Chapter 2 - Eleven Months of SilenceNobody left Belladonna.
That was Adrian Moretti’s first order.
Not loud.
Not dramatic.
He simply looked toward the restaurant entrance and said, “Lock the doors.”
Victor nearly dropped the reservation tablet.
“Mr. Moretti, we still have customers—”
“Then politely explain there is a private security issue.”
Within thirty seconds, two men were standing at every exit.
Emma remained beside Luca.
She wished she hadn’t.
Not because she regretted helping him.
Because she had suddenly become part of something much larger than a frightened teenager having a panic attack.
Marco Moretti leaned back in his chair.
“This is ridiculous.”
Adrian looked at him.
“Is it?”
“He’s fourteen.”
“He’s my son.”
“He suffered a traumatic brain injury.”
Luca watched their mouths.
Emma noticed he was trying to lip-read.
Marco continued.
“He barely communicated with anyone for months. Doctors told you his memories could be distorted.”
Adrian’s jaw flexed.
“The doctors said trauma can affect memory. They never said my son invented a murder.”
Marco pointed at Emma.
“And now some waitress comes over, waves her hands around, and suddenly Luca has solved Daniel Ruiz’s disappearance?”
Emma stiffened.
Luca saw Marco’s gesture.
His expression hardened.
Adrian followed his son’s eyes.
“Don’t point at her.”
Marco gave a humorless laugh.
“Adrian.”
“I said don’t.”
The room chilled.
Marco lowered his hand.
Emma signed to Luca.
Do you want to leave this room?
He nodded immediately.
Adrian noticed.
“What is he saying?”
“He wants somewhere quieter.”
Adrian looked toward one of his security men.
“Private dining room.”
Marco stood.
“I’m coming.”
“No.”
The single word carried enough authority to stop everyone.
Marco stared at his brother.
Adrian stepped closer.
“If Luca is accusing you, you’re the last person entering that room.”
“Are you seriously treating me like a suspect?”
“I’m treating my son like someone who deserves to be heard.”
Emma looked at Luca when she signed Adrian’s sentence.
The boy’s face changed.
Just slightly.
But Adrian noticed.
It seemed to hurt him.
Five minutes later, Emma sat inside a small private dining room with Luca and Adrian.
A security man named Gabriel remained beside the door.
No one else was allowed inside.
Adrian took the seat across from his son.
Emma sat between them.
For several seconds, none of them communicated.
Then Adrian raised his hands.
His signing was basic and hesitant.
Tell me.
Luca looked down.
Adrian tried again.
Please.
Emma’s throat tightened.
This wasn’t the crime boss Belladonna employees whispered about.
It was a father terrified of what his child was about to say.
Luca began.
Eleven months earlier, Daniel Ruiz had visited the Moretti estate after dinner.
That wasn’t unusual.
Daniel had worked for Adrian for almost fifteen years.
He managed legitimate corporate finances, taxes, investments, payroll, and several charitable foundations Isabella Moretti had established before her death.
Daniel also happened to be one of the few adults outside the family Luca trusted.
He knew ASL.
Not fluently.
But enough to joke with Luca.
That night, Luca had been upstairs when he saw Daniel walking toward the old conservatory behind the east wing.
Marco followed several minutes later.
Luca thought they were discussing business.
He went downstairs because Daniel had promised to bring him a new chess puzzle.
The conservatory door was partly open.
Luca saw Marco and Daniel arguing.
He couldn’t hear them, but he could see their faces.
Daniel held a phone.
Marco tried to take it.
Daniel refused.
Then Marco shoved him.
Daniel struck the edge of a stone planter.
He didn’t get up.
Emma’s fingers slowed as she interpreted for Adrian.
Adrian didn’t blink.
“What happened next?”
Luca swallowed.
Marco knelt beside Daniel.
Checked his neck.
Then he dragged Daniel behind a row of plants.
Luca had been watching through the glass.
Marco looked up.
Saw him.
Luca ran.
He raced through the east hallway and toward the central staircase.
Marco caught him.
Luca remembered Marco grabbing his coat.
Then hands against his back.
Then falling.
Nothing after that.
Adrian’s face drained of color.
Emma interpreted the last part.
The silence afterward lasted so long that Emma heard the faint vibration of music outside the room.
Adrian stood.
Turned away.
Pressed both palms against the wall.
Luca watched him.
His hands moved.
He didn’t believe me before.
Emma hesitated.
“Mr. Moretti.”
Adrian looked over.
“Luca says you didn’t believe him before.”
Adrian frowned.
“I never knew.”
Luca became agitated.
He signed.
I told you. Hospital.
Adrian shook his head.
“You didn’t.”
Luca insisted.
Hospital. I told you Marco.
Adrian looked at Emma.
“What exactly is he saying?”
Emma translated.
Adrian’s expression changed from confusion to horror.
“At the hospital, he couldn’t sign.”
Luca froze.
Emma looked between them.
“Why?”
“His right wrist was broken. His left shoulder was dislocated. He could barely move either arm.”
Luca pointed toward his mouth.
Then his throat.
Adrian understood.
“You tried to tell me.”
Luca nodded.
“By speaking?”
Another nod.
Adrian sat slowly.
“My son doesn’t speak often,” he told Emma. “He can. A little. But he stopped after his mother died. At the hospital, he kept saying something.”
“What?”
Adrian’s eyes closed.
“Mark.”
Emma felt goose bumps rise along her arms.
“I thought he was asking for his art markers.”
Luca shook his head fiercely.
Marco. I was saying Marco.
Adrian stared at him.
His hand covered his mouth.
For eleven months, the boy had apparently believed his father ignored him.
For eleven months, Adrian believed trauma had made his son retreat.
The truth was painfully simpler.
They had failed to understand each other.
Emma signed.
Your dad didn’t know.
Luca looked away.
He should have.
Emma couldn’t argue.
Adrian saw the exchange.
“What?”
Emma hesitated.
“Luca said you should have known.”
The words hit harder than any accusation Marco had made.
Adrian nodded slowly.
“He’s right.”
Luca looked back.
Adrian signed, clumsy but clear.
I failed.
Luca’s eyes widened.
I am sorry.
Then Adrian spoke aloud although his son couldn’t hear it.
“I’m so sorry.”
Luca stared at his father’s face.
Maybe he read the words.
Maybe he didn’t need to.
His eyes filled.
But he didn’t move toward Adrian.
Not yet.
Adrian wiped his face once and returned to business.
“The phone.”
Luca tensed.
Emma signed.
Where is Daniel’s phone?
Luca’s answer surprised both of them.
Mom’s room.
Adrian went still.
Isabella Moretti’s bedroom had been sealed after her death.
According to staff gossip, almost nothing inside had been touched.
“How?”
Luca explained.
After seeing Daniel fall, but before Marco spotted him, Luca had entered the conservatory.
Daniel was barely conscious.
He pushed the phone into Luca’s hand.
Daniel knew some ASL.
He signed one word.
Hide.
Luca slipped it into his sweatshirt.
Then Marco entered.
Luca ran.
Somehow the phone remained in his clothing after the fall.
At the hospital, no one noticed because Luca had hidden it inside the lining of his jacket.
After returning home, he placed it somewhere nobody would search.
Inside his mother’s old music box.
Adrian stood immediately.
“We’re going home.”
Emma stared at him.
“We?”
Adrian looked at her.
“Luca trusts you.”
“That doesn’t mean I should go to your house.”
“It means he needs someone who understands him until I can bring in an interpreter I trust.”
Emma almost laughed from nerves.
“You’re saying you don’t have one?”
“I did.”
“What happened?”
“She quit.”
“Why?”
Adrian’s gaze shifted toward Luca.
“He stopped communicating with her after the accident.”
Emma understood.
Maybe Luca had trusted nobody because the person who tried to kill him remained inside the family.
Adrian stepped closer.
“I will pay you.”
“This isn’t about money.”
“I know.”
“Then you should understand why going to the home of a man your son just accused of murder doesn’t sound safe.”
“Marco won’t be there.”
“How do you know?”
Adrian’s expression became hard.
“Because I’m going to make sure of it.”
Emma looked at Luca.
He signed.
Please come.
That was what decided it.
Twenty minutes later, Emma was riding through Manhattan in the back seat of a black SUV beside Luca Moretti.
Adrian sat opposite them.
Three security vehicles surrounded their car.
Luca barely looked away from the window.
Emma thought about the phone.
About Daniel.
About Marco.
Then she remembered one detail.
Luca had originally signed something else at the restaurant.
Woman. Kitchen. Red bracelet.
Emma touched his sleeve.
He turned.
She signed.
Earlier you mentioned a woman with a red bracelet. Who is she?
Luca’s face changed instantly.
Fear returned.
He looked toward his father.
Then signed.
She works at our house.
Emma’s pulse quickened.
Name?
Luca answered.
Elena.
Adrian watched.
“What is he saying?”
Emma translated.
Adrian frowned.
“Elena has worked for us for thirteen years.”
Luca continued signing.
Emma felt colder with every movement of his hands.
She saw Marco push me.
Emma stared at him.
Are you sure?
Yes.
Then Luca added:
She told me never to tell Dad because Marco would kill him too.
Emma looked at Adrian.
He had read enough of her expression to know the news wasn’t good.
“What?”
She told him.
Adrian immediately pulled out his phone.
“Gabriel.”
The security man in the front passenger seat turned.
“Sir?”
“Call the house. Find Elena.”
Gabriel dialed.
Thirty seconds passed.
Then sixty.
His face tightened.
“No answer from her room.”
“Check downstairs.”
Another call.
Gabriel listened.
Then slowly lowered the phone.
“Mr. Moretti.”
“What?”
“Elena left the estate forty minutes ago.”
Adrian’s eyes narrowed.
“Where did she go?”
“Nobody knows.”
Luca watched their faces.
Emma didn’t need to interpret.
The boy already understood.
Someone had warned Elena.
And only a handful of people knew what Luca had revealed at Belladonna.
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Which meant the danger wasn’t waiting at the Moretti estate.
It was already inside Adrian’s inner circle.
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