Chapter 5 - Luca Trusted Julian More Than He Trusted Himself
Accusing Julian Mela was not like accusing an employee.
Julian had pulled Luca from a burning car five years earlier.
The same night Luca’s father died.
I learned that from Teresa, the oldest housekeeper.
“Those two came back covered in blood,” she told me.
“Julian carried him through that door.”
“What happened?”
“Ambush.”
“By who?”
She shrugged.
“People who were dead by the end of the week.”
Mafia answers.
Never enough nouns.
After Luca recovered, Julian helped him stabilize what his father had left behind.
Businesses.
Debts.
Enemies.
Men who thought thirty-three was too young to lead anything.
Luca trusted Julian because Julian had stayed when everybody else was deciding whether to abandon him.
That history mattered.
It made the hawk on Julian’s ring feel almost insulting as evidence.
People wear symbols.
Papers use symbols.
Coincidences exist.
Then I remembered Luca saying his private route had been compromised.
Who knew it?
I asked Teresa.
She looked uncomfortable.
“Roman, security, Julian.”
“Anybody else?”
“Luca.”
Four people.
One was Luca.
One had been beside him during the attack.
May you like
One was security chief.
And one had a black hawk on his hand.
Related Stories
