Chapter 3 - THE POCKET WATCH
Vanessa backed up until her shoulders hit the doorframe. “I... I don't know anything about that bracelet,” she stammered, her eyes darting toward the hallway. “Catherine must have bought it before the accident! She must have been planning ahead!” “Catherine died when Matteo was six months old,” Luca said, his voice echoing off the bedroom walls. “She didn't take him to a jeweler to have it resized two years after she was buried.” Luca slowly walked toward Vanessa. The sheer magnitude of his presence seemed to suffocate the air in the room. “My son didn't burn in that car,” Luca stated. It wasn't a question. It was a horrifying realization. “He survived. And you've known.” “No!” Vanessa cried, tears spilling over her mascara. “Luca, please, you’re not thinking clearly! The police report! The coroner! Marco identified the wreckage!” Luca stopped. Marco. His head of security. The man who had been the first to arrive at the crash site four years ago. The man who had handled all the police reports and kept the grieving family away from the gruesome details. “Bring Marco to me,” Luca ordered the two armed guards standing in the hallway. Within thirty seconds, Marco was shoved into the bedroom. He was a large, heavily scarred man, but as he looked from Luca's face to the silver bracelet, the color completely drained from his cheeks. “Boss,” Marco said, his voice thick with sudden dread. “You told me there were two bodies in that car, Marco,” Luca said quietly. Marco swallowed hard. He didn't look at Vanessa, but I saw her shoot him a look of absolute, lethal warning. “There was a fire, Boss,” Marco mumbled. “The wreckage was... it was unrecognizable.” Luca crossed the room in two strides. He grabbed Marco by the throat of his tailored suit and slammed him violently against the floral wallpaper. “Do not lie to me about my son's bones!” Luca roared. Teresa flinched in her wheelchair. I placed a steadying hand on her shoulder. “I didn't find the boy!” Marco gasped, struggling to breathe. “I swear to God, Luca! When I got to the ravine, the passenger door was kicked open. The car seat was empty.” Luca froze. He lessened his grip, just a fraction. “Empty?” Marco nodded frantically. “Catherine was dead behind the wheel. But the boy was gone. Someone had been there before me.” “Then why did you tell me he was dead?” Luca demanded, his voice breaking with a devastating grief. “Why did you let me bury an empty casket?” Marco finally looked at Vanessa. “Because Victor Bellini told me to.” Vanessa let out a shriek. “You liar! Shut your mouth!” “Victor Bellini?” Luca repeated, releasing Marco completely. Victor was Vanessa’s father. The head of a rival syndicate that had recently merged with Luca's empire through this very engagement. “Victor was at the crash site when I arrived,” Marco confessed, rubbing his bruised throat. “He told me the boy had perished in the flames. He said if I told you the boy was missing, it would start a war. He handed me fifty thousand dollars in cash and told me to write the police report myself.” “My father was just trying to keep the peace!” Vanessa shouted. “He was trying to protect you from false hope, Luca!” “If Victor only wanted to keep the peace,” Marco said, turning to face Vanessa with a bitter sneer, “then why did I find this in the mud fifty feet away from the burning car?” Marco reached deep into the breast pocket of his jacket. He pulled out a heavy, tarnished gold pocket watch on a broken chain. He tossed it onto the bed. I recognized the crest engraved on the gold instantly. I had seen it stamped on the wax seals of the wedding invitations I had mailed last week. It was the Bellini family crest. “Catherine didn't just crash, Luca,” Marco said grimly. “She was run off the road. And Victor Bellini was the one driving the other car.”
