Chapter 11 - The Betrayal at Il Canto
Luca DeSantis entered the breakfast room like a man returning to a meeting he had never been excluded from.
He wore a dark suit and the square black ring Chloe had seen reflected in her bedroom mirror.
His expression was calm.
That calmness frightened her more than Rocco's threats ever had.
Gabriel stepped between Luca and Beatrice.
"You entered my house without permission."
Luca glanced toward the open doorway.
"Your staff still recognizes me."
"That may change."
Luca smiled slightly.
"Everything changes when a stranger starts translating family grievances."
Chloe's jaw tightened.
Beatrice signed.
Snake.
Chloe did not translate.
Luca noticed the movement and looked at her.
"What did she say?"
"She complimented your suit."
Beatrice covered a smile.
Luca's eyes narrowed.
"Cute."
Gabriel held out his hand.
"Proof."
Luca removed a folder from beneath his coat.
He placed it on the table.
Bank statements.
A wire transfer.
Ten thousand dollars from an account linked to Rocco.
Recipient: Leo Bennett.
Date: three days before Leo died.
Chloe felt sick.
She looked at Rocco.
"Explain."
Rocco stared at the paper.
"Leo needed money."
"For what?"
"To leave."
"Leave where?"
"Anywhere Luca couldn't find him."
Luca laughed quietly.
"Convenient."
Rocco turned on him.
"You were following him."
"According to you."
"According to Beatrice too."
Luca's gaze moved to her.
He softened his expression.
"Beatrice has been through a lot."
Chloe saw Gabriel's jaw tighten.
Luca continued.
"We all know grief affected her memory."
Beatrice's hands rose sharply.
Gabriel moved before Chloe translated.
He stepped close to Luca.
"Do not speak about my mother like she isn't in the room."
Luca blinked.
It was the first time his calm facade cracked.
"Gabriel."
"Look at her when you're talking about her."
Luca slowly turned toward Beatrice.
She stared back.
He did not know what to do with the silence.
For years, he had survived because her language meant nothing to him.
Now Chloe stood beside her.
And Gabriel was watching.
Luca looked away first.
"Rocco paid the boy."
Gabriel nodded.
"Rocco admitted it."
"He hid evidence from you."
"Also true."
"Then why is he still standing here?"
Gabriel looked at Rocco.
"For the moment, because I want answers more than punishment."
Rocco nodded once.
Luca's expression hardened.
"You are making a mistake."
"Maybe."
Gabriel closed the folder.
"You have made enough decisions for my family."
Luca went very still.
Beatrice watched his face.
Then she signed quickly to Chloe.
He is afraid.
Chloe glanced at Luca's hands.
His right thumb was rubbing the edge of his ring.
Again and again.
A nervous movement.
"She says you're afraid."
Luca looked at Chloe.
"Of what?"
"She didn't say."
Beatrice continued.
Ask about the hospital.
Chloe translated.
Gabriel's expression sharpened.
"Where were you the night my father went to the hospital?"
Luca's eyes flickered.
"Six years ago?"
"You remember the date."
"Of course I remember the night Anthony was sick."
Beatrice shook her head.
"He wasn't sick," Gabriel said.
Luca looked at him.
"What?"
"He was meeting Nina Vale."
For the first time, Luca lost color.
Rocco saw it.
"There it is."
Luca recovered quickly.
"Nina Vale is a liar."
"You knew they met."
"I knew she harassed him."
"At the hospital?"
Luca did not answer.
Beatrice signed.
He knows.
Gabriel stared at him.
"Get out."
Luca laughed once.
"You're throwing me out because a waitress says your mother moved her hands?"
Gabriel's face became frighteningly calm.
"I'm throwing you out because my mother has been trying to tell me your name for six years."
Luca's eyes shifted toward Chloe.
"And now suddenly she has a voice."
Chloe looked at him.
"She always had one."
Beatrice's eyes shone.
Luca smiled at Chloe.
"You should be careful with moral speeches when you don't understand the room you're in."
Chloe felt a chill.
Gabriel stepped forward.
"Leave."
Luca adjusted his cuff.
"Fine."
He looked at Rocco.
"When this collapses, remember who warned you."
Then he turned and walked out.
No one spoke until the front door closed.
Rocco exhaled.
"He knows we found something."
Gabriel nodded.
"Which means we move before he does."
Chloe looked at him.
"Move where?"
"Union Station."
Rocco shook his head.
"Too obvious now."
"Then Nina."
"I already called her."
Gabriel stared at him.
"When?"
"Five minutes before Luca arrived."
"And?"
Rocco's expression darkened.
"No answer."
Chloe looked at Beatrice.
"Maybe Il Canto."
Gabriel frowned.
"Why?"
"Leo met Beatrice there."
"So?"
"He hid things where people would notice them."
Chloe thought of the crooked picture frame.
"Maybe the restaurant has something we missed."
Marco called before Gabriel could answer.
Chloe's phone vibrated in her apron pocket.
She had forgotten she was still wearing the apron.
Marco's name flashed across the screen.
She answered.
"Marco?"
His voice was a whisper.
"Don't come back here."
Chloe stood straighter.
"Why?"
"Luca's men are in the dining room."
Gabriel took the phone from her and put it on speaker.
Marco heard the movement.
"Chloe?"
"I'm here."
"They asked for the wine cellar records."
Rocco's expression changed.
"Wine cellar?"
Marco continued.
"Leo worked a banquet here once."
Chloe's heart skipped.
"What?"
"Two years ago."
"He never told me."
"He wasn't on staff."
Marco's breathing quickened.
"He filled in for a dishwasher."
Chloe closed her eyes.
Leo had taken odd jobs constantly.
It was exactly like him not to mention one shift.
"What did he do in the wine cellar?"
Marco lowered his voice further.
"He scratched something into the wall behind rack seven."
"What?"
"I thought it was graffiti."
"Marco."
"It looked like hands."
Chloe's pulse exploded.
"ASL handshapes?"
"Maybe."
A door slammed on Marco's end.
His voice vanished.
Then another voice came through the phone.
Luca.
"Chloe."
She froze.
"You really should have listened to your manager."
The call ended.
Gabriel was already moving.
"No."
Chloe grabbed his sleeve.
He turned.
"Marco is there."
"That is why you're staying here."
"Leo left something there."
"I will find it."
"You don't know ASL."
The words stopped him.
Beatrice raised her hand.
I go.
Gabriel looked at both women.
"Absolutely not."
Chloe folded her arms.
Beatrice did the same.
Rocco looked between them.
"You are outnumbered."
Gabriel glared at him.
Twenty minutes later, they entered Il Canto through the delivery alley.
The restaurant looked empty.
Tables were set for lunch.
Sunlight fell across polished glasses.
No customers.
No staff.
No Luca.
Gabriel sent his men through the dining room.
Chloe followed Beatrice toward the cellar stairs.
The door was locked.
Rocco picked it in seconds.
Chloe looked at him.
"Former hobby?"
"Long story."
They descended.
The wine cellar smelled cool and earthy.
Rows of bottles disappeared into shadow.
Rack seven stood against the far wall.
Chloe pushed behind it.
There were scratches in the plaster.
Not random.
Handshapes.
L.
E.
O.
Chloe's eyes burned.
Beneath the name was a sequence of signs drawn as crude stick hands.
She traced them.
"Left."
Then another.
"Down."
Then a number.
"Three."
Rocco looked at the floor.
"Third stone?"
They counted from the left.
The third floor tile was loose.
Gabriel pried it up.
A flash drive lay beneath it.
Chloe laughed through sudden tears.
"He really did hide everything."
A door slammed above them.
Gabriel's men shouted.
Then the lights went out.
Chloe heard Beatrice inhale sharply.
A hand grabbed Chloe from behind.
She drove her elbow backward.
The grip loosened.
Rocco swore.
Gabriel shouted her name.
A flashlight beam cut across the cellar.
Luca stood at the bottom of the stairs.
Two men flanked him.
He was holding Marco by the collar.
Marco's face was bruised, but he was conscious.
Luca looked at the flash drive in Chloe's hand.
"Give me that."
Gabriel stepped in front of her.
"Let Marco go."
Luca smiled.
"You still think I'm the one giving orders."
Marco suddenly lifted his head.
He looked directly at Chloe.
"He's not."
Luca's grip tightened.
Marco forced the words out.
"Vincent has been taking orders from him."
Luca smiled wider.
"Marco always did talk too much."
Then a fire alarm screamed through the restaurant.
Sprinklers erupted above them.
The cellar lights flashed back on.
In the confusion, Beatrice grabbed Chloe's hand and pulled her toward a narrow service door behind the racks.
Chloe looked back.
Gabriel was fighting to reach Marco.
Rocco shoved one of Luca's men into the wall.
Beatrice pulled harder.
Chloe hesitated.
Then Marco screamed one final warning across the cellar.
"THE DRIVE IS A DECOY!"
Chloe froze.
Beatrice yanked open the service door.
Marco shouted again.
"LEO HID THE REAL FILE WITH HIS SISTER!"
Every head in the cellar turned toward Chloe.
She stared at Marco.
"With me?"
Luca smiled.
May you like
"Exactly."
