CHAPTER 4 — LUKA MORETTI'S SECRET
CHAPTER 4 — LUKA MORETTI'S SECRET
The words stayed with me long after the phone call ended.
Don't trust Luka Moretti.
I stared at the dark screen.
Then I looked at the man standing twenty feet away from me.
Luka.
The stranger who had signed the father line.
The man who had known my father.
The man who had rescued my daughter.
The man who had lied to me.
Again.
And now, apparently, the man my ex-husband feared almost as much as his own father.
Luka watched me silently.
He knew.
He could see the question in my eyes.
“What did Daniel tell you?” he asked.
I didn't answer.
“What did he say?”
I slowly lowered my phone.
“He said I shouldn't trust you.”
Luka's face didn't change.
Not even a flicker.
That frightened me more than anger would have.
“Do you believe him?”
“I don't know.”
“That is the correct answer.”
I stared at him.
“You're not going to deny it?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because Daniel has finally told you something true.”
My stomach tightened.
“What part?”
“That you shouldn't trust me.”
The farmhouse suddenly felt much smaller.
I took a step backward.
Luka noticed.
“You're afraid of me.”
“Yes.”
“You should be.”
I swallowed.
“Who are you?”
He looked away.
For several seconds, there was only the sound of wind moving through the broken trees outside.
Then Luka said quietly:
“My name isn't Luka Moretti.”
I felt the blood leave my face.
“What?”
He reached into his jacket.
Slowly.
I stepped backward.
“Don't.”
He stopped.
Then he pulled out a small leather wallet.
He opened it.
Inside was an identification card.
A different photograph.
A different name.
I stared.
LUCA MORETTI
Not Luka.
Luca.
The rest of the information made my mind spin.
“That's not possible.”
“It is.”
“You told me your name was Luka.”
“People call me Luka.”
“That's not what I mean.”
I looked at the photograph.
He looked younger.
Maybe twenty-two.
The same dark eyes.
The same scar along his jaw.
But underneath the photograph was another name.
A name I had seen before.
A name my father had once written in a notebook.
Luca Alessandro Moretti.
I looked up.
“Your father.”
“Yes.”
“His name was Alessandro Moretti.”
“Yes.”
“Is he still alive?”
Luca's expression became cold.
“No.”
“When did he die?”
“Three years ago.”
“How?”
“Suicide.”
I stared.
“You don't believe that.”
“No.”
“Who killed him?”
“My father's employers.”
“Meridian?”
Luca nodded.
I looked at the black drive sitting on the table.
“And that database belonged to them.”
“Yes.”
“Then why does Daniel say you're dangerous?”
“Because I am.”
I shook my head.
“This is insane.”
“No.”
He looked at me.
“This is what your father spent six years trying to keep you away from.”
I stood.
“Then tell me everything.”
Luca didn't move.
“Everything.”
“I can't.”
“You owe me.”
“I owe you nothing.”
“You signed my daughter's birth certificate.”
“I did.”
“You told me you would protect her.”
“I will.”
“You've lied to me.”
“Yes.”
“Then the least you can do is tell me why.”
Luca stared at me for a long moment.
Then he pulled out a chair.
“Sit.”
I didn't.
He waited.
Eventually, I sat.
He remained standing.
“My father was a scientist.”
I listened.
“He wasn't a criminal when he started working for Meridian.”
“What was he researching?”
“Genetic memory.”
“Like M-17.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because he believed certain genetic traits could help explain why some people developed extraordinary memory and pattern-recognition abilities.”
I frowned.
“That doesn't sound dangerous.”
“It wasn't.”
“Then what happened?”
“Money.”
His answer was immediate.
“Power.”
He looked toward the window.
“Meridian discovered that M-17 carriers weren't simply good at remembering information. Under certain conditions, their brains processed patterns differently.”
“How?”
“Imagine seeing a thousand pieces of information.”
“I can't.”
“Most people see a thousand separate things.”
“And M-17?”
“They see connections.”
I thought about my father.
His ability to walk into a room and immediately understand who was lying.
His uncanny predictions.
The way he could look at financial reports and see problems months before everyone else.
I had always thought he was brilliant.
Maybe he was something else.
Luca continued.
“Meridian realized that if they could predict how an M-17 carrier thought, they could use that person's brain as a predictive model.”
“For what?”
“Markets.”
“That's why my father was valuable.”
“Yes.”
“Politics?”
“Yes.”
“Security?”
“Yes.”
“War?”
Luca's silence answered me.
I felt sick.
“And children?”
His jaw tightened.
“That was where everything changed.”
I held Emma closer.
“What did they do?”
“They started looking for families.”
“To find M-17 children.”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Medical records.”
I remembered the hospital.
The missing birth record.
My hands began shaking.
“They've been monitoring pregnancies.”
“For years.”
“Mine?”
“Yes.”
“Since when?”
“Since before you met Daniel.”
I froze.
“What?”
Luca looked directly at me.
“Your father knew.”
My heart pounded.
“He knew they were watching me?”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn't he tell me?”
“Because he thought ignorance was protection.”
I laughed bitterly.
“It wasn't.”
“No.”
“It got me married to one of them.”
Luca didn't correct me.
“Daniel's family?”
“Yes.”
“His father works for Meridian.”
“More than works for them.”
“What does that mean?”
Luca's eyes hardened.
“He helped build it.”
I remembered Daniel's confession.
His father's threat.
His claim that he had married me because he was ordered to.
Suddenly pieces began fitting together.
But one piece didn't.
“Why did Daniel marry me?”
“Because of your father.”
“Explain.”
“Your father possessed something Meridian wanted.”
“The database?”
“No.”
“What, then?”
Luca looked at the black drive.
“The key.”
“What key?”
“The genetic key to M-17.”
I stared at him.
“That's what's on the drive?”
“No.”
“Then what is?”
“Your father's research.”
I shook my head.
“My father died six years ago.”
“Yes.”
“And the drive was given to you before he died.”
“Yes.”
“So why hasn't Meridian found it?”
“Because they think it was destroyed.”
“And you have it.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because your father trusted me.”
I looked at him.
“You keep saying that.”
“Because it's true.”
“Why you?”
Luca smiled sadly.
“Because I was the last person he expected to survive.”
I waited.
He finally told me.
When Luca was nineteen, his father discovered that Meridian had begun testing M-17-related treatments on children.
One of those children was Luca's younger sister.
Her name was Sofia.
“She was eleven.”
I listened silently.
“What happened to her?”
“She disappeared.”
My heart sank.
“Did she die?”
Luca looked away.
“I don't know.”
“You don't know?”
“No body was ever found.”
“How could she just disappear?”
“Meridian moved her.”
“Where?”
“I spent seven years trying to find out.”
“Did you?”
“I found the facility.”
My breath caught.
“And?”
“It was empty.”
“What did you find?”
“A room.”
“What kind?”
“A child's bedroom.”
Luca's voice became quieter.
“There were drawings on the wall.”
I felt a lump in my throat.
“Drawings?”
“Yes.”
“What did they say?”
“Her name.”
“Sofia?”
“No.”
He looked at Emma.
“The drawings were signed with a code.”
“What code?”
“M-17.”
Silence filled the room.
I looked down at my daughter.
“Could Sofia still be alive?”
“I don't know.”
“Then why do you think she's connected to Emma?”
“Because the last medical record I found listed a child with the same genetic markers as M-17.”
“When?”
“Three months before Emma was born.”
My heart stopped.
“Three months?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“Here.”
He pointed to the black drive.
“That's what I was trying to access.”
I stared at it.
“What does it contain?”
“Patient records.”
“Names?”
“Yes.”
“Is Sofia there?”
“I don't know.”
“Why not?”
“Because the database is encrypted.”
“And you can't open it?”
“I can.”
He paused.
“But there is a problem.”
“What?”
“The password.”
“What is it?”
“Your father.”
I frowned.
“What does that mean?”
“Your father designed the encryption.”
“And?”
“The password isn't a word.”
“What is it?”
Luca looked at me.
“It's biological.”
I stared.
“I don't understand.”
“Your father's system requires DNA.”
My breath caught.
“Whose DNA?”
“Yours.”
Silence.
Then I understood.
“You need my DNA to open it.”
“Yes.”
“That's why you found me.”
“No.”
“That's why you signed the birth certificate.”
“No.”
“Then why?”
Luca stepped closer.
“Because your father told me something before he died.”
“What?”
“He said if his daughter ever had a child, I would have to protect them both.”
I stared at him.
“Why both?”
Luca's eyes darkened.
“Because the mother would become as valuable as the child.”
I felt a chill.
“Why?”
“Because you carry the other half of the key.”
I couldn't speak.
My entire life had been constructed around a secret I had never known existed.
My father hadn't simply hidden information from me.
He had hidden me from the world.
And now that I had a child…
the world had finally found me.
I looked at Emma.
“What happens if they get my DNA?”
“They can access the database.”
“And then?”
“They'll know everything.”
“Everything about M-17?”
“Everything about your father.”
“And me?”
“Yes.”
“And Emma?”
Luca nodded.
“Yes.”
I stood.
“We destroy it.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because there are hundreds of children listed.”
I stopped.
“Children?”
“Children Meridian took.”
My anger disappeared.
“What?”
“Your father spent years collecting evidence.”
“Then why didn't he expose them?”
“He tried.”
“What happened?”
“They killed him.”
I closed my eyes.
My father's death.
The accident.
The truck.
The empty investigation.
The funeral.
All of it.
A lie.
I opened my eyes.
“Then we'll expose them.”
Luca stared at me.
“You don't understand what you're fighting.”
“Maybe not.”
“You will lose everything.”
“I already lost everything.”
“You have Emma.”
I looked at my daughter.
“Yes.”
“And if you fight this…”
“They'll come for her.”
“Yes.”
I tightened my grip around the blanket.
“Then I won't run.”
Luca's eyes changed.
Something like respect appeared.
“Your father said you'd say that.”
I looked at him.
“He knew me.”
“Better than anyone.”
I turned away.
“Where is Daniel?”
Luca didn't answer.
“Luca.”
“Gone.”
“What do you mean?”
“He disappeared.”
“When?”
“Twenty minutes ago.”
My blood ran cold.
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I didn't know if he was running from us or toward us.”
I grabbed my phone.
No messages.
No calls.
Nothing.
Then a message appeared.
From Daniel.
I'M SORRY.
Another arrived.
I FOUND THE LAST FILE.
Then:
DON'T LET LUKA OPEN IT.
I looked at Luka.
He had seen the messages.
“What last file?”
“I don't know.”
Another message appeared.
YOUR FATHER DIDN'T TRUST MORETTI.
Then:
HE TRUSTED ME.
I stared.
A final message arrived.
COME ALONE.
There was an address.
My hands shook.
Luca stepped forward.
“Don't go.”
“I have to.”
“No.”
“He may know where the missing children are.”
“He may be setting a trap.”
“So might you.”
Luca stopped.
I regretted saying it.
But he nodded.
“You're right.”
“You're not angry?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because now you're thinking like your father.”
I looked at the address.
“I'm going.”
“I'll follow.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“I said alone.”
“And I'm telling you no.”
“You don't control me.”
“I know.”
“Then stay here.”
“I can't.”
“Why?”
His answer came quietly.
“Because I promised your father.”
I looked at him.
“Stop using my father as an excuse.”
“It's not an excuse.”
“Then what is it?”
Luca looked toward Emma.
“A debt.”
He walked to the door.
I followed.
“Where are we going?”
“To find Daniel.”
“And if it's a trap?”
Luca opened the door.
“Then we'll find out who set it.”
The address led us to an abandoned train station.
It had been closed for nearly a decade.
Broken windows.
Rusting signs.
Empty platforms.
No people.
No cars.
I looked at Luka.
“This is insane.”
“Yes.”
“Daniel wouldn't come here.”
“He would if someone forced him.”
We entered.
The building smelled of dust and rain.
Then I heard a sound.
“Mom?”
I froze.
It wasn't Emma.
A child's voice.
Luka grabbed my arm.
“Stay behind me.”
We moved deeper into the station.
The voice came again.
“Mom?”
A little girl appeared from behind a pillar.
She looked about eight years old.
Dirty clothes.
Bare feet.
A bruise on her cheek.
I immediately moved toward her.
“Are you okay?”
Luka stopped me.
“Don't.”
The girl looked at him.
“You're Luka.”
His face changed.
“How do you know my name?”
The girl smiled.
Then she said:
“Because Sofia told me about you.”
Luka went completely still.
I felt my heart pounding.
“Sofia?”
The girl nodded.
“She said you'd come.”
Luka knelt.
“Where is she?”
The girl's smile disappeared.
“She can't come.”
“Why?”
“She's afraid.”
“Of whom?”
The girl looked at me.
“Your daughter.”
I felt cold.
“What?”
The girl pointed at Emma.
“Sofia said the baby is the reason they're coming back.”
Luka stood.
“Who?”
The girl whispered:
“Everyone.”
Then the lights came on.
All at once.
Dozens of men stepped from the shadows.
Guns were pointed at us.
I froze.
Luka moved in front of me.
But the girl screamed:
“No!”
She ran toward him.
“Don't shoot him!”
A man stepped forward.
Elegant suit.
Silver hair.
Cold eyes.
I recognized him immediately.
Daniel's father.
Richard Bennett.
He smiled.
“Mrs. Bennett.”
I held Emma tighter.
“You.”
“Yes.”
He looked at Luka.
“Still protecting her.”
Luka's jaw tightened.
Richard smiled.
“You never understood your father's final instruction, did you?”
Luka said nothing.
Richard looked at me.
“Your father didn't ask him to protect you.”
I frowned.
“What?”
“He asked Luka to keep you alive.”
My heart stopped.
“There's a difference.”
Richard took one step closer.
“Because your father knew something you don't.”
“What?”
Richard's smile widened.
“You were never supposed to be the mother of the M-17 child.”
I felt the world tilt.
“What are you talking about?”
He looked at Emma.
“She wasn't supposed to exist.”
Silence.
Then Richard said the words that shattered everything:
“Daniel didn't marry you to steal your father's research.”
He looked at Luka.
“He married you because we needed your DNA.”
Luka's face hardened.
Richard smiled.
“And Moretti has known the truth from the beginning.”
I looked at Luka.
He didn't deny it.
My heart broke.
“Is that true?”
Luka closed his eyes.
“Partly.”
“Partly?”
Richard laughed.
“Ask him who Emma's biological father really is.”
I stared at Luka.
He said nothing.
My voice became barely audible.
“Luka…”
He looked at me.
And for the first time since I met him, I saw something I had never seen in his eyes before.
Fear.
Not fear for himself.
Fear of telling me the truth.
“Tell me.”
He swallowed.
“Emma's DNA doesn't match Daniel.”
My knees almost gave way.
Richard smiled.
“And it doesn't match Luka's either.”
I looked at him.
“Then whose?”
Richard's smile disappeared.
“That,” he said, “is the secret your father died to protect.”
Behind him, a door opened.
A woman stepped into the station.
She had dark hair.
A scar above her eyebrow.
And eyes that looked exactly like Luka's.
Luka stopped breathing.
The woman whispered:
“Brother.”
His face went white.
“Sofia.”
She looked at Emma.
Then at me.
And said:
“I'm sorry.”
I tightened my arms around my daughter.
“For what?”
Sofia's eyes filled with tears.
“For being the reason your husband left you.”
The station fell silent.
Then she whispered:
“Because Daniel was never supposed to be Emma's father.”
And Luka looked at me as if he already knew what was coming.
May you like
Because the truth about Emma's bloodline wasn't going to destroy my marriage.
It was going to destroy everything I thought I knew about my own family.
