CHAPTER 6 — The Secret Beneath the Tattoo
Joseph could no longer sleep.
Every answer uncovered another mystery.
He sat alone, staring at the constellation tattoo around his wrist.
For twenty years he believed it represented love.
Now...
He wondered whether it had always been something else.
Evelyn recovered enough to speak.
She requested to see only Joseph, Rose, and Audrey.
No bodyguards.
No weapons.
No interruptions.
She removed a fragile leather journal from beneath her hospital bed.
"It belonged to your grandfather."
Joseph opened it carefully.
Between faded pages rested an old map.
Across the top were handwritten words.
The Salvini Constellation.
Rose looked confused.
"I thought you designed the tattoo."
Joseph slowly shook his head.
"So did I."
Evelyn sighed.
"No."
"The design is over one hundred years old."
Every generation of the Salvini family had secretly tattooed only two people.
The future head of the family...
And the person trusted with protecting its greatest secret.
Rose stared at Joseph.
"You gave me the tattoo."
Joseph nodded slowly.
"I thought I invented it."
Evelyn smiled sadly.
"You copied it from a sketch your father left behind."
Neither of them had realized what it truly meant.
Audrey suddenly noticed tiny dots inside the tattoo.
"Those stars..."
"They're uneven."
Joseph looked closer.
She was right.
Audrey photographed both tattoos.
Using a digital overlay...
The dots formed exact geographic coordinates.
Marco immediately ran the numbers.
Everyone stared at the screen.
The coordinates pointed to an abandoned church outside Chicago.
Hidden beneath it...
According to century-old property records...
Was a sealed underground vault.
Joseph whispered,
"My father never told me."
Evelyn answered quietly,
"Because he was murdered before he could."
Silence.
Then Marco's phone rang.
His face lost all color.
"The church..."
He looked at Joseph.
"Someone's already there."
Security drone footage filled the monitor.
Standing in front of the ancient church...
Surrounded by dozens of armed men...
Was Victor Moretti.
He slowly looked directly into the drone camera.
Then smiled.
As if he had been waiting for Joseph all along.
Finally...
Victor raised his own wrist.
Wrapped around it...
Was the exact same constellation tattoo.
Joseph felt the blood drain from his face.
Only two people were ever supposed to bear that mark.
Unless...
Victor Moretti had never been an outsider.
He had been part of the Salvini family all along.
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And the greatest betrayal in Joseph's life...
Had begun with his own blood.
