Chapter 7 - THE SECRET BEHIND THE MORETTI EMPIRE
Dominic didn't defend his father.
That was the first thing I noticed.
He didn't tell Agatha she was mistaken.
Didn't insist Salvatore had good reasons.
Didn't order me to forget what I'd heard.
Instead, he stepped into the hallway and called him.
I heard only Dominic's side.
"Papa, I need the truth."
A pause.
"Now."
Another pause.
Then Dominic's voice became dangerously quiet.
"Did you hide Antonio Bellini?"
The silence lasted so long I thought the call had disconnected.
Finally, Dominic said, "We're coming."
He returned to the room.
His face was pale.
"Salvatore wants to meet us."
I stood.
"Where?"
"At the old Moretti house in Brooklyn."
Agatha gripped my wrist.
"Don't go alone."
I looked at Dominic.
He nodded immediately.
"Bring whoever you trust."
Two hours later, I entered a narrow brick house in Bensonhurst with Father Matteo and an investigator named Detective Elena Brooks.
Dominic had asked that the conversation be documented.
Salvatore sat beside a fireplace.
He looked ten years older than he had at dinner.
When he saw me, his eyes filled.
"Lucia's daughter."
I stopped.
"Don't call me that like you have the right."
He lowered his head.
"You're correct."
For a long moment, nobody spoke.
Then I asked the question I'd carried since opening the blue book.
"Where's my father?"
Salvatore looked toward the window.
"In Sicily."
"Alive?"
He nodded.
My knees weakened.
I grabbed the back of a chair.
"Then why did everyone tell me he was dead?"
Salvatore's voice trembled.
"Because Carlo threatened to kill you if Antonio came looking."
I stared.
"So you kept him away from his own daughter?"
"I helped him escape Sicily. For years, he remained hidden under another identity."
"Did you tell him I was alive?"
Salvatore closed his eyes.
"Not at first."
The room spun.
Detective Brooks leaned forward.
"Mr. Moretti, you're describing possible crimes involving identity concealment and threats. We need complete statements and supporting evidence."
Salvatore nodded.
"I'll cooperate."
I could barely look at him.
"You let my father believe I'd disappeared?"
"I believed I was keeping you safe."
I laughed through tears.
"Everyone keeps saying that."
Dominic looked down.
Salvatore reached into a drawer.
He removed a sealed envelope.
"This belongs to you."
Inside was a photograph of a man holding a little girl beside the Mediterranean.
The man had dark eyes.
My eyes.
Behind the photograph was a letter dated only six months earlier.
My Penny,
If this reaches you, then the man who kept us apart has finally lost his power.
I never stopped looking for you.
I pressed the letter against my chest.
"Where in Sicily?"
Salvatore swallowed.
"Near Trapani."
Dominic stood.
"I'll arrange safe travel once the investigators approve."
But Salvatore raised one trembling hand.
"There's something else."
I looked up.
His expression turned grave.
"Carlo didn't come after Penelope because he recognized her."
Dominic frowned.
"Then why?"
Salvatore looked straight at me.
"Because Antonio has evidence that could destroy everything Carlo has built."
May you like
He paused.
"And the key to that evidence is inside Penelope's necklace."
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