Chapter 7 - THE COST OF WALKING
Six months after the first step, Luca crossed the rehabilitation room with a walker.
Twelve feet.
He hated the walker.
Maya decorated it with purple tape.
He hated that more.
Secretly, he kept it.
The recovery hurt.
Nerve pain.
Muscle spasms.
Falls.
One particularly bad morning, Luca refused therapy.
Danielle found him in the study.
"You get one day."
"What?"
"Quit for one day."
"I'm not quitting."
"Good. Tomorrow you come back."
"What if I don't?"
"Then Maya will harass you."
She had learned his weakness.
He returned.
The criminal investigation exposed more.
Vale admitted he continued the medication because Vincent's monthly payments became essential to maintaining his lifestyle.
But after year three, Vincent genuinely stopped paying.
Vale continued anyway.
Why?
He had invested in a medical device company focused on long-term mobility equipment.
Luca was one of their most valuable private clients.
His permanent paralysis generated contracts.
Nursing.
Equipment.
Consultation.
An entire ecosystem profited.
The betrayal became less cinematic and more disgusting.
Not one mastermind.
Multiple people discovering the lie benefited them and deciding not to end it.
Luca told Elena:
"I wanted one villain."
"Why?"
"Easier."
She nodded.
"Life rarely respects narrative structure."
"You're becoming philosophical."
"I clean rich people's houses. You hear things."
Luca looked at her.
"You don't work here anymore."
"I know."
"Then why are you still cleaning my kitchen?"
She froze.
He smiled.
"Got you."
She threw the towel at him.
That was when he realized he loved her again.
Maybe never stopped.
But he didn't say it.
Honesty did not mean urgency.
Vincent's trial approached.
His lawyers offered a deal.
He would plead guilty to kidnapping-related charges but contest poisoning.
Prosecutors wanted Luca to testify.
Marco advised against it.
"Public record."
"I know."
"Questions about business."
"I know."
"Your father."
"I know."
"Then don't."
Luca thought about Elena's condition.
Honest when it costs you.
He testified.
Under oath.
About his collapse.
The medication.
Vincent.
The kidnapping.
Then defense asked about Luca's own criminal associations.
His lawyer objected.
Judge allowed limited questioning relevant to motive.
Luca could have minimized.
Instead:
"Yes."
"Did your organization use intimidation?"
"Yes."
"Violence?"
Luca paused.
"Historically, yes."
The courtroom went silent.
His attorneys nearly died.
The prosecutor looked surprised.
Defense counsel smiled.
"So your uncle was operating inside a violent family environment?"
"Yes."
"Perhaps he believed extreme measures were necessary."
"No."
Luca looked at the jury.
"Being surrounded by wrongdoing doesn't remove your ability to choose."
That became the quote reporters used.
It also became a problem for Luca.
Federal investigators reopened questions about older Moretti operations.
He expected that.
He cooperated through counsel where required.
Some captains left.
Some hated him.
The empire shrank.
Legitimate businesses survived.
Construction.
Restaurants.
Logistics.
Real estate.
Illegal revenue streams were quietly abandoned or dismantled.
Marco asked:
"You're really doing this?"
"Yes."
"Because of Maya?"
"Partly."
"And Elena?"
"Partly."
"What's the rest?"
Luca looked at his legs.
"Because I spent twelve years trapped in a body other people decided would benefit them."
He looked up.
"I'm not building a future that traps my daughter in my choices."
That was the cost of walking.
May you like
Not physical pain.
Changing direction once movement became possible.
