Chapter 15: The Kings Were Summoned
572 Words
The study felt unusually empty.
Luca stood motionless, his gaze fixed on the door Sofia had just walked through.
She hadn't cried.
She had simply... left.
For a man who had spent years reading fear in the eyes of enemies, silence was far more unsettling.
Her silence carried disbelief.
Hope.
Denial.
And he had been powerless against all of it.
Slowly, he crossed the room and lowered himself into the leather chair behind his desk. A dull ache spread through his shoulder as the movement pulled against the healing wound.
Ignoring it, he reached into the drawer.
The brass shell rested exactly where he had left it.
He rolled it between his fingers.
Its polished surface caught the light, revealing an insignia engraved into the metal.
Three interlocking crowns.
A mark he had not seen in years.
A knock interrupted his thoughts.
"Come in."
Matteo entered carrying a sealed black folder.
"I've confirmed the engraving."
Luca didn't look up.
"And?"
"It belongs to them."
Silence.
Matteo laid several photographs on the desk.
"No family claims it."
"No records exist."
"But every source points to the same name."
"The Third Crown."
Luca studied the shell again.
"So..."
"They've stepped out of the shadows."
Before Matteo could answer, another man entered the study carrying a cream-colored envelope sealed with black wax.
"It arrived an hour ago."
Luca frowned.
"No sender?"
The guard shook his head.
"It was left at the front gate."
Luca broke the seal.
Inside was a single photograph.
The Bellini Gallery.
The same Renaissance painting Sofia had been studying before everything fell apart.
He turned the photograph over.
Written in neat black ink were seven words.
The last Moretti will uncover the truth.
His jaw tightened.
Matteo stared at the message.
"What does it mean?"
Luca remained silent.
Because he had seen this before.
Not these words...
The envelope.
This morning.
An identical envelope had arrived at the estate.
Inside had been nothing more than a photograph of the gallery and a time.
No explanation.
No demands.
Just enough to make him go.
He hadn't ignored it.
Something about it had felt... deliberate.
Now he understood.
Someone hadn't wanted him to find the painting.
Someone had wanted him to find Sofia.
Matteo broke the silence.
"If you received one..."
Luca looked up.
"So did Dante."
Matteo's eyes widened.
"You think he was summoned too?"
Luca nodded once.
"It explains why he was there."
His thoughts drifted back to the gallery.
The echo of hurried footsteps.
The smell of gunpowder.
Sofia standing frozen before the painting.
The assassin emerging from the crowd.
He remembered moving without thought.
The sharp burn as the bullet tore into his shoulder.
Then—
One gunshot.
Precise.
Lethal.
The assassin collapsed before he could fire again.
Dante.
Luca closed his eyes briefly.
Once...
They had trusted each other with their lives.
Before bloodlines.
Before crowns.
Before a war neither of them had chosen.
He opened his eyes.
Everything about that day suddenly looked different.
The envelopes.
The painting.
Sofia.
None of it had been chance.
Someone had arranged every move like pieces on a chessboard.
Someone had known both kings would answer the call.
Someone had known Sofia would be standing beneath that painting.
Luca looked down at the shell resting in his palm.
For the first time in years...
He felt as though someone else was several moves ahead.
And he intended to find out who.
- Writer
