Chapter 7 - The Man at Enzo’s Table
Luca Benedetti had worked for Enzo for thirteen years.
He had found missing money.
He had identified traitors.
He had arranged security for funerals, weddings, business meetings, and political dinners.
He knew Enzo’s houses.
His cars.
His lawyers.
His habits.
And now Enzo wondered whether Luca also knew exactly how his father had died.
They returned to the mansion through the service entrance.
Enzo gave the metal case to Marco.
“No one touches it.”
Marco nodded.
“What about Luca?”
“Bring him here.”
“At this hour?”
“Especially at this hour.”
Luca arrived forty minutes later.
He wore jeans, an expensive sweater, and the expression of a man irritated at being woken.
Then he saw Enzo’s face.
The irritation vanished.
“What happened?”
Enzo gestured toward a chair.
“Sit.”
Luca looked at Adeline.
Her injured wrist was visible beneath a borrowed sweater.
“I heard about Camilla.”
“Sit.”
Luca obeyed.
Enzo placed the brass key on the table.
Luca stared at it one second too long.
Enzo noticed.
“You recognize it.”
“No.”
“Try again.”
Luca looked up.
“I’ve seen keys before.”
“Not this one.”
Adeline watched him.
Luca smiled slightly.
“You’re taking the maid’s word now?”
Enzo’s gaze changed.
Luca corrected himself.
“Adeline’s word.”
Enzo placed the photograph of Lorenzo and Thomas Vale on the table.
Luca stopped smiling.
“Where did you get that?”
“The chapel.”
Silence.
Enzo leaned back.
“We were attacked there.”
Luca’s expression remained controlled.
“By who?”
“I was hoping you could tell me.”
“Why would I know?”
“Because I called you twenty minutes before we left.”
Luca’s jaw tightened.
“So?”
“No one else outside this room knew where we were going.”
Marco stood near the door.
Luca glanced at him.
Then back to Enzo.
“Are you accusing me?”
“I’m asking you.”
“That is worse.”
“Answer.”
Luca stood.
“I have buried friends for you.”
“I have taken bullets for your people.”
“I found the man who tried to poison you in 2019.”
“And you think I sold your location tonight?”
Adeline spoke from across the room.
“Who told you about the chapel?”
Luca turned toward her.
“What?”
“You knew the photograph came from the chapel before he said where in the chapel we found it.”
Luca stared at her.
Enzo went still.
Adeline continued.
“You asked where we got the photograph.”
“Enzo said, ‘the chapel.’”
“You didn’t ask which chapel.”
Luca’s face changed.
Marco saw it too.
His hand moved beneath his jacket.
Luca smiled slowly.
“Well.”
The man who had been Enzo’s investigator for thirteen years no longer looked tired.
He looked relieved.
“You are smarter than Vittorio said.”
Adeline’s blood went cold.
Enzo rose.
“How long?”
Luca shrugged.
“Long enough.”
“You work for him?”
“I worked for whoever understood the future.”
Enzo walked around the desk.
“You sat at my mother’s funeral.”
“Yes.”
“You stood beside me when Vittorio supposedly died.”
“Yes.”
“Was he there?”
Luca laughed.
“No.”
“He was already in Switzerland.”
Enzo’s fist tightened.
Luca noticed.
“You want to hit me?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because dead men answer fewer questions.”
Luca’s smile faded.
Marco stepped closer.
Luca moved suddenly.
His hand went toward his waistband.
Marco was faster.
He slammed Luca against the wall.
A small pistol hit the floor.
Enzo looked at it.
Then at Luca.
“You brought a weapon into my study.”
“I always carry.”
“No.”
Enzo picked up the gun with a cloth.
“You brought this one for someone specific.”
Luca said nothing.
Adeline walked closer.
“Who is the Architect?”
For the first time, Luca looked genuinely afraid.
Enzo saw it.
So did Marco.
Luca laughed softly.
“You think Vittorio is the monster.”
He shook his head.
“Vittorio is a clerk.”
Enzo stepped closer.
“Who is the Architect?”
Luca swallowed.
Then his eyes moved toward the window.
A red dot appeared on his chest.
Adeline screamed.
Enzo lunged.
The glass exploded.
A single shot hit Luca before anyone could pull him away.
He collapsed.
Marco dragged Enzo and Adeline behind the stone fireplace.
Security alarms erupted throughout the mansion.
Luca lay on the floor.
Blood spread beneath him.
Enzo crawled toward him.
“Luca.”
Luca’s eyes fluttered.
“Who?”
Luca coughed.
Enzo leaned closer.
“Tell me.”
Luca whispered three words.
May you like
“The hospital board.”
Then he died.
