Chapter 5 - The Enemy Who Survived
The man in the chair was named Derek Shaw.
He had once driven for Vincent Barone. Now he was shaking beneath the cold concrete lights of the Moretti estate’s underground room.
Adrian stood across from him in silence.
Marcus leaned against the wall, arms folded.
Derek looked from one man to the other.
“I didn’t know there was a kid,” he said quickly. “I swear to God, I didn’t know.”
Adrian’s voice was low.
“You broke into Sofia Romano’s home.”
“Vincent told us to search it.”
“For what?”
“A ledger.”
Marcus’s eyes sharpened. “What ledger?”
Derek swallowed.
“Luca took something from Vincent’s car. A black notebook. Names, payments, routes. Vincent thought Luca had it before the fire.”
Adrian’s face went still.
The ledger could expose every corrupt cop, judge, dockworker, and politician Vincent had paid off.
It could also reveal who had ordered the bomb meant for Adrian.
“Where is Vincent?” Adrian asked.
Derek shook his head. “I don’t know.”
Adrian took one step forward.
Derek panicked.
“He’s alive!” he shouted. “Barone is alive. He’s been hiding in Milwaukee, but he came back two weeks ago. He said Moretti was getting soft. He said the maid and her kid were the way in.”
Marcus moved first, grabbing Derek by the collar.
“What does that mean?”
Derek’s eyes darted toward Adrian.
“Vincent thinks Sofia knows where the ledger is. If she doesn’t, he thinks Moretti will protect her anyway. He wants to use her to make you careless.”
Adrian felt something dark awaken in him.
For three years, he had believed Vincent had died in the aftermath of the car bombing.
He had believed the man responsible for Elena and Claire had vanished into the ground.
But Vincent was alive.
And he had come back for Sofia and Emma.
Upstairs, Sofia was packing.
Adrian found her folding Emma’s small clothes into a suitcase.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“Leaving.”
“No.”
She looked at him, furious.
“This is because of you.”
“Yes.”
The honesty stopped her.
“Your enemies killed my husband,” she whispered.
“I don’t know that yet.”
“But you think they did.”
Adrian said nothing.
Sofia’s eyes filled with tears.
“I came here because I needed work. I thought cleaning your floors would keep my daughter safe. I didn’t know I was walking into the same fire that took Luca.”
“You are not responsible for this.”
“Neither was Luca.”
The words landed like a knife.
Emma stood in the doorway, clutching Daisy.
“Mommy, are we going home?”
Sofia looked at her daughter.
Then at the broken suitcase.
“No,” Adrian said. “You’re staying here.”
“You can’t force us.”
“No. But I can tell you the truth. If you leave this estate, Vincent’s people will find you. If you stay, I will put every resource I have between you and them.”
Sofia’s chin lifted.
“And what do you get in return?”
“Nothing.”
She searched his face.
“You expect me to trust a mafia boss?”
“No,” Adrian said. “I expect you to trust a man who failed to protect his own family once and will not fail yours.”
The room fell silent.
Then Emma walked toward Adrian.
She held out Daisy.
“Daisy says you’re sad too.”
Adrian looked down at the rag doll.
“Daisy is very wise.”
Emma nodded.
“Then you have to be good.”
A laugh escaped him before he could stop it.
“I’ll try.”
That night, Marcus reported a second discovery.
Luca Romano had hidden the ledger.
Not at the garage.
Not in Sofia’s apartment.
At the Moretti estate.
More specifically, somewhere in the eastern garden.
Adrian looked toward the dark windows.
The sunflowers.
Emma’s watering cup.
The seed they had planted.
Vincent had not merely come back for revenge.
He had come back because the proof that could destroy him was buried in Adrian’s dead wife’s garden.
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And Sofia’s little girl had been digging there every morning.
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