Chapter 9 - THE DEAD MAN WHO WAS STILL ALIVE
Vittorio Moretti had been alive three years earlier.
The same year I ran.
The same year Elena disappeared again.
The same year Margaret and Sophia went into hiding.
Roman stared at the date.
For fifteen years, he'd visited a grave.
Prayed for a man who wasn't there.
Built an empire in his name.
And carried guilt for never becoming the son his father expected.
Now that entire history was collapsing.
“Where is he?” Roman whispered.
Detective Bennett reviewed the recovered records.
“We don't know yet.”
Then a technician found a second file.
A medical transfer document.
Patient: Victor Martin.
Date: August 2023.
Destination: St. Catherine's Residential Care.
Roman's expression changed.
“Victor Martin?”
Tommy nodded slowly.
“Vittorio used that name when he disappeared.”
I stared.
“Why?”
Tommy looked toward Roman.
“Because he believed Victor Bellini was going to kill him.”
Roman closed his eyes.
The irony was unbearable.
A Mafia boss who had built an empire through intimidation had been forced into hiding from the very system he created.
The investigators contacted St. Catherine's.
The facility confirmed that a patient matching Vittorio's description had lived there under strict privacy protections.
But he'd been transferred three weeks earlier.
“Where?” Roman demanded.
The detective checked the report.
“A private hospital in Connecticut.”
My heart tightened.
“Is he alive?”
“We're verifying.”
Then another file appeared.
A handwritten note.
If Roman finds this, tell him I'm sorry.
Roman stared at the words.
For the first time, he looked like a little boy who wanted his father to come home.
I knew that feeling.
I'd spent years wishing Margaret would walk through my apartment door.
Now I was discovering that perhaps she could.
And maybe Roman could have that chance too.
Two days later, investigators confirmed Vittorio was alive.
Severely ill.
But conscious.
Roman traveled to Connecticut with legal and medical arrangements in place.
I didn't accompany him.
That reunion belonged to him.
Later that afternoon, he called me.
His voice was shaking.
“Nora?”
“Yes?”
“I found him.”
Tears filled my eyes.
“Is he okay?”
“He's alive.”
I heard Roman begin crying.
“He knew about everything.”
I swallowed.
“Everything?”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn't he tell you?”
Roman was silent.
Finally, he whispered:
“Because he believed telling me would get me killed.”
I closed my eyes.
Then he added:
“He has something for you.”
My heart tightened.
“What?”
“A letter from Margaret.”
I stopped breathing.
Roman continued.
“She gave it to him before she disappeared.”
“What does it say?”
His voice became quiet.
“Nora, I think you need to read it yourself.”
Three hours later, the letter arrived.
I opened it with trembling fingers.
May you like
The first sentence made my heart stop.
“My darling Nora, the man you've been running from is not the man who betrayed you.”
