Chapter 4 - THE MAN WHO KNEW WHO KILLED MY FATHER
The old Moretti warehouse had been abandoned since my father died.
That alone told me Gianni had chosen it deliberately.
Luca sat across from me inside the armored SUV.
His wrists weren’t tied.
They didn’t need to be.
Marco sat beside him with a gun.
Isabella was furious that I refused to bring her.
Lily was furious that Isabella refused to bring her.
For once, I agreed with both women staying behind.
“Did your father kill Antonio Rossi?” I asked Luca.
He stared out the window.
“I don’t know.”
“Wrong answer.”
“It’s the truth.”
“Did Vittorio order my ambush?”
A pause.
“Yes.”
There it was.
Eight years of suspicion confirmed with one word.
“Why?”
“Your father was dying.”
“He lived another three years.”
“Everyone thought he was dying.”
That was true.
My father had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer months before the ambush.
He beat the first prognosis.
Vittorio had not expected that.
Luca continued.
“You were supposed to inherit everything.”
“So Vittorio removed me.”
“He tried.”
“And when I survived?”
“He changed strategies.”
“Hide my daughter. Convince me I couldn’t have children. Put you beside me as the obvious successor.”
Luca looked at me.
“Yes.”
There was almost admiration in his voice.
I wanted to break his teeth.
Instead, I asked:
“And Sofia?”
“She approached me.”
I laughed.
“Convenient.”
“She hated being treated like decoration.”
“She accepted my ring.”
“She wanted your name. Not you.”
That hurt less than it should have.
Maybe because I already knew.
“She got pregnant. You made a plan.”
“We made a plan.”
“Marry me. Let me raise your child. Then what?”
He finally looked nervous.
I leaned forward.
“What happens to me after the wedding?”
Silence.
Marco raised his gun slightly.
Luca exhaled.
“You would have stepped down.”
“Why?”
“You were going to have an accident.”
For several seconds, I heard nothing.
No engine.
No breathing.
Nothing.
“My wedding was tomorrow.”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“On the honeymoon.”
Marco whispered a curse.
I looked at Luca.
“You were going to kill me.”
“My father started the plan.”
“Your father has been dead five years.”
“I continued it.”
At least he finally stopped hiding.
“Why confess now?”
“Because Gianni doesn’t want revenge against you.”
“He wants you.”
“Yes.”
We reached Brooklyn.
The warehouse sat near the river.
Dark windows.
Rusted loading doors.
Gianni’s men were visible on the roof.
I entered with Luca.
Marco stayed hidden outside with a tactical team.
Inside, Sofia sat tied to a chair.
Pregnant.
Terrified.
Gianni stood behind her.
He looked older than I remembered.
A scar crossed his throat.
“You brought him.”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
“Release Sofia.”
“When Luca tells the truth.”
Luca laughed.
“You dragged a pregnant woman across New York for family therapy?”
Gianni hit him.
Hard.
Luca stumbled.
I did not intervene.
“Antonio was your brother,” I said.
Gianni looked at me.
“Yes.”
“Is he dead?”
Isabella had lived eight years without knowing.
Gianni’s expression softened.
“Yes.”
The answer hurt even though he wasn’t my father.
“How?”
“Vittorio had him killed.”
Luca looked away.
“You knew,” Gianni said.
Luca said nothing.
“You were there.”
That changed everything.
Luca’s face hardened.
“I was nineteen.”
“You watched your father shoot Antonio.”
Sofia gasped.
I stared.
“Is that true?”
Luca’s voice came low.
“Yes.”
“Why Antonio?”
“He had evidence.”
“Of what?”
Gianni smiled without humor.
“Everything.”
He walked toward an old metal desk and opened a drawer.
Inside were ledgers.
Photographs.
Microcassettes.
“Antonio learned Vittorio was selling police routes and shipment schedules to rival families.”
That matched Isabella’s story.
“But he found something else,” Gianni continued.
“Your father.”
I stiffened.
“What about him?”
“Your father discovered Vittorio’s betrayal.”
My mouth went dry.
“When?”
“The night before your ambush.”
I stared at Luca.
“My father knew?”
“Yes.”
“He ordered Vittorio arrested?”
“No.”
Gianni’s expression became strange.
“Your father planned to turn everything over to federal authorities.”
I laughed once.
My father hated federal agents.
“Why?”
“Because he wanted out.”
The room went silent.
“Out of what?”
“The life.”
That was impossible.
My father, Salvatore Moretti, had built half of the empire I now ran.
“He had cancer,” Gianni said. “He knew death was coming. He wanted you to inherit the legitimate companies and dismantle the rest.”
My knees almost weakened.
Everything I had become, I became because I thought I was honoring him.
“He never told me.”
“He was going to.”
“But Vittorio moved first.”
“Yes.”
The ambush wasn’t merely about inheritance.
It was about keeping the criminal empire alive.
Luca laughed bitterly.
“My father said Salvatore went soft.”
Gianni looked at him.
“Your father was a coward.”
Luca lunged.
Chaos exploded.
He hit Gianni.
One of Gianni’s men raised a gun.
I moved between them.
Sofia screamed.
A shot hit the ceiling.
Marco’s team stormed the building.
Within seconds, everyone was shouting.
Luca ran toward a side exit.
Gianni chased him.
I untied Sofia.
“Can you walk?”
“Yes.”
“Go with Marco.”
“What about Luca?”
“Not your problem anymore.”
She grabbed my sleeve.
“Alessandro, he said he’d kill the baby if I ever told you.”
That stopped me.
“What?”
“He didn’t want the child.”
Luca had planned everything around an heir he never intended to keep alive.
The coldness of it stunned even me.
I found Luca near the river door.
Gianni had him cornered.
Luca held a gun.
Gianni held another.
“Stop.”
Neither moved.
I stepped between them.
“Move, Alessandro,” Gianni said.
“No.”
“He watched Antonio die.”
“I know.”
“He helped destroy Isabella’s life.”
“I know.”
“He planned to kill you.”
“I know.”
Gianni’s hand shook.
“Then why protect him?”
“I’m not.”
I looked at Luca.
“I’m protecting Lily from the man I become if I solve everything with blood.”
For the first time, Luca looked afraid.
Police sirens approached.
Not my men.
Actual NYPD.
Federal agents behind them.
Marco had called them.
Luca laughed.
“You’re handing me over?”
“Yes.”
“You’re Alessandro Moretti.”
“Exactly.”
He stared at me like I was a stranger.
Maybe I was.
Luca lowered the gun.
Gianni did too.
Agents entered.
Luca was arrested for conspiracy, kidnapping, attempted murder planning, and multiple organized crime charges tied to Vittorio’s old network.
Gianni was taken into custody for Sofia’s kidnapping but immediately asked for a deal.
He had evidence.
A lot of it.
As they led him away, he looked at me.
“Tell Isabella I’m sorry.”
“You tell her.”
He nodded.
Then said:
“There’s one more thing Antonio left.”
“What?”
“A recording.”
“Where?”
“Isabella has it.”
I frowned.
“She doesn’t know.”
“He hid it in the only thing she never threw away.”
“What thing?”
Gianni looked toward my chest.
“The shirt you were wearing the night she saved your life.”
I froze.
May you like
That shirt was still in Isabella’s possession.
And somewhere inside it was a message from a dead man that had waited eight years to be found.
