Chapter 12 - The DeLuca Family’s Oldest Enemy
Samuel Bellandi was not difficult to find.
That made Adrian suspicious.
Men who survived decades of organized crime and family war did not suddenly become careless at seventy-one.
Samuel lived openly in a lakeside mansion under his own name.
Paid taxes.
Donated to an art museum.
Sat on the board of a Catholic hospital.
The public knew him as a retired shipping executive.
Adrian knew better.
He requested a meeting.
Samuel accepted within six minutes.
“No weapons,” Samuel said through his assistant.
Adrian agreed.
Marco hated it.
Luca hated it more.
Elena called it stupid.
Teresa asked whether all DeLuca men were born without survival instincts.
Adrian went anyway.
Samuel received him in a glass room overlooking the lake.
He was thinner than Adrian expected.
White hair.
Cane.
A burn scar on his neck.
Sofia had described Gabriel with a scar.
But Gabriel’s scar was on the opposite side.
Adrian realized the child had seen both men at different times and merged them.
Samuel poured tea.
“You look like your mother.”
“People usually say my father.”
“People are usually trying to flatter you.”
Adrian sat.
“Where is Gabriel?”
Samuel stirred honey into his tea.
“I don’t know.”
“You were with him.”
“Occasionally.”
“You followed Elena.”
“Yes.”
“You threatened Sofia.”
“No.”
Adrian’s eyes hardened.
“A brick came through my window.”
“That was Gabriel.”
“You expect me to believe you care about the child?”
Samuel looked at him.
“I care about what belongs to my family.”
“The trust.”
“Yes.”
“I’m returning it.”
Samuel’s spoon stopped.
“I heard.”
“You sound disappointed.”
“I’m suspicious.”
“Why?”
“No DeLuca has ever returned anything without taking twice as much elsewhere.”
Adrian almost smiled.
“Then consider me disappointing.”
Samuel studied him.
“Your grandfather ruined my father.”
“Your family ruined people too.”
“Yes.”
The direct admission surprised Adrian.
Samuel continued.
“That is the part your brother discovered.”
“The ledger.”
“Our families spent decades telling different versions of the same lie.”
Adrian leaned back.
“Then why help Gabriel?”
“I thought he wanted to expose your father.”
“He wanted revenge.”
“I learned that too late.”
“Where is he?”
“I told you.”
“You don’t know.”
Samuel’s expression tightened.
“Gabriel stopped taking my calls after Elena escaped.”
“Why?”
“Because he realized I intended to negotiate with you.”
“What did he intend?”
“To destroy the ledger.”
“And Sofia?”
Samuel looked toward the lake.
“He wanted legal custody.”
Adrian stared.
“On what basis?”
“Elena’s disappearance. Luca’s legal death. Fabricated evidence that Sofia had no stable guardian.”
Adrian felt cold.
“He planned to take her through court.”
“Temporarily.”
“No.”
Samuel looked at him.
“You asked what he planned.”
Adrian stood.
The idea of Gabriel using forged documents and legal machinery to seize Sofia angered him more than any physical threat.
Because it would look respectable.
Official.
Clean.
Samuel spoke behind him.
“There’s something else.”
Adrian turned.
“Gabriel has another copy of the trust.”
“So?”
“The earlier version.”
“What earlier version?”
Samuel opened a drawer.
He removed a document.
“In the original trust, inheritance does not pass only through Elena.”
Adrian read.
If no direct Marchetti descendant claims the trust within a specified period, control reverts to a secondary bloodline.
The DeLuca branch.
More specifically—
The eldest surviving male descendant of Antonio DeLuca.
Adrian looked up.
“Gabriel.”
Samuel nodded.
“If Sofia’s claim were invalidated, Gabriel could argue control should pass to him.”
Adrian’s stomach turned.
“That is why he needs her.”
“Or needs her claim gone.”
Adrian folded the document.
“He will not touch her.”
Samuel’s eyes were tired.
“I once said that about my own children.”
Adrian paused.
Samuel had lost two sons in the Bellandi collapse.
Violence had swallowed both families and left old men pretending survival meant victory.
Samuel looked at him.
“End this differently.”
Adrian said nothing.
“Your grandfather and mine believed every insult needed repayment. Your father believed every truth needed hiding. Gabriel believes every wound needs an enemy.”
Samuel leaned on his cane.
“You still have a choice.”
Adrian looked at the lake.
“For once, we agree.”
When he returned to the estate, Luca met him outside.
“Where were you?”
“With Samuel.”
Luca stared.
“You went alone?”
“Yes.”
“Are you insane?”
“Probably hereditary.”
Luca swore.
Adrian handed him the trust.
Luca read it.
His face hardened.
“So if Gabriel discredits Sofia’s claim—”
“He becomes the fallback heir.”
Elena joined them.
“How would he discredit her?”
Adrian looked at Luca.
“Paternity.”
Luca went still.
Elena paled.
If Gabriel could prove Luca was not Sofia’s legal father, or argue identity fraud because Luca had lived under false documents, he could challenge her position.
Not necessarily win.
But delay.
Freeze assets.
Create leverage.
Then Elena whispered.
“There’s a problem.”
“What?”
“Sofia’s birth certificate.”
Luca looked at her.
“What about it?”
“You were legally dead.”
He closed his eyes.
The father listed on Sofia’s certificate was not Luca DeLuca.
It was the alias he had used in Vermont.
Daniel March.
Legally, Sofia Isabella March.
Not DeLuca.
Not yet.
Adrian understood.
Gabriel had six years of forged identities, false deaths, and hidden records to weaponize.
This battle would not be fought in warehouses.
May you like
It would be fought in courtrooms.
And Gabriel already had the paperwork ready.
