Chapter 10 - LUCA FINALLY TOLD ME WHY HE HAD FALLEN ASLEEP HOLDING MY DAUGHTER THAT FIRST DAY
A year after Ellie disappeared from Storage 14B, I asked Luca a question I had never asked.
“Why were you asleep?”
He frowned.
We were sitting in the lobby café of Moretti Tower.
Not his office.
I worked nearby now.
He had come for board meeting.
Ellie was with Daniel.
“People sleep.”
“Not you.”
“How do you know?”
“Employees talk.”
He looked offended.
“Dangerous organization.”
I smiled.
Then:
“You were holding a strange baby.”
His expression changed.
That day.
The beginning.
Luca looked toward window.
“I hadn’t slept in thirty-six hours.”
“Why?”
“Vincent.”
“You suspected?”
“Not him specifically.”
“I knew something inside company was wrong.”
“Then Ellie appeared.”
“And?”
He hesitated.
“She was crying.”
“I picked her up.”
“She stopped.”
“That simple?”
“No.”
He stared at coffee.
“I had a son.”
I froze.
“What?”
“Nobody at Tower knew?”
“Older employees.”
“People don’t discuss.”
Of course.
“What happened?”
Luca’s face became still.
“His mother left Chicago when he was two.”
“Not because of violence.”
“Because of me.”
My chest tightened.
“Control?”
“Yes.”
“She said every room became mine after I entered.”
“She was right.”
“Did you see him?”
“For a while.”
“Then less.”
“He’s sixteen now.”
I stared.
“Do you talk?”
“Birthday.”
“Christmas.”
“Sometimes.”
“That’s not talking.”
“No.”
Honesty.
“Why not change?”
He looked at me.
“Because it is easier to regret distance than risk rejection.”
That sentence did not sound like mafia boss.
It sounded like lonely father.
“Ellie reminded you.”
“Yes.”
“She grabbed my shirt exactly the way Matteo used to.”
“Your son?”
“Matteo.”
I smiled faintly.
Luca continued:
“I sat down.”
“She fell asleep.”
“I hadn’t slept.”
“Then apparently neither of us respected office policy.”
I laughed.
“So most feared man in city took nap.”
“Never repeat.”
“Employees will be devastated.”
Then Luca became serious.
“After Vincent case, I called Matteo.”
“And?”
“He hung up.”
I winced.
“Deserved.”
“Yes.”
“Then?”
“I called again two weeks later.”
“He answered.”
Progress.
Luca had begun seeing his son with therapist present.
No expensive gifts.
Matteo refused.
Good kid.
He lived with mother in Boston.
Wanted college.
Hated family reputation.
Luca had to sit with it.
I liked that.
Not suffering.
Accountability.
“Does he know about Ellie?”
“Yes.”
“What did you tell him?”
“That a baby stole evidence from my desk.”
I laughed.
“That is not what happened.”
“It is more flattering than being emotionally disarmed while exhausted.”
Then Luca said:
“I owe you something.”
“What?”
“Not money.”
“Good.”
He smiled slightly.
“An apology.”
I waited.
“I knew Daniel intended temporary disappearance.”
“I agreed.”
“I did not ask whether his wife should know.”
“I told myself operational safety justified secrecy.”
“I would make different decision now.”
My throat tightened.
“Why?”
“Because when I saw what silence did to you, I understood protection without consent can become another harm.”
That sounded like a lesson he had learned the hard way.
I nodded.
“Thank you.”
“Do you forgive me?”
I thought.
“Partly.”
His eyebrow rose.
“Unpleasantly specific.”
“Get used to it.”
He smiled.
Then:
“Daniel?”
“What about him?”
“Does he forgive me?”
“Ask Daniel.”
“Terrible system.”
“Healthy.”
A week later he did.
Daniel told me afterward.
“He asked if I blamed him.”
“What did you say?”
“I said yes.”
I laughed.
“And?”
“Then I said I also blamed myself.”
“Then?”
“Luca said, ‘Good talk,’ and left.”
That sounded exactly like him.
Our lives became ordinary enough for strange friendships.
Daniel and Luca were never close.
Too much history.
But mutual respect.
Luca hired Daniel once as external consultant? Better maybe no, conflict. Daniel refused Moretti work to keep distance.
He joined a cybersecurity company in Chicago and specialized in insider-risk systems.
Irony.
He used no story in marketing.
Good.
I finished hospitality certificate.
Promoted.
Our apartment became too small.
We moved to a modest house in Oak Park.
Mortgage.
Not Moretti-owned.
Not paid by Luca.
Daniel’s legal settlement for unlawful detention contributed part, but independently awarded.
We still had bills.
Just manageable.
Ellie turned two.
Then three.
She loved yellow.
Of course.
At three, she asked about silver necklace.
Daniel wore it again.
“Mine?”
she asked.
Daniel crouched.
“Someday.”
“Why?”
“My grandma gave it to me.”
“Then Mommy.”
“Then Luca.”
“Then you stole it.”
Ellie looked delighted.
“I steal?”
“You borrowed.”
I corrected.
“Without permission.”
She laughed.
Then:
“Luca scary?”
Daniel and I looked at each other.
“What do you think?”
I asked.
Ellie considered.
“No.”
“Why?”
“He sleepy.”
I laughed until I cried.
Luca hated story.
Matteo loved it when he eventually heard.
Yes.
Matteo.
Luca’s son began visiting Chicago.
At seventeen, he met Ellie.
She immediately ordered him to build blocks.
He obeyed.
Luca watched from across room with expression I remembered from first day.
Shaken.
Not because of threat.
Because life sometimes gives people second chances without making first failure disappear.
That year, Luca attended one of Matteo’s school events publicly.
No security theater.
No speech.
Sat back row.
His ex-partner? We can say Matteo's mother, Caroline Wells, allowed after gradual work. Good.
Luca did not win family back.
He earned pieces.
Maybe that was enough.
One evening he told me:
“People used to fear saying no to me.”
“Yes.”
“Now my son says no constantly.”
“Congratulations.”
“It’s exhausting.”
“Healthy.”
He sighed.
“I hate that word.”
I smiled.
So did I sometimes.
Healing is often less dramatic than danger.
More repetitive.
Apologies.
Boundaries.
Bills.
Therapy.
Choosing again.
No music.
No gunfire.
No headlines.
But one unfinished danger remained.
May you like
Vincent’s trial.
And he had decided to make Daniel the center of his defense.
