Chapter 4 - THE LETTER FOR TWO SONS
Robert’s safe-deposit box contained one envelope.
The edges were blackened.
The paper smelled faintly of smoke even after twelve years.
Luca opened it with Naomi present.
Not Peter.
Not Vanessa.
Not me.
He later told me what it said.
Salvatore Moretti had written the letter four months before he died.
Luca,
If you are reading this with Julian, then I have finally done something I should have done years ago.
Luca stopped there.
Julian.
Not “the claimant.”
Not “the boy.”
His father had known.
The letter continued.
Salvatore admitted Julian Vale was his biological son.
Julian’s mother, Claire Vale, had worked in a Moretti-owned hotel in Milwaukee.
The relationship happened during a long separation from Luca’s mother.
It ended before Julian was born.
Claire never asked Salvatore for money.
Years later, after Julian was sixteen, she finally told Salvatore he had a son.
Salvatore met him secretly.
Several times.
Then cowardice won.
He feared scandal.
Feared his wife.
Feared Luca would believe he had been replaced.
So he kept Julian hidden.
Salvatore established a trust containing thirty percent of his legitimate holdings.
Not criminal operations.
Shipping.
Restaurants.
Real estate.
Those shares would pass to Julian if paternity was confirmed after Salvatore’s death.
The DNA test already existed.
Positive.
Salvatore left a duplicate with Peter.
That was the problem.
Peter believes two sons will divide this family. I believe hiding one will do worse.
Luca read that line three times.
His father had known his brother well.
At the bottom:
Luca, Julian did not steal anything from you by being born.
Then:
Julian, Luca did not steal anything from you by being acknowledged first.
Finally:
If I have left you fighting over what I should have had the courage to divide honestly, then the failure is mine.
Luca sat in silence for almost an hour.
Then he called Julian.
Vanessa had provided the number before leaving.
Julian answered.
“You found it.”
Not a question.
Luca’s voice was quiet.
“Yes.”
Another silence.
Then:
“Did he say my name?”
“Yes.”
Julian did not answer for several seconds.
When he did, his voice had broken.
“That’s all I wanted twelve years ago.”
Luca closed his eyes.
“Where are you?”
Julian laughed sadly.
“You’re going to send someone?”
“No.”
“Peter did.”
“I’m not Peter.”
“No.”
Julian paused.
“You’re Salvatore.”
That hurt.
Maybe deserved.
Luca said:
“Meet me with attorneys.”
Julian was silent.
Then:
“Attorneys?”
“Yes.”
“No guns?”
“No guns.”
“No family men?”
“No.”
A faint laugh.
“Vanessa really broke you.”
“No.”
Luca looked at their father’s letter.
“I think my father did.”
They met two days later.
Julian Vale was thirty-six now.
Same dark eyes as Luca.
Different face.
Same hands.
That unsettled Luca most.
Their father’s hands.
Julian brought his own lawyer.
Good.
No one trusted anyone enough to pretend otherwise.
Independent DNA testing followed.
99.999 percent probability of a biological relationship through Salvatore.
Julian was real.
Luca had a brother.
He also had an inheritance problem.
Victor calculated the value of the legitimate assets Salvatore intended for Julian.
After appreciation:
Almost seventy-eight million dollars.
Luca stared.
Julian did not smile.
“I’m not asking for seventy-eight.”
“It’s yours if the trust is valid.”
“It was yours for twelve years.”
“No.”
Luca looked at him.
“It was under my control for twelve years.”
Difference.
Julian studied him.
“You’re really going to hand it over?”
“No.”
His attorney looked alarmed.
Luca continued.
“We’re going to have independent trustees calculate exactly what should have been yours, including distributions.”
Julian stared.
“That could be more.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because my father wrote one useful sentence.”
Which one?
You did not steal anything from me by being born.
Julian looked away.
The first meeting did not end with a hug.
Thank God.
Families do not heal like television.
Julian left angry.
Luca stayed guilty.
But the next week they met again.
Then again.
That was how something began.
Meanwhile, Peter Moretti returned to Chicago.
Not voluntarily.
He appeared because the trust litigation threatened to expose everything.
He called Luca.
“Nephew.”
Luca’s voice went cold.
“Do not call me that.”
“I protected you.”
“No.”
“Julian would have torn the family apart.”
“You did that.”
“I paid him enough to start a life.”
“You paid him to disappear.”
“He accepted.”
“After you threatened his mother’s pension.”
Silence.
Julian had finally told Luca.
Peter had pressured Claire Vale through her employer and threatened to expose private medical debts unless Julian signed.
Five hundred thousand dollars suddenly looked less like settlement.
More like coercion.
Peter said:
“You don't understand what your father built.”
Luca looked around the office Salvatore had once occupied.
“Maybe I finally do.”
Peter laughed.
“You're becoming soft.”
Luca thought about Sophie standing with blood on her apron.
Robert without his medication.
Julian waiting twelve years for a letter.
“No.”
He answered.
“I’m becoming expensive.”
“What?”
“Your lies are about to cost the family a fortune.”
May you like
For once, Peter had no reply.
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