Chapter 7 - a brother's shadow
Luca stood frozen. His hand instinctively touched the gold signet ring on his pinky finger.
The ring was an heirloom, passed down through the direct bloodline of the Moretti leadership. There were only two in the entire world. His father had worn one, which now sat on Luca’s finger. The other had belonged to Luca’s younger half-brother, Julian.
"Julian," Luca murmured, the name tasting like ash on his tongue.
"Julian was twenty-two back then," Claire said, shaking her head. "He was quiet. He barely spoke to me when we were in the same room. I didn't think he had the courage to threaten anyone."
"Julian is smarter than you think," Luca said coldly. "And far more dangerous than he lets people believe."
Before Luca could continue, his phone buzzed on the desk.
The screen displayed an incoming call: *Julian Moretti.*
Luca stared at the glowing name for two long seconds. Claire gasped, stepping back from the desk as if the phone were an explosive.
Luca swiped the screen and put it on speaker.
"Julian," Luca said, keeping his tone perfectly level.
"Luca," a smooth, cultured voice answered. Julian spoke with the calm detachment of an Ivy League professor rather than a syndicate heir. "I heard from our dock manager in San Francisco. He said your private jet never filed a flight plan, but you were spotted at SFO thirty minutes ago. Is everything all right?"
Luca’s eyes stayed fixed on Claire. "Just personal business, Julian. Checking on some investments."
A brief pause hung on the line. Just half a second too long.
"Personal business," Julian repeated softly. "Of course. Well, I’m actually in San Francisco myself. Arrived yesterday for the tech infrastructure symposium. Why don't I come by the Nob Hill place? We can have a drink. Talk about the Q3 distribution."
"Not tonight," Luca said. "I have meetings."
"It's late for meetings, brother," Julian replied, his voice dripping with easy charm. "Unless you're entertaining guests. By the way... did you hear about that minor disturbance at the terminal? Terminal 2. Airport police found two abandoned vehicles. Shell company registrations. Odd, isn't it?"
Luca felt the hairs on his arms rise. Julian wasn't just checking in—he was probing. He knew.
"I don't pay attention to airport gossip," Luca said flatly. "I'll see you at the family council on Thursday."
Luca ended the call without waiting for an answer.
He tossed the phone onto the desk and looked at Claire. "How did they track you to the flight today, Claire? If you've been in hiding for six years, what changed today?"
Claire looked down at her hands, her expression crumbling.
"Lila got sick last month," Claire whispered. "A rare bacterial infection. The clinic in our small town couldn't treat it. We had to go to the state hospital in Columbus. They needed her birth certificate for insurance processing."
Luca closed his eyes. "And the birth certificate lists my name."
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"I had to, Luca!" Claire cried out. "The hospital was going to refuse the treatment without full parental medical history! I thought... I thought after six years, nobody was watching the state database."
"The Moretti registry monitors every hospital database in forty-eight states," Luca said, his voice hollow with realization. "The alert didn't trigger an investigation. It triggered an execution order."
