Chapter 6 - A Traitor at My Table
“Luca.”
My brother’s name sounded unfamiliar in my mouth.
A small emergency light flickered above the vault door.
Luca Moretti stood ten feet away, holding a pistol fitted with a suppressor.
He was four years younger than me, thinner, better dressed, and far more skilled at appearing harmless. Since our father’s death, Luca had managed our legitimate businesses while I controlled everything beneath them.
He negotiated with bankers.
He attended charity dinners.
He kissed children on the forehead at Christmas.
And he had the same gray eyes I saw every morning in the mirror.
“Put the gun down,” I said.
“You always say that like people still obey you.”
Enzo and my men were outside the vault. I had heard no gunfire.
That meant Luca had either separated us quietly or purchased the bank.
“How long?” I asked.
“How long what?”
“How long have you wanted me dead?”
His jaw tightened.
“Everything is always about you.”
“You locked me inside a vault with a gun.”
“Because even now, you walked in here and assumed the story was simple.”
He looked at the ledger in my hand.
“Sofia knew too much. Carlo wanted her silenced. I wanted her frightened enough to leave.”
“The bomb was meant to frighten her?”
“I did not place it.”
“But you attended the meeting.”
“Yes.”
The word contained no apology.
“You betrayed my wife.”
“I was twenty-six. Father was dead. The Bellinis were preparing for war, and you were talking about abandoning the family for a woman who lied about everything she was.”
“She was my wife.”
“She was evidence.”
I moved one step closer.
Luca raised the pistol.
“Don’t.”
“Are you going to kill me?”
“I haven’t decided.”
“You decided seven years ago.”
His face twisted.
“You think I wanted her dead? I warned her. I gave her a route out of the city. She refused to go without you.”
“Because unlike you, she understood loyalty.”
“She understood leverage.”
He pointed toward the envelope.
“That letter was designed to turn you against me.”
“It identified you before she died.”
“It said someone with your blood. Do you know how many Morettis have your eyes?”
“Only one stood in Carlo’s room.”
Luca laughed softly.
“You still don’t see it.”
A knock sounded from the vault door.
Three slow taps.
Luca’s expression changed.
He had not expected it.
The door unlocked behind him.
Enzo entered with blood on his collar and a pistol in each hand.
Luca turned.
I crossed the distance before he could fire.
We struck the floor together.
The suppressed pistol discharged into the wall. I punched him once, twice, then wrapped my hand around his throat.
“Where are Maeve and Elena?”
He coughed.
“Safe.”
“Where?”
“In the vehicle.”
Enzo shook his head.
“The convoy was attacked. One driver is dead. Maeve and the girl escaped into the subway.”
I tightened my grip.
Luca stared at me.
“That wasn’t me.”
“You expect me to believe anything you say?”
“If I wanted the child dead, she never would have reached you.”
The statement landed differently than he intended.
“You knew she was coming.”
He looked away.
I released him enough to breathe.
“You sent Elena to find me.”
“No.”
“But you knew someone would.”
Before I could press further, the bank’s fire alarms sounded.
Enzo checked the security tablet.
“Police on every entrance. Tactical units.”
Luca smiled bitterly.
“They’re not here to rescue anyone.”
The ledger contained names.
Judges.
Officers.
Federal agents.
If the network knew we had opened the box, every purchased badge in the city would be moving against us.
“We leave through the utility tunnel,” Luca said.
“You knew about it?”
“I own the building next door.”
Of course he did.
I considered killing him where he stood.
Instead, I took his weapon.
“You walk first.”
The utility tunnel connected the bank basement to an underground parking structure. As we moved, Luca explained that Carlo’s organization had survived his death.
The Bellini empire was now controlled by a council called the Nine.
Nine men from government, law enforcement, shipping, finance, and organized crime.
“They ordered Sofia’s death?” I asked.
“Carlo ordered it. The Nine covered it.”
“And now?”
“They want the ledger before a succession vote tomorrow night.”
“What succession?”
Luca looked over his shoulder.
“They plan to replace Carlo with a Moretti.”
We reached the parking structure.
Enzo’s phone rang.
Maeve.
He answered and placed it on speaker.
“Where are you?”
Her breathing was ragged.
“Old Central Station. Elena and I are hiding in a maintenance room.”
“Stay there,” I said. “We’re coming.”
“No. They followed us.”
A metallic crash sounded through the phone.
Elena screamed.
Then a man spoke.
“Bring the ledger to Pier Twelve.”
The voice was electronically distorted.
“Let them go,” I said.
“Bring your brother too.”
Luca went still.
“Why?”
“Because one of you will be crowned tonight.”
The call ended.
A red dot appeared on Enzo’s chest.
I pulled him down as rifle fire ripped through the concrete pillar behind us.
We ran between vehicles while bullets shattered windshields.
Luca dove behind a sedan.
I aimed toward the upper level and fired twice.
A body fell over the railing.
Then a black van crashed through the exit gate.
The side door opened.
Maeve leaned out, blood on her face.
“Get in!”
I pushed Enzo toward the van and climbed after him.
Elena sat on the floor with Bruno in her arms.
“You escaped?” I asked.
She shook her head.
“No.”
Maeve looked toward Luca, who had jumped into the vehicle behind us.
“They let us go.”
Elena held up a folded card someone had placed inside her pocket.
On the front was the split black crown.
May you like
Inside were seven words.
BRING MARCO HOME TO WHERE SOFIA BURNED.
