????MAFIA POSSESSION ????????
( HIS ADDICTION ????)
BY, ROYAL DIADEM ❣️
CHAPTER 26
Copy and have your life shortened ????
IN GENERAL, Luca liked parties. He considered himself a pretty goodpeople-watcher and there was almost always some drama to follow. His
brother’s wedding should have been an enjoyable event. It certainly had thepotential.
The beautiful cathedral had gothic arches and exquisite stainedglas-swindows. Flowers gave the air a fresh feeling without being heady orover-scented. Candlelight glowed romantically from every availablesurface. Everyone looked happy, Alessandro and Lorna most of all. His
mother glowed from the front row in a tasteful dress with tiny intricateembroidery that shimmered in the fli-ckering golden light. Everythingaround him was peaceful and joyous.
He should have been able to tease
Antonio about having done all the work for him as best man when thewedding was still for Giovanni. He should have been able to appreciate thestrength in Don Bianchi, still recovering from a heart attack, walking hisdaughter down the aisle. He should have been able to congratulate hismother on always managing to find the best catering.
But his mind swam in circles, unable to leave one thought alone. Likewhen you lose a tooth as a child and your tongue habitually finds the hole
and you can’t just let it be and eventually the new tooth pokes up sharpfrom the gum and cuts the side of your tongue,
but you still can’t leave it
alone, so the cut never really heals. His mother had an affair. That was thereason Caroline’s father was dead. He wanted to tell her. He wanted to talk
to Caroline about it, but he needed proof. Silhouettes reflected in the poolweren’t concrete evidence. And maybe that was enough for a journalist, but
it wasn’t for Luca. The biggest frustration that he faced now, was that hedidn’t know what to do next or how to find the answers.
Luca picked at his plate and bounced his knee, restlessly. The ambiance
in the reception hall was white noise that canceled itself out. People
laughing, the occasional cough, the cli-ck and clatter of metal cutlery on
porcelain dishes, squeaks as chairs scooted on the floor. The smell of wellseasoned food and copious amounts of cologne and perfume. It all canceled
out into nothingness.
Giovanni, sitting next to him, leaned over to ask if he was all right. Luca
shook his head, staring a hole in his plate. “Can I talk to you?” But what he
meant was ‘Can I confide in you?’ ‘Can I trust you?’ ‘Will you help me
make sense of the thoughts in my own head?’
“Of course.” Giovanni answered both the spoken question and the
unspoken ones. He turned his body toward Luca so he knew he had his full
attention. “What’s up?”
Luca w-et his li-ps.
“I think,” he started, then looked up at his brother. “I
think mom had an affair with Mr. Wells.”
Giovanni looked at him blankly, not understanding. “What?” And he
had every right to be confused. Luca wasn’t inclined to believe it either.
Their mother was not the type to have an affair. She was duty bound and
loved her family too much.
Luca looked around, but no one was paying them any attention. It
wasn’t their ‘big day.’ “I was watching security footage, and I saw… You
know how their bedroom looked out on the pool?” Giovanni nodded and
Luca kept his cool,
so he didn’t look suspicious. “There were shadows.
Silhouettes. It was mom, and it definitely wasn’t dad.”
Giovanni’s expression didn’t change, but everything about his aura did.
“Mom had an affair,” he repeated, still with a note of disbelief. “And noneof us knew.”
Luca shrugged and poked the food on his plate with his fork. “She’sgood.” Their mother didn’t get enough credit for all the secrets she kept.
If his father were ever arrested for his crimes, his mother wouldn’t be chargedfor accessory. She would plead ignorance and she would be acquitted. Noone knew what Gianna Moretti was thinking and she could lie as easy astaking a breath. Luca had witnessed it firsthand in school when she took theblame for forgotten permission sli-ps or covered for absences.
Giovanni took a drink and shook his head. “Mr. Wells. He was thatjanitor, right? Luca nodded. “The reporter’s father.” Luca sat still and saidnothing. His brother leaned forward. “You were supposed to kill her, right?”
Again, Luca didn’t respond. “Did you kill her?” Giovanni asked in the soft
voice one might take with a child who shattered a drinking gla-ss. Luca
didn’t move—couldn’t. His eyes were locked on the edge of his plate, but
he couldn’t see it. His mind was miles away in his apartment with Caroline.
Giovanni sat back in his chair and ran a hand throu-ghhis hair. “God, Luca.
What have you done?”
Luca snapped out of it. “What do I do now?” He searched his brother’s
face for answers. “I need to know the truth. I need evidence, but I can’t just
walk up to dad and ask. He’d be all ‘you come to me on the day my son is
to be married and you ask if I have done murder?’ And I can’t say anything
to mom…”
Giovanni quieted his brother with a hand on his shoulder. “Listen, if it
were me, I’d ask Rob. If anyone would know, it would be him.”
Luca took a breath. Rob was their father’s go-to man for cleaning up
messes. If something happened that needed cleaning up, Rob would know.
Luca should have thought of that, but he’d been so caught up in the problem
that he couldn’t see the obvious solutions. “Yeah.
Good idea. Thank you.”
He meant it. Some level of peace soothed the wrinkles in his mind. He had
a plan of action. He knew what the next step would be. That gave him
immeasurable comfort. The tooth grew back in and the perpetual scra-pe on
the side of his tongue healed. He was able to think about other things. Like
Giovanni and all his struggles. “How is Delilah doing?” he asked.
Giovanni tensed and picked up his fork to distract himself. “Her father
is still struggling with the loss of the gym.
It took its toll on everyone, but it
was his entire income.” He didn’t answer the question. One of Gio’s
favorite tactics.
Luca gave him a side eye. “Obviously. But I asked about Delilah.” His
reluctance to talk about her meant something was going on. Luca had beenrooting for Giovanni and Delilah for years and years and he hoped they’dbe okay.
The sigh that Giovanni exhaled wasn’t meant to be dramatic or drawattention to itself. But Luca knew it meant something. “She’s the same.” His
voice was cli-pped. “She’s always the same. Barely managing to keep herhead above water but doesn’t want help. If I could just…” he trailed offwith a helpless flop of his hands.
Luca understood. He looked down the table at Alessandro and Lorna.
“In my experience, women can’t just take the help. They’re taught from a young age that it’s unforgivable to be a ‘pussy’ or do anything ‘like a girl’
so they have to make up for that every day of their lives. They grow
stronger than anyone gives them credit for. Tough as nails.” He looked up at
his brother. “Delilah is no exception. She’s a strong, independent woman.
She doesn’t need you to fix her problems, but she probably appreciates your
support.”
Giovanni gave Luca a dark look. “But I want to do more than support
her.”
“I know.” And he did. But they were treading dangerously close to the
things they shouldn’t say out loud. Knowing something and putting into
words were two different boundaries, and sometimes, leaving things unsaid
was better for everyone. So they both fell silent.
The toasts at the reception began with the best man, Antonio. “I could
tell you more than you’d ever want to hear about Alessandro.” He winked
secretively, “Twin telepathy, you know.” Alessandro rolled his eyes, but
never stopped smiling. Luca looked between the twins, amused. They’d
always tried to convince themselves and everyone around them that they
had ‘twin telepathy’, but it had never worked. Not when they played boardgames and not when they were trying to get out of trouble. Antoniocontinued. “But honestly,
I’ve never seen him this happy and if that’sbecause of Lorna, then she’s my favorite sister-in-law.” Everyone laughedand Luca rolled his eyes at Giovanni.
Lorna cupped her hands around her mouth and yelled over to him, “I’myour only sister-in-law.”
More laughter. Antonio wrapped up his speech in heartfelt brotherlylove, then added, “But it’s not a race, bro. If I wanted
to get married first, Icould have.”
“Sure,” Alessandro taunted, and the family laughed again. Luca grinnedbecause everything was a race with those two. They had to be in some sortof competition at all times. But in a healthy way. They still loved each othermore than anything.
Mina, Lorna’s maid of honor, stood up to give her speech next. Shelisted Lorna’s accomplishments; her undergraduate degree in art and piano
performance, the various awards she won for paintings and for musiccompetitions. Luca hadn’t realized how artistic Lorna was. She didn’t quitestrike him as the type. “But I think Lorna’s
accomplishment that we’re allmost envious of is that she found someone who looks at her like Alessandro does.” Mina pointed to Alessandro who happened to be gazing at Lorna
with a sickening amount of love in his eyes. Lorna pushed him playfully
and Luca made a gagging noise that caused Giovanni to cough to stifle a
chuckle. Mina continued brightly. “I know what Lorna looks like when
she’s not excited to get married, and I know what Lorna looks like when she
is excited to get married and I’m so glad we’re here today to celebrate
Lorna and Alessandro.”
Giovanni threw Luca a look. Luca watched his father’s reaction, which
seemed softened by the cake sitting in front of him and his wife’s hand on
his arm. At least he wouldn’t make a stink about this. He’d grumbled his
share leading up to it, but he seemed resigned to it now, if not excited.
Luca’s mother on the other hand, looked thrilled that her sons had
straightened everything out and were marrying for love, and that all her
wedding planning didn’t go to waste.
Giovanni clapped Luca on the
shoulder and stood up to speak. “I know I’m not really on the roster, but I
wanted to say something to my brother.” Giovanni held his flute of
champagne with the suave confidence of a business executive in front of a
captive audience. “Alessandro, Lord knows we’ve had our differences and
our disagreements over the years, But I want you to know that I’m proud of
you. You are dedicated and hardworking and when you want something,
you don’t give up. I hope you never do.” He looked between Lorna and his
brother.
“I hope neither of you gives up on each other. I’ve only had the
opportunity to get to know Lorna more recently, but words can’t express
how happy I am that she married my brother.” Unspoken there was I’m
happy she married my brother instead of me. Luca smiled because really
this was so much better for everyone involved. Giovanni raised his gla-ss.
“So all health and good fortune for Mr. and Mrs. Alessandro Moretti.”
Luca raised his glas-sand toasted with the rest of the family, but hedidn’t enjoy the champagne. Something heavy weighed down his chest.
Watching the happy couple, thinking about the secrets they kept and howmuch better things were now that everything was out in the open made himfeel down. He didn’t like to keep things from Caroline. He promised not tolie to her, and a lie of omission was still a lie.
He stayed at the reception only long enough to be polite. He knew theway to Rob’s house from years of delivering messages. He needed to get tothe bottom of this. He needed concrete answers. Indisputable evidence. Hehated the tension between him and Caroline from being stuck in a limbo of not knowing enough. He would find the answers for her, whatever they
happened to be. However damning for him and his family. She deserved the
truth.
He parked his car in the driveway of the upper-clas-ssuburban ranch
house and knocked on the door with all the confidence he convinced
himself he had. A shadow moved behind the blinds. Indistinct voices
throu-ghthe door. Rob seemed to have company, but he answered the door
all the same.
“What are you doing here?” The map of wrinkles, frown lines, and age
spots on leathery skin under tufty white hair were all familiar. Eyes so pale
blue that on an animal they might indicate blindness, and watery so they
were always shiny, picked Luca apart as he stood in front of the door.
“Nice to see you too.” Luca greeted the old man. “I need answers and I
thought you might be able to help me.”
Rob shrunk back inside the house, cautious. “Maybe.”
Cautious. Defensive. For as good as Rob was at covering the Morettis’
tracks, he was emotionally an open book. Luca took his caution as a reason
to move forward
with this. “Did you know a Peter Wells?”
Rob relaxed. Not completely, but enough. “Name sounds familiar.”
Luca pulled out his phone with a picture of Caroline’s father and
showed him. “Was this a cleanup job my father a-ssigned to you?” Hecouldn’t keep beating around the bush with him. He wouldn’t get answers
that way. The more direct the questions, the more direct the answers wouldbe.
Rob pressed his li-ps together under his bushy mustache. “Bruno doesn’tlike me talking.”
Luca crossed his arms and raised his eyebrows. “I’m his son. Probablyhis favorite right now.” But not for long. His father wasn’t thrilled witheither Alessandro or Giovanni for messing with his master plan to absorb
the Bianchi family’s domain. As far as Luca knew, Antonio hadn’t doneanything polarizing recently,
but in general their father favored Luca. Lucatook things more seriously than either of the twins and their fatherinterpreted that as genuine interest in the business instead of personalitytraits or defense mechanisms. But his status wouldn’t last long. He couldn’tkeep Caroline a secret forever. Giovanni wouldn’t tell, but it would comeout sooner or later.
“Then why don’t you ask him?” Rob wouldn’t be intimidated. That was
part of the reason he was so valuable. Luca could hiss and growl and
threaten him until he was blue in the face, but Rob wouldn’t talk unless he
wanted to.
Luca sighed. “I need to find this person for a girl, but if my father took
care of him, I never will. I just want to give her closure.” Luca knew he
looked the part of a lovesick fool without acting and the slight manipulation
of the truth made him more sympathetic. His mother told him the best lies
were rooted in the truth and a good lie included some embarra-ssing detail
that no normal person would make up because they wouldn’t want to appear
flawed. This was only a tiny lie, but it was perfect, and his mother would be
proud.
It worked. Rob patted the door, then stepped back. “Come inside.”
Rob’s house was cluttered, and it put Luca on edge. Every available
surface was covered in nick-knacks and papers and unopened mail and dirty
dishes and half eaten bags of chips and tacky decorations. But Luca ignored
the part of himself that screamed ‘how do you live like this?’ and waited forRob to tell him what he needed to know.
Rob settled into an armchair covered in cat hair. “Peter Wells. He was ajanitor or something?”
“That’s right.” Luca chose to ignore the suspicious stain on the carpet athis feet and fixed his gaze on the dusty, outdated television set. Hewondered how anyone could even see throu-ghthe layer of grime on thescreen.
Rob buzzed his li-ps and looked up at the cobwebs in the corner of theceiling like they held all his memories. “If I remember correctly,
that was acleanup job about fifteen years ago,” he said. “Messy stuff. Obviouslypersonal.”
“How so?” Luca needed all the details, however messy. And messyseemed to be the theme. He sli-pped his hands into his pockets so hewouldn’t accidentally touch anything.
He laughed. A rou-ghsort of barking sound. “You don’t have a man’sco-ck cut off if it’s not personal.” He shook his head. “I can try to dig up therecords for you, but it might take some time.” He looked around the mess
and waved a hand dismissively.
Luca didn’t need a paper trail. He had the evidence he came for. He alsodidn’t want to wait while Rob dug throu-ghthis mess to find what he needed. And just the thought of all the dust that would kick up made his
nose itch. “No, thank you.” He bowed his head respectfully and showed
himself out.
He wasn’t sure how he was going to tell Caroline, but he had proof and
she needed to know. Better to rip the band aid off. The drive back to hisapartment didn’t take long. He dragged
his feet on the way upstairs, trying
to think of a nice way to deliver the news and not quite looking forward toit. ‘Yes, hello, Caroline, so it turns out my father did murder your father,and not only did he murder him, but he also had him castrated because
actually, funny story, your dad was having an affair with my mom. Wow,what a crazy time, eh?’ He just didn’t see it going over well.
And he sowanted to find out that his family was innocent of this. He wanted to be thegood guy for once. He wanted to have sent her throu-ghcollege because ofhow her father did good work for them. He wanted to prove her wrong and
be worthy of her affection. As if clearing his name from her vendetta wouldmake him a better person somehow. But it was always the same. Luca was a
pawn who couldn’t see the whole game board and didn’t have a choice inhis allegiance.
He unlocked his door and stepped inside. He’d been expecting Carolineto be waiting on the sofa like she usually did. She’d look up in disinterest
and pointedly not ask him about the wedding and he’d tell her anyway withbig words and detached manners. She’d eventually crawl into his lap andmaybe that’s when he would tell her. When he could hold her and a-ssure herthat he wasn’t like his father.
Didn’t want to be like his father. Didn’t agreewith anything his father did.
But she wasn’t in the living room. Or in the kitchen. Maybe she was inhis room. “Caroline?” he called. No answer. Usually she would at least yellback to tell him she’d be a minute or to mind his own business or leave heralone. He walked the whole apartment calling her name, but she wasn’tthere. In his bedroom, on the floor, one of his gun cases had been dragged
from under the bed. It had been thrown open. And the gun was gone.
A sick feeling settled in Luca’s stomach. Where was she? And why didshe need a gun? He hadn’t officially lifted the ‘don’t leave the building’rule, and she’d seemed to understand why being out and about would bedangerous. Maybe she was in danger. Any number of things could havehappened. She could have run for her own safety He looked around the room. Her cell phone sat on the bedside table, stillplugged into the wall. So he couldn’t reach her. His laptop was sprawled on
the bed, not where he left it and cracked open. Luca frowned. He knew heclosed it and left it on his desk. He opened it up and saw the security video
he’d been watching paused on the screen. Darkness swallowed the areaaround the pool, but a few windows illuminated the deck and reflected inthe water. Two black, warped silhouettes framed by yellow light kis-sed,fractured by ripples in the water.
“Goddamnit, Caroline,” Luca cursed and slammed his laptop closed.
She’d seen it before he could tell her before he could explain. She hadn’tthought about it, just acted. He should have told her. He should have told
her right away. She was going to die. She took his gun and headed straightfor a swift and merciless death. He knew where she was. He couldn’t doanything now to stop her. It would be his fault. He would never forgivehimself if she died. He took off running and grabbed his keys on the wayout the door.
TBC