Chapter 4 - The Silver Watch
The rain outside began to clear, giving way to cold winds that whistled through the estate's doors.
I returned to the study, where Luca was waiting for me with a small wooden box. His face was as cold and stern as ever, but his eyes held a weariness only those who have lived too long in the shadows could understand.
"Confirmed from the hospital in Boston," Luca said as I sat down. "Three gunmen belonging to Enzo Bellini's gang were loitering around Mr. Hale’s ICU room. Our men neutralized them quietly. No shots were fired."
"Enzo Bellini?" I raised an eyebrow. "The old man has worked for my father for thirty years. Why would he want to betray us now?"
"It wasn't Enzo's decision," Luca opened the wooden box, placing a silver wristwatch on the desk.
It was the very watch I had seen on Ryan's wrist earlier.
"This watch was found in Ryan's private office after he left an hour ago," Luca said, his eyes locked onto me to gauge my reaction. "It's not an ordinary watch, Alessandro. This is the classic, limited-edition Patek Philippe your father gave to Ryan on his college graduation. But the critical detail is on the back."
I picked up the watch, turning it over.
Under the desk lamp, the silver back of the watch was engraved with a very small symbol: a snake eating its own tail—the personal symbol of the Ouroboros money laundering organization the Morettis had used to funnel funds to Switzerland for two decades.
But something else caught my eye. A deep scratch lay right next to the snake symbol, looking like a letter hastily carved with a sharp object.
The letter L.
I stared at the scratch for a long time, then set the watch back down on the desk.
"Do you know who carved this letter, Alessandro?" Luca asked, his voice dropping into a dangerous register.
"I do," I said, looking up to meet Luca’s eyes. "Only one person has the habit of carving his initials onto every silver item he owns. My father learned that habit from my grandfather, and he passed it on to you, didn't he... Luca?"
The air in the office instantly turned heavy. The wind whistling outside the window seemed to stop.
Luca didn't flinch. He didn't reach for his holster, nor did he panic. He merely stood up straight, folding his hands over his stomach—the familiar posture of a loyal underboss.
"When did you realize?" Luca asked, his voice losing its fabricated rasp, turning cold and authoritative.
"The moment I saw that watch on Ryan's wrist this afternoon," I said. "I know Ryan loves this watch, but he lost it two months ago. He argued with me for a week thinking I had stolen it. Yet today, he was wearing it. Someone 'found' it and returned it to him right before the wedding, didn't they?"
"I underestimated your observation skills," Luca sighed, a faint smile appearing on his scarred face. "I thought you would dump all the blame on Ryan after seeing this watch and his transactions with Enzo."
"Ryan is impulsive, arrogant, and foolish," I said, walking around the desk to face Luca. "He wanted to prove himself to our father, wanted power. But he is never smart enough to orchestrate a blackmail scheme so sophisticated that it wiped all traces from my security system. Only one person has absolute authority, knows every corner of this estate, and holds the second key to the vault."
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I held up the brass key Vanessa had given me.
"You personally carved the letter L on Ryan's watch when you stole it two months ago, preparing to frame him today. But you forgot one thing, Luca. My father never gave a watch engraved with an L. He only engraved M—for Moretti."
