Chapter 14 - WHAT LUCA GAVE UP
Luca met federal investigators at nine the next morning.
He brought attorneys.
Records.
Account books.
Names.
Contracts.
Everything.
He did not pretend he was innocent.
That would have made the entire decision meaningless.
Luca had inherited a criminal organization.
He had also chosen to lead it.
There were things done under his authority that could not be blamed entirely on Sal.
He said that clearly.
Rachel almost kicked him under the table twice.
But Luca continued.
The cooperation agreement took months.
Salvatore Bellini was charged with conspiracy, poisoning, witness intimidation, financial crimes, and multiple offenses connected to the organization he had quietly expanded during Luca’s disability.
Dr. Moretti accepted a plea agreement and surrendered his medical license permanently.
Daniel Kessler testified about the surveillance of Maya.
Three captains cooperated.
Two ran.
One was caught trying to cross into Canada.
Luca surrendered control of the illegal operations.
Millions in criminal assets were seized.
Warehouses were sold.
Accounts frozen.
Several properties disappeared from the Costello portfolio overnight.
For years, men believed Luca Costello would die before surrendering power.
Instead, he signed it away.
Elena stood beside him when he signed the final papers.
“You okay?”
Luca looked at the stack.
“I thought I would feel different.”
“Worse?”
“Maybe.”
“Do you?”
“No.”
Elena smiled slightly.
“Then maybe it wasn’t power.”
“What?”
“The thing you thought you were losing.”
Luca looked at her.
“You’ve become philosophical.”
“I’ve spent months around you.”
“It’s a defense mechanism.”
She laughed.
His rehabilitation continued.
At first, progress came in inches.
Then feet.
He moved from the parallel bars to a walker.
From a walker to forearm crutches.
There were bad days.
Days when his legs refused.
Days when nerve pain kept him awake.
Days when he threw a towel across the room and told Dr. Pierce he was done.
Dr. Pierce would pick it up.
“See you tomorrow.”
Luca always returned.
Maya attended whenever school allowed.
She decorated his walker with a sticker.
Luca removed it.
She put on three more.
He surrendered.
One afternoon, Elena found him standing alone by the porch railing.
No walker.
No therapist.
Just Luca.
“Should you be doing that?”
“No.”
She smiled.
“Then why are you?”
“I wanted to see if I could.”
“Can you?”
“Apparently.”
Elena moved beside him.
The baseball field was full of kids.
Tommy stood at home plate.
Maya was pitching badly.
Very badly.
“She gets that from you,” Elena said.
“I was excellent at baseball.”
“I remember.”
Luca looked at her.
“You remember?”
“You made me watch you play once.”
“You said you enjoyed it.”
“I lied.”
Luca laughed.
Elena looked at him.
“You laugh more now.”
“That’s concerning.”
“It is.”
They stood quietly.
Luca’s hand rested on the railing near hers.
Not touching.
Close.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
Elena looked at him.
“For what?”
“All of it.”
“You didn’t poison yourself.”
“No.”
“I didn’t know about Maya.”
“No.”
“But there were choices before that.”
She waited.
“I could have told you more about who I was.”
“Yes.”
“I could have trusted you.”
“Yes.”
“I didn’t.”
“No.”
He looked at her.
“I’m sorry.”
Elena nodded.
“Thank you.”
Nothing magical happened.
She did not kiss him.
She did not say the past was forgiven.
That would have been too easy.
Instead, she placed her hand over his.
And left it there.
For Luca, that was enough.
Until Maya screamed from the baseball diamond.
“DAD!”
Luca turned so quickly his knee nearly buckled.
“What?”
Maya held up a baseball.
“I GOT TOMMY OUT!”
Tommy shouted from second base.
“She cheated!”
“I DID NOT!”
Elena laughed.
Luca looked at the field.
Then at the open gap in the hedge.
A year ago, he would have ordered it repaired.
May you like
Now children came through it every afternoon.
He had asked the gardeners to make it wider.
