Chapter 6 - THE BLOOD LINEAGE
The world seemed to spin out of control.
I couldn't breathe. My hands shook violently as I stared at Luca, whose dark eyes were locked onto mine in complete disbelief.
Margaret Morgan was my mother.
Which meant...
"No..." I stumbled backward, shaking my head frantically. "No, no, no! That's impossible! My mother was a schoolteacher! She raised me alone in North Chicago!"
Luca quickly stepped forward, catching me by my waist before my knees could give out. His strong grip anchored me, keeping me upright.
"Daniel," Luca's voice was sharp, urgent. "Read the rest of the record. Now!"
Daniel rapidly swiped through his tablet screen, his eyes scanning the digitized document.
"Margaret Morgan gave birth twice in her life, sir," Daniel read aloud, his voice tense. "The first time was in October 1995. She was nineteen years old, penniless, and abandoned by her family. She gave birth to a baby boy in a shelter. Desperate and unable to feed him, she gave the infant to Nurse Teresa Vance, who promised to find him a wealthy, loving family."
I swallowed hard, tears pouring down my face. I remembered my mother crying on her deathbed last year, whispering that she had a terrible sin she needed God to forgive before she closed her eyes forever. I had thought she was talking about missing church.
"And her second child?" Luca demanded softly, holding me close.
"Seven years later, in 2002," Daniel continued. "Margaret married a local mechanic, turned her life around, and gave birth to a daughter... Claire Morgan."
The silence in the room was absolute.
Luca looked down at me, his dark eyes filled with a whirlwind of emotions—shock, awe, and a deep, unshakeable realization.
We weren't strangers. We weren't just a boss and a housekeeper.
Luca Moretti was my older half-brother.
"Claire..." Luca whispered, his thumb gently wiping away a tear spilling over my cheek. "You're my sister."
"I... I can't..." I sobbed, burying my face against his broad chest. The emotional overload of the past twenty-four hours—the shoulder injury, the threats from Vanessa, the destruction of everything I knew—finally broke through my reserves.
Luca wrapped his powerful arms securely around me, holding me tightly against him, shielding me from the world just as an older brother should.
"I’ve got you," Luca murmured softly into my hair. "I’ve got you, Claire. You're never going to struggle again. You're never going to drag heavy furniture for seventy-nine dollars. I swear it to you."
For twenty minutes, we sat together on the sofa in his private office. I cried until there were no tears left, while Luca stayed right beside me, holding my hand, his presence a solid rock in the middle of a roaring hurricane.
When I finally composed myself, I looked up at him.
"What happens now, Luca?" I asked quietly. "If the syndicate finds out about your real mother... about us... will they try to take everything from you?"
Luca’s expression transformed into the cold, ruthless mob boss the city feared.
"The syndicate only understands power and results, Claire," Luca said calmly. "I tripled our family's wealth in five years. I control the police chief, the judges, and the shipping docks. No one in Chicago will dare question my right to rule."
"What about Vanessa and her father?"
Luca’s eyes flashed with a dangerous light. "Vanessa and Victor think they hold the ultimate weapon against me. They think they're going to use this secret to destroy us. They have no idea that the wedding on Saturday is going to be their execution ground."
"Execution?" I asked, my eyes wide.
"Not a physical one," Luca corrected with a dark smirk. "A social and financial one. Victor owes thirty million dollars to the Eastern European cartels. On Saturday night, in front of five hundred high-society guests and media reporters, I am going to publicly announce the cancellation of the wedding, expose the Bellini family's theft, and release their financial records to the public."
He took my hands in his. "And I want you standing right beside me, Claire. Not as my employee. But as Claire Morgan-Moretti... my legitimate sister and the co-owner of the Moretti estate."
My breath caught in my throat. "Co-owner?"
"Half of everything I own belongs to you," Luca said with absolute certainty. "Our mother gave me up so I could survive. She raised you with love. We are going to honor her memory together."
Just then, Daniel knocked on the door and stepped inside, looking grim.
"Boss, we have a problem."
Luca frowned. "What is it?"
"Victor Bellini’s private security team just arrived at the front gates," Daniel reported. "And they didn't come alone. They brought Marcus Vane."
Luca’s jaw set into stone. Marcus Vane was the head of the rival Vane Crime Family—and Luca’s fiercest enemy in the city.
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"Marcus Vane?" Luca scoffed. "Why is he here?"
"Victor managed to send an encrypted message from his smartwatch before we disarmed him," Daniel explained. "He offered Marcus fifty percent of the Bellini shipping ports if Marcus brings his men inside to free them... and take control of the Moretti mansion by force."
