Chapter 6 - THE BROTHER AT THE TABLE
Adrian had one younger brother.
Nicolas Moretti.
Thirty-five.
Charming.
Educated.
Popular at charity dinners.
The Moretti people called him Nick.
Adrian had spent most of his life protecting him from the uglier parts of the family business.
Apparently that had been another mistake.
They returned to Chicago after dark.
Mia slept across Elena’s lap in the back seat.
Adrian stared through the windshield.
“My brother was twenty-nine when Daniel died.”
Marcus drove.
“Old enough.”
“He hated the business.”
“Or told you he did.”
Adrian looked at him.
“You suspected?”
“No.”
“Good.”
“That sounded like a threat.”
“It was.”
Marcus nodded.
“Fair.”
At the estate, Peter’s USB drive opened a world Adrian had spent years refusing to see.
Photographs of the bypass circuit.
Payment records.
Names.
Dates.
A scanned internal memo.
Signed electronically by Nicolas Moretti.
Authorize Warehouse Twelve archival disposal. Coordinate with S. Russo.
Adrian stared.
Elena stood beside him.
“It doesn’t say fire.”
“No.”
“But?”
“Nicolas had no reason to be involved in warehouse archives.”
Marcus added, “He was managing hospitality businesses then.”
Adrian’s phone rang.
Nicolas.
Almost as if he knew.
Adrian answered.
“Nick.”
“Finally. What the hell is going on? Half the family says the estate is locked down.”
“Come over.”
“Now?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Adrian looked at the document.
“Family dinner.”
Nicolas laughed.
“At nine thirty?”
“Hungry?”
A pause.
“I’ll be there.”
Adrian ended the call.
Elena stared.
“You’re inviting him here?”
“Yes.”
“With Mia upstairs?”
“No.”
“Good.”
Adrian looked at her.
“You and Mia leave.”
She stiffened.
“With Marcus.”
“No.”
“Elena.”
“You promised not to go after them alone.”
“I’m not alone.”
“You are sending the person who made you promise away.”
Adrian almost admired the argument.
Almost.
“Mia cannot be here.”
“Then neither are we.”
Marcus looked between them.
“I can take them to the south guesthouse.”
Adrian shook his head.
“Too close.”
Elena crossed her arms.
“I have a better idea.”
“No.”
“You don’t even know it.”
“I know that expression.”
“You’ve known me nine months.”
“Long enough.”
Eventually, compromise looked like this:
Mia slept in a secured property owned by Marcus’s sister, twenty minutes away.
Elena stayed at the estate.
Adrian hated it.
Elena refused to leave.
At ten eleven, Nicolas arrived.
He walked into the study wearing a navy blazer and irritation.
Then he saw Elena.
“Mrs. Rossi.”
“You know her?”
Nicolas smiled.
“Everyone knows the staff.”
Elena did not smile back.
Adrian watched his brother carefully.
“Sit.”
Nicolas sat.
Adrian placed Daniel’s photograph on the desk.
Then the memo.
Nicolas looked down.
His face did not change.
Too disciplined.
“What is this?”
“You tell me.”
“A memo.”
“Why did you authorize archival disposal?”
“Sam asked me.”
“Why?”
“He said records were being digitized.”
“Did you know about the fire?”
“No.”
“Daniel Rossi?”
Nicolas glanced at Elena.
“He was an electrician.”
“Did you know him?”
“No.”
Elena spoke.
“Look at me.”
Nicolas’s eyes shifted toward her.
“My husband was killed.”
His expression softened.
“I’m sorry.”
“Did you know?”
“No.”
“Did you help?”
“No.”
She stared.
Adrian saw something.
Nicolas could lie to him.
Not to her.
His brother looked away first.
Adrian stood.
“Nick.”
Nicolas rubbed his face.
“Adrian.”
“What did you do?”
“I didn’t kill anyone.”
“What did you do?”
“I signed documents.”
“For Sam?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Nicolas stood too.
“Because I owed him.”
“For what?”
Nicolas’s jaw tightened.
“Gambling.”
Adrian closed his eyes.
Of course.
“Amount?”
“Seven hundred thousand.”
Elena inhaled.
Adrian stared.
“You never told me.”
“You would have paid it.”
“Yes.”
“And then controlled every decision I made for ten years.”
“I was trying to protect you.”
“That’s the problem!”
Nicolas slammed his hand on the desk.
“You protect everyone until they can’t breathe.”
Adrian’s expression went cold.
“That does not explain murder.”
“I didn’t know!”
Nicolas’s voice broke.
“I swear to God, Adrian, I thought Sam was hiding financial records from an audit.”
“Daniel?”
“I never heard his name until after he died.”
“Then why is Peter Nolan saying you worked with Sam?”
“Because I did.”
Nicolas swallowed.
“On fraud. Not murder.”
Silence.
Then Elena asked, “What fraud?”
Nicolas sat slowly.
“Sam had been siphoning money through port contracts for years.”
Adrian’s face hardened.
“How much?”
“Millions.”
“And you helped.”
“I signed things.”
“Why?”
“Debt. Fear. Cowardice. Pick one.”
At least that sounded honest.
Nicolas continued.
“When Daniel found the ignition cable, Sam panicked. He told me the electrician was trying to extort us.”
“Did you believe him?”
“At first.”
“And later?”
Nicolas looked toward Elena.
“After Daniel died, I knew.”
Her face changed.
“You knew my husband had been killed?”
“I suspected.”
“And said nothing.”
“I was scared.”
Elena stood.
For one second, Adrian thought she might strike him.
She didn’t.
That restraint shamed Nicolas more.
“You got to be scared in a mansion,” she whispered. “I got to explain to a baby why her father never came home.”
Nicolas looked down.
Adrian said quietly, “Where is Sam?”
“I don’t know.”
“Wrong answer.”
“I really don’t.”
“Who does?”
Nicolas hesitated.
“Victor Carbone.”
Adrian knew the name.
Rival shipping boss.
The dispute Sam had been discussing the morning Mia first fed Adrian oatmeal.
Suddenly everything aligned.
The shipping conflict.
Warehouse records.
Old payments.
Sam had been provoking a new dispute because chaos covered financial movements.
“He’s working with Carbone.”
Nicolas nodded.
“For years.”
Adrian felt ill.
His trusted lieutenant had been selling pieces of the family empire to a rival while feeding Adrian just enough conflict to keep him distracted.
“What does Sam want now?”
“The USB.”
“Anything else?”
Nicolas looked at Elena.
Adrian stepped between them.
“Say it.”
Nicolas whispered, “Leverage.”
“What leverage?”
“Sam knows you care about them.”
Elena’s face went pale.
Nicolas continued.
“He called me thirty minutes ago.”
Adrian froze.
“What did he say?”
“He said if I didn’t bring him the drive, he was going to take the only thing that could make you choose family over power.”
Adrian was already reaching for his phone.
Marcus answered immediately.
“Boss?”
“Mia.”
A beat.
“She’s safe.”
“Confirm.”
Marcus shouted to someone.
Footsteps.
A door.
Then silence.
Too much silence.
“Marcus.”
His voice changed.
“Adrian…”
Elena grabbed the desk.
“What?”
Marcus spoke.
“The back bedroom window is open.”
No.
Adrian’s entire body went cold.
“And Mia?”
May you like
A pause that lasted one lifetime.
“Gone.”
