching you," he said.
"I figured."
"We caught him."
"Good."
"Anna, I want you somewhere Luca can't find you."
Her expression changed.
"Where?"
"A protected location. Shaw can arrange it."
"Are you asking or telling?"
Marco closed his eyes.
"That came out wrong."
"It usually does."
He almost smiled.
Then his face grew serious again.
"This isn't a joke."
"I know."
"He's threatening to kill you."
Anna looked directly at him.
"And sending me away won't make your mother safer. It won't bring Teresa peace. And it won't stop Luca."
Marco stepped closer.
"I can't lose you."
The words escaped before he could stop them.
Anna went still.
For several seconds, only the quiet sounds of the hospital filled the room.
Then she whispered, "Marco..."
He looked away.
"I shouldn't have said that."
"Why?"
"Because you work for my family. Because you've been caught in a nightmare that started long before you arrived. Because you deserve a life that isn't controlled by my enemies."
Anna rose slowly.
"Then listen to me."
He turned back.
"I came to your house because Teresa asked me to help Elena. I stayed because your mother needed someone. But somewhere along the way, I started caring about you, too."
Marco's breath caught.
Anna continued.
"I don't know what that means yet. I don't know what happens after all this is over."
She placed her good hand against his chest.
"But you don't get to decide what I feel because you're afraid."
Marco covered her hand with his.
For the first time in his adult life, he couldn't find the right words.
So he told her the truth.
"I'm terrified."
Anna's eyes softened.
"So am I."
He leaned forward.
Their foreheads touched.
Neither moved.
Then Anna whispered, "Whatever happens, promise me you won't become the man Luca wants you to be."
Marco closed his eyes.
"I promise."
Two days later, Elena Bellini walked into the family boardroom.
She wore a navy suit, pearl earrings, and the same gold wedding ring Vittorio had placed on her finger forty-four years earlier.
Her health was still fragile.
But her determination was not.
Six attorneys and company executives stood when she entered.
Marco sat beside Agent Shaw.
Anna and Teresa watched from the rear of the room.
Elena placed Vittorio's signed trust documents on the polished table.
"My husband left me controlling authority over Bellini Coastal Freight under specific circumstances."
The company's attorney, Arthur DeSantis, adjusted his glasses.
"Mrs. Bellini, these documents haven't been fully authenticated."
"They have," Elena replied.
She placed a certified copy beside the original.
"By two independent legal teams."
DeSantis shifted uncomfortably.
Elena continued.
"Effective immediately, I am removing Luca Bellini from every position of authority he holds in this company."
Silence followed.
"And every company account will be reviewed by independent forensic auditors."
One executive cleared his throat.
"Mrs. Bellini, this could destroy the business."
Elena looked at him.
"Then perhaps the business should have considered that before stealing from families who trusted us."
Marco watched his mother.
For months, he had believed she was too weak to survive without him.
Now he understood how wrong he had been.
She turned toward the other directors.
"My husband's final wish was to make restitution to the people harmed by the freight operation. I intend to honor it."
DeSantis leaned forward.
"That could cost tens of millions."
Elena's voice remained steady.
"Then we will begin with tens of millions."
That afternoon, the FBI raided three warehouses connected to Luca's operation.
They seized shipping records, computers, and financial documents.
Several men were arrested.
Among those found inside a locked office was Marianne Cole's son, Daniel.
He was dehydrated and badly frightened, but alive.
When Marianne learned her son had been rescued, she began cooperating fully with investigators.
She identified the payments Luca had made to Dr. Heller.
She explained how Detective Sloan had helped protect the operation.
And she gave Agent Shaw the location of a private account used to pay the men who had threatened Elena.
Within hours, arrest warrants were issued for several additional suspects, including Sloan.
But Luca was still missing.
And Marco knew his cousin had not finished.
On Friday evening, Elena insisted on proceeding with a charity dinner that had been scheduled months earlier.
Originally, it was supposed to honor Vittorio's memory.
Now Elena wanted to use the gathering to announce an independent fund for families harmed by Bellini Coastal Freight.
The estate would be filled with employees, business leaders, attorneys, and members of the community.
Marco opposed the idea.
"Mother, this is exactly the kind of event Luca might target."
"Then let the authorities protect it."
"We can announce everything without a dinner."
Elena shook her head.
"For years, this family held expensive dinners while people outside these gates struggled to put food on their tables."
She looked at Anna.
"I want tonight to be different."
Anna understood.
"Then let's make real food."
Elena smiled.
"No twelve-course tasting menus?"
"Absolutely not."
"What about lobster?"
"Only if you're willing to peel it yourself."
Elena laughed.
Marco looked between them.
He had spent a fortune trying to make his mother happy.
Anna had done it with a joke about lobster.
And he was beginning to understand that happiness could not be purchased like security equipment or a new car.
By seven o'clock, the ballroom was filled with guests.
But the tables looked nothing like previous Bellini gatherings.
Instead of elaborate centerpieces, there were simple white flowers.
Instead of imported delicacies, Anna and Rosa had organized a meal of roasted chicken, vegetables, pasta, fresh bread, and tomato soup.
Anna supervised the kitchen despite the lingering soreness in her shoulder.
Teresa helped with the bread.
Elena personally greeted the guests.
For the first time in years, the Bellini estate felt less like a fortress.
Marco watched from the doorway.
Dominic stood beside him.
"You've changed the place."
Marco shook his head.
"I didn't."
His gaze moved toward Anna.
"She did."
Dominic studied his friend.
"You're in love with her."
Marco remained silent.
Dominic smiled faintly.
"That's what I thought."
Marco turned.
"Don't start."
"I wasn't going to say anything."
"You already did."
Dominic looked toward the kitchen.
"Your father would've liked her."
Marco's expression softened.
"He would've argued with her."
"Constantly."
"She would've won."
Dominic laughed.
"Absolutely."
At eight-thirty, Elena stepped onto the ballroom platform.
The room quieted.
She looked toward Marco.
Then toward Anna and Teresa.
"For three months after my husband's death, I couldn't imagine sitting at this table again."
Her voice trembled.
"I believed grief had taken away my appetite, my memories, and perhaps the person I used to be."
She paused.
"But sometimes, what we need most isn't another expensive gift or someone telling us to be strong."
Anna lowered her eyes.
"Sometimes we need someone to sit beside us and remind us that we're still here."
Several guests wiped their eyes.
Elena continued.
"Tonight, I want to announce the creation of the Vittorio and Elena Bellini Restitution and Community Fund."
Marco stood beside the stage.
Elena looked directly at the executives gathered near the front.
"Our family benefited from wrongdoing. We cannot undo the suffering it caused, but we can stop hiding from it."
Applause began.
Then grew.
Anna felt tears rising.
For a moment, she imagined her mother sitting among the guests.
She imagined the exhausted woman who had come home from night shifts smelling of cleaning chemicals, telling her daughter there wasn't enough money for new shoes.
And she wished Margaret Brooks could have heard those words.
At 8:47, the fire alarm sounded.
A shrill warning cut through the applause.
Security personnel moved quickly.
Dominic spoke into his radio.
"All teams, check the alarm source."
Guests began filing toward the exits.
Anna was standing near the kitchen when a server approached.
"Miss Brooks, Mrs. Bellini needs you at the rear service entrance."
Anna frowned.
"Elena?"
"She says there's a problem with Teresa."
Anna's heart dropped.
"Where?"
The server pointed toward the loading corridor.
Anna started walking.
Then stopped.
Something was wrong.
The server's shoes were polished black dress shoes.
But the catering staff wore nonslip kitchen shoes.
Anna turned.
"Who sent you?"
The man's expression changed.
He reached for her arm.
Anna jerked away.
"Security!"
He caught her from behind.
A second man appeared from the loading bay.
Anna kicked backward and screamed.
But the fire alarm drowned out her voice.
Someone pressed a cloth against her mouth.
She struggled.
The corridor tilted.
Then everything disappeared.
Marco found Anna's abandoned cardigan near the loading dock.
He recognized it immediately.
He had buttoned it for her at the hospital.
His stomach dropped.
"Dominic!"
Security footage showed two men carrying an unconscious woman toward a delivery van.
The license plates were stolen.
The vehicle had exited through a service gate before the alarm was confirmed false.
Marco watched the footage twice.
Then his phone rang.
A video call.
Luca's face appeared.
Behind him, Anna sat tied to a chair.
She was conscious.
Her lip was bleeding.
Marco's world narrowed to her frightened eyes.
"Let her go."
Luca smiled.
"You finally care about something more than being Marco Bellini."
"If you touch her again—"
"Spare me the threats."
Luca moved closer to the camera.
"Your mother took my company. You gave the FBI my records. Now I'm going to take something from you."
Anna lifted her head.
"Marco, don't—"
Luca silenced her with a hand on her shoulder.
Marco took a step toward the screen.
"What do you want?"
"Everything."
"The money?"
"The company. The files. The names of every witness you gave the FBI."
Marco stared.
Luca smiled.
"And one more thing."
"What?"
"I want you to confess publicly that you ordered your father's murder."
Anna shook her head desperately.
"No!"
Luca tightened his grip.
"Do that, cousin, and maybe the cook goes home."
Marco's face drained.
Then Luca turned the phone toward a window.
Outside stood a familiar building.
A Bellini Coastal Freight warehouse.
And beneath it, a shipping container marked with the number seventeen.
Luca looked back at the camera.
"Midnight, Marco. Come alone."
The screen went black.
May you like
Marco stood motionless.
He had three hours to choose between his freedom and the woman who had taught his family how to live again.
