Chapter 7 - Blood and Betrayal
Anthony Moretti arrived at the estate that evening.
He came alone.
That was how he liked to make a statement.
He walked through the front gates in a charcoal coat, silver hair perfect, hands visible at his sides. At sixty-eight, Anthony still carried himself like the kingmaker he had always been.
Charles met him at the door.
“Mr. Moretti is not receiving visitors.”
Anthony smiled faintly.
“Tell my nephew I came to offer him peace.”
Adrian was already waiting in the library.
The room had once been forbidden to Sofia and Emma.
Now Emma’s crayons sat on the table beside Adrian’s whiskey glass.
Anthony noticed them immediately.
“A child?” he asked. “You’ve become sentimental.”
Adrian’s eyes were cold.
“You killed mine.”
Anthony’s smile faded.
For several seconds, the only sound was the fireplace.
Then Anthony sighed.
“Elena and Claire were never supposed to die.”
Adrian did not move.
“That is supposed to comfort me?”
“It was supposed to be you,” Anthony said. “Vincent made a mistake.”
“Luca Romano didn’t.”
“No. Luca was inconvenient.”
Adrian’s fists tightened.
Anthony walked farther into the room.
“You were always weak, Adrian. Your father knew it. He built an empire, and you wanted to pretend it could become something clean.”
“You murdered my family because you wanted control.”
“I protected this family from your softness.”
Adrian stepped forward.
Marcus appeared in the doorway, hand near his weapon.
Anthony smiled again.
“You won’t kill me,” he said. “Not now. You’re trying so hard to become a better man for that maid and her little girl.”
Adrian’s face did not change.
“You’re right,” he said.
Anthony looked pleased.
Then Adrian continued.
“I won’t kill you.”
The smile vanished.
“I’ll let the world know what you did.”
Marcus placed copies of the ledger on the table.
Federal prosecutors had already received the original through an encrypted delivery system. So had the officers Anthony had tried to bribe but never fully controlled.
Anthony’s confidence cracked.
“You think the law will protect you?”
“No,” Adrian said. “But the truth will destroy you.”
Anthony’s expression became monstrous.
“You have no idea what comes next.”
He turned and left.
That was when the estate lights went out.
Darkness swallowed the house.
A scream came from upstairs.
Sofia.
Adrian ran.
He found the guest suite door open, a lamp broken on the floor, and Sofia struggling with a masked man near the window.
Emma was gone.
For one second, Adrian stopped breathing.
Then Sofia screamed, “They took her!”
The man escaped through the window before Adrian could reach him.
Outside, a black van disappeared through the trees.
Marcus burst into the room.
“Anthony planned this,” he said.
Adrian looked at Sofia.
She was shaking, blood on her wrist, her eyes wild with terror.
“This is my fault,” Adrian said.
Sofia grabbed his coat.
“Bring her back.”
“I will.”
“Bring my daughter back.”
Adrian placed both hands around hers.
“I swear to you.”
Marcus had already traced the van to an abandoned warehouse near the river docks.
The same docks where Adrian had once missed the church trip with Elena and Claire.
The same docks where the phone call had kept him away the day the bomb went off.
History was circling back.
But this time, Adrian would not arrive too late.
Before leaving, he went to Claire’s room.
Sofia found him there.
He stood beside the little bed, holding Claire’s yellow rain boots.
“I can’t lose another child,” he said.
Sofia’s face broke.
“You won’t.”
He looked at her.
“I may not deserve your faith.”
“No,” Sofia whispered. “But Emma deserves your fight.”
Adrian nodded.
Then he placed Claire’s rain boots on the bed.
“Watch over her,” he whispered.
May you like
And he went to war.
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