Chapter 15 - The Trial of Salvatore Moretti
The newspapers called it the trial of the decade.
Salvatore called it Wednesday.
That annoyed his lawyers.
“You could go to prison for the rest of your life.”
“I’m aware.”
“Then stop looking bored.”
Salvatore glanced through the courtroom glass.
Matteo sat beside Rosa in the second row.
Gabriel beside Sofia.
Bianca at the aisle.
A family that had barely existed months earlier now sat together waiting to see whether the government would tear it apart.
The Black Ledger was devastating evidence.
But evidence against whom was the question.
Many crimes predated Salvatore’s leadership.
Some documents were forged.
Some genuine.
Mara had spent decades mixing truth with lies until separation became nearly impossible.
The prosecution argued Salvatore inherited the criminal enterprise and continued it.
They were not entirely wrong.
Salvatore had done terrible things.
Not every rumor.
Enough.
He had expected consequences eventually.
What he had not expected was Matteo.
The boy visited him each morning before court.
“Are you scared?”
“Yes.”
“You don’t look scared.”
“Adults get good at that.”
“My mother did.”
“I know.”
“Are you going away?”
“Maybe.”
Matteo’s mouth tightened.
“You promised.”
Salvatore knew exactly what he meant.
Come back.
“I’m trying.”
“That’s not the same.”
“No.”
Salvatore leaned forward.
“But it’s the truth.”
On day six, Mara testified.
Eighty-four years old.
Calm.
Perfect.
She described Antonio’s organization.
Gabriel’s disappearance.
Victor’s operations.
Then claimed Salvatore had known everything for years.
The prosecutor asked, “Did Mr. Moretti authorize violence?”
“Yes.”
“Against rival families?”
“Yes.”
“Against witnesses?”
Mara looked at Salvatore.
“Yes.”
The defense stood.
“Evidence?”
Mara smiled.
“The ledger.”
But the ledger did not contain such authorization.
Only notes implying it.
Handwriting experts later proved several were Mara’s additions.
The case shifted.
Then Victor testified.
Nobody expected it.
He entered under federal protection.
Bianca could not look at him.
Victor looked at Salvatore.
For the first time, not as enemy.
Not brother.
Just man.
“I opened the Bellini gate.”
The courtroom erupted.
Victor confessed to thirty-one crimes.
Attacks.
Bribery.
Murders.
Sabotage.
He admitted manipulating records to frame Elena and Salvatore.
The prosecutor tried to save the case.
“Were you acting under Salvatore Moretti’s orders?”
“No.”
“His father’s?”
“Sometimes.”
“Mara Bellandi’s?”
“Most of the time.”
“Did Salvatore know?”
“No.”
That one word changed everything.
But the prosecution still had Salvatore’s own crimes.
Money laundering.
Illegal businesses.
Obstruction.
Enough for years.
His lawyers offered a deal.
Twelve years.
Salvatore refused.
“Why?” Gabriel demanded.
“Because they want me to plead to murders I didn’t order.”
“You could lose.”
“I know.”
“You have Matteo waiting.”
Salvatore looked toward the boy.
“That’s why.”
He would not teach Matteo survival required accepting someone else’s lie.
On day eleven, the defense called Rosa.
She produced Antonio’s cassette.
Then Elena’s videos.
The courtroom watched a dead woman tell the truth.
Matteo cried silently beside Gabriel.
When Elena said, “Salvatore was many things, but he never betrayed me,” Salvatore looked down.
He had failed her in another way.
He believed the lie.
The final blow came from Bianca.
She took the stand against her lawyer’s advice.
“My husband built a criminal organization.”
Gasps.
Salvatore stared at her.
“He hurt people. My sons inherited the consequences.”
The prosecutor asked, “Did Salvatore participate?”
“Yes.”
Salvatore’s lawyer closed his eyes.
Bianca continued.
“But he also spent the last nine years trying to turn businesses legitimate.”
The jury heard financial records.
Hospitals.
Construction companies.
Shipping firms converted to legal operations.
Salvatore had been changing the empire quietly.
Not enough to erase the past.
Enough to complicate the present.
After three weeks, the verdict came.
Not guilty on murder conspiracy.
Not guilty on Bellini.
Not guilty on witness elimination.
Guilty on financial offenses and obstruction.
Sentencing delayed.
Salvatore faced four to seven years.
Matteo looked devastated.
“Four years is forever.”
“No,” Salvatore said.
“It’s half my life.”
That hurt.
Gabriel stepped closer.
“I’ll be here.”
Matteo looked at him.
“And if you disappear?”
Gabriel’s face changed.
“I won’t.”
“How do I know?”
“You don’t.”
Matteo turned away.
Gabriel crouched.
“But you can watch me prove it.”
Sentencing arrived six weeks later.
The judge considered Salvatore’s cooperation, the dismantling of illegal operations, the evidence he provided against corrupt officials and his lack of connection to the major murders.
Thirty months.
With eighteen credited under monitored confinement and cooperation provisions.
Twelve months remaining.
Matteo counted immediately.
“Three hundred sixty-five days.”
Salvatore smiled.
“Approximately.”
“That’s still bad.”
“Yes.”
“Can I write?”
“Yes.”
“Every day?”
“If you want.”
“I might.”
Salvatore knew that meant he would.
Before officers led him away, Matteo stepped forward.
“You promised to come back.”
Salvatore looked at him.
“And I will.”
Matteo held out Elena’s blue sparrow.
“For your room.”
Salvatore took it carefully.
“I thought this was yours.”
“It was hers.”
May you like
Matteo swallowed.
“Now it’s ours.”
