Page 149 of The One
Her hand tightens on my leg, betraying her inner conflict. Realizing it, she exhales and loosens her grip. “Pretty much from the day she was born, Isabella was betrothed to Luca Caruso.”
Caruso.
The name stirs something in my memory, but I can’t quite place it.
“Isa and Luca were set to marry when Isa turned eighteen,” she continues, her voice quieter now. “They made it official on her sixteenth birthday. They were so in love. I’ve never seen her happier. But a year later, it…”
“It what?” I prompt her when her words trail off, the silence hanging heavily in the air between us.
“It all fell apart,” she whispers, her voice barely audible over the hum of the road.
I do the math to piece together the fragments of information Mari’s given me. She mentioned her sister is two years older. She was seventeen when everything collapsed. That was five years ago.
Five years ago… Caruso.
Fuck me!
“Luigi Caruso,” I say, the name leaving my lips with a sharpness I hadn’t intended.
Luigi Caruso’s betrayal stung deep. Even after all these years, the memory still burns like it just happened.
Tiero had discovered that Luigi had been feeding information to Niccolo Molinaro for years.
He’d been a high-ranking member of our organization, part ofpapà’s inner circle, and later Tiero’s afterpapà’s death. Respected by everyone. Trusted by us all.
Until the cracks began to show.
Tiero had sensed something was off, and as suspicion took root, he set a trap. One Luigi walked straight into. But realizing he’d been caught, Luigi managed to escape that night, fleeing with his wife and son before we could stop him. Despite our best efforts, they vanished. No matter how far we searched, Luigi Caruso left no trace.
When we interrogated his soldiers, the full extent of his crimes came to light, solidifying his guilt and ensuring that if he or his family were ever found, their fate would be sealed.
“It was Luigi who leakedpapà’s whereabouts the night he got killed,” I push out through gritted teeth, my voice trembling with restrained fury.
Even now, the bitterness surges, as fresh as the night it all unraveled. That night had torn apart the very fabric of our family, thrusting Tiero and me into roles we were too young to assume, even with a lifetime of training.
Luigi Caruso. A man my father trusted. A man who sat at our table, shared our wine, and smiled at us while plotting our destruction with our enemy. The thought alone makes my fists clench, my nails biting into my palms.
And now Mari is telling me her sister had been engaged to his son?
Sensing my growing tension, Mari’s hand on my leg flexes, a subtle attempt to ground me.
“None of us knew about Luigi’s betrayal,” she says, her voice stronger now, as if willing me to understand. “Luca wouldn’t have been aware of it either. He was loyal to a fault, Teo. Loyal tola famiglia, loyal to Isa. He would never have done anything to jeopardize his relationship with her. He loved her.”
I turn my gaze to her, studying her for any hint of doubt. But she is resolute, her chin lifted in quiet defiance, ready to defend her sister’s honor, and, I realize, Luca’s too.
Her certainty gives me pause. Slowly, I exhale, letting some of the tension ease from my body. This isn’t about Mari. None of this was her doing, and I can’t let my anger bleed into our relationship.
“He loved her,” I echo softly, the words heavy on my tongue. “And yet his family’s actions destroyed mine.”
Mari flinches at the bitterness in my voice, but I press on.
“The Carusos fled after Luigi’s betrayal was uncovered. No one’s seen or heard from them since. It must have been Luca who made sure their tracks were untraceable. Even as a teenager, he was a gifted hacker.”
Mari presses her lips together to stop herself from speaking, but then changes her mind.
“You can’t blame him for that. He was protecting himself and his mother, not just the man who betrayed your family.”
I sigh, the weight of her words pressing on me. Now that it’s all coming back to me, I recall meeting Luca a handful of times over the years, mostly at officialla famigliagatherings.
