Chapter 7 - THE FAMILY THAT LIED TOGETHER
Carlo Duca lasted eleven days.
Federal investigators traced money from North River Tower to three Duca companies.
Then came emails.
Then burner phones.
Then Vivian’s testimony.
Carlo was arrested at Newark Liberty International Airport while attempting to board a private flight to Switzerland.
His lawyers called it coincidence.
Nobody believed them.
Luca faced murder charges for Miguel’s death, conspiracy charges for Alessandro’s poisoning and enough financial crimes to bury what remained of his reputation.
Vivian’s red silk dress disappeared from magazines.
Her mugshot replaced it.
The three diamonds Alessandro had given her were returned through attorneys.
He sold them.
Every dollar went into a trust for families of workers killed or injured on Moretti-controlled construction sites.
Rosa found out from the newspaper.
She called him immediately.
“You didn’t ask me.”
Alessandro looked up from his desk.
“About the trust?”
“About using Miguel’s story.”
“I didn’t name it after him.”
“You knew why you were doing it.”
“Yes.”
Silence.
Then Rosa said:
“I’m not angry about the money.”
“But?”
“I’m angry you still think doing something good means you don’t need to talk to the people connected to it.”
Alessandro leaned back.
She was right.
Again.
“Then I’m sorry.”
Rosa paused.
“You actually say that now.”
“Too often.”
“No.”
Her voice softened.
“Probably not enough yet.”
He almost smiled.
Miguel’s funeral happened on a gray December morning.
A real funeral.
A real coffin.
Rosa hated that she was grateful for that.
Lily wore a black coat and held Hopper.
Alessandro stayed at the back.
He did not belong in the front.
Miguel’s sister came from Florida.
Old construction coworkers attended.
Several had stories Rosa had never heard.
Miguel once paid a coworker’s electric bill.
Miguel carried an injured apprentice down six flights when elevators failed.
Miguel hated olives.
Miguel sang badly.
Miguel had been a person before he became evidence.
Rosa needed that.
At the cemetery, Lily placed Hopper beside the coffin.
Rosa crouched.
“Baby, Hopper comes home with us.”
Lily shook her head.
Daddy gave Hopper.
“I know.”
Daddy needs him.
Rosa’s throat closed.
Then Alessandro approached.
He knelt.
He signed carefully.
Maybe Daddy gave Hopper to you because he wanted you to keep him.
Lily looked at the rabbit.
Then at the coffin.
Keep?
Yes.
Remember.
Lily considered.
Then hugged Hopper.
Okay.
After the burial, Rosa found Alessandro beneath a bare oak tree.
“You didn’t have to come.”
“Yes, I did.”
“Why?”
“Because Miguel tried to warn me.”
She looked away.
“And died because my system sent him directly to Luca.”
“You didn’t shoot him.”
“No.”
She looked back.
Alessandro continued.
“But I built a structure where Luca’s word mattered more than a construction worker’s.”
Rosa studied him.
“That’s not the same as murder.”
“I know.”
“Good.”
Her expression sharpened.
“Because guilt can become another kind of ego.”
He blinked.
“What?”
“You can make yourself responsible for everything because then everything still revolves around you.”
Alessandro stared at her.
Then laughed once.
At a funeral.
Quietly.
Rosa frowned.
“What’s funny?”
“You may be the only person alive who could say that to me.”
“I clean toilets.”
“Not anymore.”
She went still.
Alessandro realized his mistake.
Rosa had returned temporarily to the mansion only because investigators needed her nearby and Lily’s safety remained a concern.
Her employment contract was ending.
“I didn’t mean—”
“I know.”
She looked toward the grave.
“I’m leaving the estate.”
His chest tightened.
“When?”
“Next week.”
“Where?”
“My sister found an apartment in Queens.”
“Safe?”
Rosa looked at him.
He corrected himself.
“Sorry.”
She almost smiled.
“Yes. Safe.”
“What will you do?”
“I enrolled in an ASL interpreting program.”
Alessandro was surprised.
“For work?”
“For Lily first.”
She smiled faintly.
“Maybe work later.”
He nodded.
“That sounds good.”
Rosa studied his face.
“You’re not going to offer to pay?”
“I thought about it.”
“I know.”
“I decided survival was important.”
She laughed.
That sound affected him more than he wanted to admit.
But he said nothing.
Rosa needed distance from his money.
His house.
His power.
If anything ever existed between them, it had to begin after she could leave without losing anything.
The trials began in spring.
Rosa testified about Miguel.
About the false coffin.
About the memory card.
She hated every minute.
Alessandro testified too.
The defense tried to portray him as a violent crime boss settling a personal feud through federal prosecutors.
There was enough truth around his reputation to make the strategy dangerous.
The attorney asked:
“Mr. Moretti, have you ever ordered violence?”
Alessandro looked at the jury.
His own counsel had prepared him.
Deny what could be denied.
Redirect.
Say as little as possible.
Instead Alessandro answered:
“Yes.”
The courtroom shifted.
The attorney smiled.
“So this court should believe you suddenly became a champion of lawful justice?”
Alessandro looked toward Rosa.
Then toward Lily, who was not in court.
She was at preschool.
Exactly where a three-year-old belonged.
“No.”
He faced the attorney.
“This court should believe evidence.”
The smile faded.
“Convenient.”
“No.”
Alessandro’s voice remained calm.
“What would be convenient is handling Luca privately.”
Silence.
“I chose not to.”
“Why?”
Alessandro thought of Lily signing poison.
“Because children learn from what adults normalize.”
The attorney changed subjects quickly.
Luca was convicted of Miguel’s murder.
Conspiracy.
Attempted murder.
Financial crimes.
Witness intimidation.
The sentence meant he would be an old man if he ever left prison.
Vivian accepted a plea agreement after testifying against her father and Luca.
She received years in federal prison.
Carlo Duca was convicted after a separate trial.
When the final verdict arrived, Rosa did not celebrate.
She took Lily for ice cream.
Alessandro joined them only because Lily asked.
The shop had plastic booths.
Sticky tables.
No security visible inside.
Lily ate chocolate ice cream with a seriousness usually reserved for medical procedures.
Then she signed to Alessandro:
You marry beautiful bad lady?
Rosa nearly dropped her spoon.
Alessandro stared.
“No.”
He signed it too.
Lily nodded.
Good.
Rosa laughed.
Alessandro smiled.
Then Lily asked:
You marry Mommy?
Silence.
Rosa choked.
Alessandro stopped breathing.
Lily looked between them.
Why faces weird?
Rosa signed quickly.
Ice cream.
Lily frowned.
That answer bad.
Alessandro looked at Rosa.
She was bright red.
He decided surviving poison had been easier.
“No marriage,” Rosa said aloud.
“Definitely no marriage.”
Lily shrugged and returned to dessert.
But something had changed.
May you like
Not because a child proposed a future for them.
Because neither adult had hated hearing it.
