Chapter 6 - THE SON HE HAD HIDDEN FROM HIS OWN EMPIRE
Nora thought nothing Lorenzo Moretti said could surprise her anymore.
She was wrong.
“You have a son?”
Lorenzo did not answer immediately.
Nico did.
“Six years old.”
Lorenzo gave him a look.
Nico shrugged.
“She already knows.”
Nora stared.
“You have a six-year-old child and he lives with Salvatore’s housekeeper?”
“His mother was Elena Greco.”
“Greco?”
“Salvatore’s daughter.”
The pieces rearranged.
Lorenzo continued.
“We were together when we were young.”
“What happened?”
“She died giving birth.”
Nora’s anger softened despite herself.
“I’m sorry.”
Lorenzo nodded.
“Salvatore blamed me.”
“Did you blame yourself?”
“Yes.”
Of course.
“Why hide Matteo?”
“Because I refused to raise another child inside this world.”
Nora looked around at armed men and burning warehouses.
“Strong execution.”
He almost smiled.
“Salvatore’s sister raised him in Connecticut under her name. Only six people know he is mine.”
“And Richard Vale knew.”
“Yes.”
Nico looked at his phone.
“Teterboro team is moving.”
Lorenzo turned.
“No shooting near the boy.”
“They know.”
Nora stepped toward the SUV.
Lorenzo blocked her.
“No.”
“You need medical support.”
“We have medics.”
“Who?”
Nico avoided her eyes.
“Exactly.”
“Nora.”
“Lorenzo.”
He hated when she mirrored him.
She could tell.
“Fine.”
They drove.
At Teterboro, a private jet sat on the runway.
Engines running.
Police could not move openly without risking Matteo.
Vale had hired private guards.
Nico’s people surrounded the outer hangar.
Lorenzo watched through binoculars.
“There.”
Nora followed his gaze.
A small boy stood beside a black SUV.
Dark hair.
Black coat.
He held the hand of an older woman.
Mrs. Greco.
A man stood behind them.
Richard Vale.
Fifty-eight.
Expensive suit.
No urgency in his posture.
He believed everyone else would blink first.
Lorenzo’s jaw tightened.
“He knows I won’t risk Matteo.”
Nora watched the boy.
He looked frightened but quiet.
Children who had been taught adults were dangerous often became very good at quiet.
“What does Vale want?”
“Files.”
Nico’s phone buzzed.
Message.
WAREHOUSE DRIVES FOR THE BOY.
Lorenzo replied immediately.
YES.
Nora looked at him.
“You’re giving them up?”
“All of them.”
No hesitation.
Nico frowned.
“Boss.”
“He’s my son.”
End of discussion.
Vale sent coordinates for an exchange inside Hangar Four.
One person.
Lorenzo.
Nora caught his sleeve.
“It’s a trap.”
“Yes.”
“You’re still going.”
“Yes.”
“You people are exhausting.”
He looked at her.
“Stay with Nico.”
“Absolutely.”
“Nora.”
“Your son may need someone when this goes wrong.”
Something moved in his expression.
He handed her his phone.
“Call Elias if anything happens.”
“Your faith in plans is adorable.”
Inside Hangar Four, Vale waited with Matteo.
Mrs. Greco had been moved somewhere else.
Two gunmen stood near the jet.
Lorenzo carried the case containing copies of the evidence.
Nora and Nico watched from behind maintenance equipment outside.
Vale smiled when Lorenzo entered.
“The famous son.”
Lorenzo’s eyes stayed on Matteo.
“You hurt him?”
“No.”
“Matteo.”
The boy looked up.
Recognition flashed.
“Uncle Lorenzo.”
Nora’s heart broke slightly.
Uncle.
Lorenzo had hidden even fatherhood.
“Hey, buddy.”
Matteo looked terrified.
“Where’s Aunt Rosa?”
“She’s safe.”
Vale laughed.
“Not yet.”
Lorenzo placed the case down.
“Take it.”
“Open.”
He did.
Hard drives.
Paper files.
Vale relaxed.
“Kick it over.”
Lorenzo obeyed.
Matteo stared.
“Can I go?”
Vale put one hand on the boy’s shoulder.
“In a minute.”
Lorenzo’s voice became deadly.
“You have what you wanted.”
“Not quite.”
Vale looked at him.
“Salvatore is finished.”
“Yes.”
“I need something stronger than files.”
“What?”
“Your signature transferring the insurance subsidiaries.”
Nora whispered, “He wants the whole machine.”
Nico nodded.
Vale intended to own the same business that had destroyed families like hers.
Lorenzo laughed.
“No.”
Vale drew a gun.
Pressed it behind Matteo’s head.
Nora stopped breathing.
Lorenzo did not move.
“Sign.”
“No.”
Matteo whimpered.
Vale smiled.
“You think I won’t?”
“No.”
Lorenzo’s voice softened.
“I think if you kill him, you lose the only thing keeping you alive.”
Vale’s smile faded.
“And I think you know that.”
Silence.
Lorenzo continued.
“So you won’t shoot my son.”
Matteo’s eyes widened slightly.
My son.
Vale noticed.
So did the boy.
Lorenzo did not take it back.
Nora’s throat tightened.
Vale raised the gun.
“You finally tell him when I’m holding a pistol?”
Lorenzo’s face cracked.
One second.
Shame.
“Not how I planned it.”
Matteo looked at him.
“You’re my dad?”
Vale’s attention shifted toward the child.
Mistake.
Nora moved.
She had found the hangar fire control system.
She slammed the emergency foam switch.
White suppressant exploded from ceiling nozzles.
Vale shouted.
Visibility vanished.
Nico’s team entered.
Lorenzo ran straight toward Matteo.
A gunshot cracked.
Then another.
Nora dropped behind a crate.
When the foam cleared enough to see shapes, Lorenzo was on the floor.
Matteo beneath him.
Vale was running toward the jet.
Nico tackled one gunman.
Police rushed through the side entrance.
Nora ran to Lorenzo.
“Move.”
“I’m fine.”
“You say that too much.”
She rolled him.
No bullet wound.
Only a graze along his shoulder.
Matteo clung to his coat.
Lorenzo looked at him.
For the first time, the feared mafia boss had absolutely no idea what to say.
Matteo solved it.
“Are you really my dad?”
Lorenzo closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
The question hurt more than the bullet.
Nora could see it.
“Because I was scared.”
Matteo frowned.
“You?”
“Yes.”
“You’re really big.”
Nora almost laughed.
Lorenzo did.
A broken sound.
“I know.”
“What were you scared of?”
Lorenzo looked around.
Guns.
Police.
Running men.
The world he had tried to keep from his child.
“This.”
Matteo looked confused.
Lorenzo touched his face carefully.
“I thought if nobody knew you were mine, nobody could use you against me.”
Matteo’s eyes filled.
“But he did.”
“Yes.”
“So it didn’t work.”
“No.”
The honesty mattered.
The boy started crying.
Lorenzo pulled him close.
“I’m sorry.”
Nora looked away.
At the far end of the hangar, police dragged Richard Vale from beneath the jet stairs.
He was alive.
Cuffed.
Finished.
Mrs. Greco was found locked in the SUV.
Shaken.
Unhurt.
By midnight, Matteo was asleep in Lorenzo’s home.
Not a secret house.
Not another surname.
Lorenzo’s home.
Nora stood in the hallway watching Lorenzo tuck a blanket over him.
“You’re staring,” he said quietly.
“I’ve never seen a mafia boss negotiate bedtime.”
“He asked for three glasses of water.”
“Advanced tactics.”
“He’s manipulative.”
“He’s six.”
“Same thing.”
Nora smiled.
Then Lorenzo became serious.
“I lied to him his entire life.”
“You were trying to protect him.”
“That doesn’t make the lie disappear.”
“No.”
He looked at her.
“You never make things easier.”
“Bad habit.”
“Keep it.”
The words landed strangely.
Nora looked away.
“What happens now?”
“Vale testifies or doesn’t. Salvatore goes to prison. The insurance files go federal.”
“And your organization?”
Lorenzo was quiet.
Then he looked toward the room where his son slept.
“It ends.”
Nora stared.
“What?”
“The illegal side.”
“You can just end a mafia family?”
“No.”
“Then?”
“I can stop being the man at the center of it.”
“That sounds dangerous.”
“It is.”
“Your captains?”
“Some will leave.”
“Some won’t.”
“Yes.”
“You may start a war.”
Lorenzo looked at her.
“A war already started.”
May you like
Then he glanced toward Matteo.
“I am simply choosing what side my son sees me standing on when it finishes.”
