Chapter 5: The First Conversation With Marco
Marco arrived at the estate at ten o'clock, which meant he had been expecting the call.
He came through the front entrance with the relaxed authority of a man who had been walking through this house for forty years and intended to keep doing so.
He wore a grey suit.
He was smiling.
He looked, Luca thought, exactly like a man who had decided to control the conversation before it began.
Luca was behind his desk when Marco entered the study.
Marsh was in the chair to the left.
Ren stood near the door.
Marco's smile adjusted slightly when he saw them.
Not much.
Just enough.
"This feels formal," Marco said.
"Sit down," Luca said.
Marco sat.
He crossed one leg over the other and looked at the desk with the expression of a man reviewing a situation and finding it manageable.
"You wanted to talk," he said.
"I wanted to give you the opportunity to tell me yourself," Luca said.
"Before I tell you what I already know."
Marco looked at him.
"Tell you what, exactly?"
"About the compound." Luca put the toxicology report on the desk.
"About the transfers." He put the financial records beside it.
"About the amendment to the trust." He put the forged letter on top.
"And about what you were looking for yesterday when you walked across my lawn and put your hand on my daughter's shoulder."
The word *daughter* sat in the air between them.
Marco looked at the documents.
He did not reach for them.
His leg, crossed over his knee, did not move.
"Those are serious accusations," he said.
"They're not accusations," Luca said.
"They're documents."
"Documents can be misread."
"The toxicologist at Johns Hopkins would disagree.
So would the forensic accountant I had on the phone at seven this morning." Luca leaned forward slightly.
"So would the handwriting analyst who confirmed the letter to Foss is a forgery."
Something moved behind Marco's eyes.
He uncrossed his leg.
"You've been busy," he said.
"I've had twelve years of sitting still," Luca said.
"I had some catching up to do."
Marco was quiet for a moment.
Then he said: "You can't prove I administered anything.
You have a toxicology report that identifies a compound.
You don't have a chain of custody.
You don't have a source."
"I have your access," Luca said.
"I have your motive.
I have your financial records.
And I have a forensic team currently going through the estate's kitchen and medical storage logs from twelve years ago." He paused.
"I also have your face on camera yesterday, walking away from a nine-year-old girl with an expression that told me you'd already done the math."
Marco stood up.
"I want my attorney," he said.
"You're welcome to call him," Luca said.
"But before you do, I want you to understand something." He looked at his brother steadily.
"I am going to formally acknowledge Maya as my heir.
Today.
The paperwork is already prepared.
When that filing is complete, everything you've taken and everything you've been positioned to take reverts.
All of it."
Marco's jaw tightened.
"You'd do that to your own brother."
"You p0isoned me," Luca said.
"For six months.
And then you let me sit in this chair for twelve years believing my own body had failed me." He did not raise his voice.
"Don't talk to me about what I'd do to family."
Marco looked at him for a long moment.
Then he said, quietly: "You don't know everything yet, Luca."
"I know enough."
"No." Marco picked up his jacket from the back of the chair.
"You don't." He walked to the door.
Stopped with his hand on the frame.
"Ask your attorney about the secondary clause.
The one Foss filed six months before the amendment." He looked back.
"The one that says what happens to the trust if the acknowledged heir is determined to be illegitimate."
He walked out.
May you like
Luca looked at Marsh.
Marsh was already reaching for the folder.
