Chapter 11 - What Elena Did
Leo stared at the photograph.
"No."
Matteo's expression remained calm.
"Pictures don't lie."
Salvatore never took his eyes off his brother.
"People do."
Matteo smiled.
"Good. You learned something."
Leo stepped closer to the altar.
Salvatore caught his shoulder.
"Don't."
"That's Mom."
"I know."
She looked younger in the photograph.
Terrified.
The gun was unmistakable.
Vittorio sat in a chair with blood on his chest.
Salvatore studied the background.
His father's old country house.
The one sold after Vittorio's supposed death.
"When was this taken?"
"Nine years ago," Matteo said.
"Vittorio died six years ago."
"Officially."
Salvatore's mind raced.
Domenico had said Elena helped Vittorio disappear.
The photograph fit.
Perhaps the shooting had not killed him.
"What happened?"
Matteo walked slowly toward a pew.
"For once, we should tell the boy the truth."
"You don't get to talk to him."
Leo surprised both brothers.
"I want to hear it."
Salvatore turned.
Leo's eyes were wet.
"But not from him."
He looked at Salvatore.
"You tell me."
"I wasn't there."
"Then make him tell you."
Matteo laughed.
"Definitely a Moretti."
Salvatore's expression darkened.
"Talk."
Nine years earlier, Vittorio discovered Elena's pregnancy.
He threatened her.
Elena refused to disappear.
So Vittorio brought her to the country house.
Matteo was there under his Anthony Vale identity.
"He ordered me to kill her," Matteo said.
Leo flinched.
Salvatore's hand tightened around his pistol.
"You didn't."
"No."
"Why?"
"Because I hated him more than I hated you."
Matteo explained that he told Elena the truth.
That he was Vittorio's first son.
That Vittorio had erased him from the family after Matteo's mother died.
Raised him through associates.
Used him as a soldier.
Then denied him legitimacy.
Matteo wanted revenge.
He proposed helping Elena escape.
"But there was a complication."
"Vittorio?"
"He came into the room."
Matteo looked at the photograph.
"Elena grabbed the gun."
"She shot him."
"Yes."
Leo's breath caught.
Matteo continued.
"Once."
"Did he die?"
"No."
Salvatore understood.
"She thought she killed him."
"Yes."
Matteo smiled faintly.
"I let her believe it."
"Why?"
"Because terrified people run farther."
Salvatore wanted to kill him.
He could feel the impulse in his hand.
"But Vittorio survived."
"Two years."
"What did you do with him?"
"Kept him hidden."
Salvatore's face hardened.
"You imprisoned him."
"Yes."
"Then killed him."
Matteo's eyes darkened.
"Eventually."
Leo looked sick.
"You killed your dad?"
Matteo's gaze shifted to him.
"Our father."
"Not mine."
The correction was immediate.
Matteo's smile disappeared.
Leo's hands curled into fists.
"My dad is standing here."
Salvatore nearly lost his breath.
Matteo looked at him.
Something bitter passed across his face.
"Congratulations, little brother."
Salvatore said nothing.
Matteo walked toward the biometric panel.
"Vittorio used his captivity to build this archive. Insurance against me. Insurance against everyone."
"What is inside?"
"Names. crimes. payments. murders. political favors."
"Why do you want it?"
"To destroy it."
Salvatore did not believe him.
Matteo saw it.
"Some things should stay buried."
"Then why attack Leo?"
"I didn't."
Salvatore stared.
"Your men kidnapped him."
"Paolo kidnapped him."
"Working for you."
"Paolo was working against me."
Matteo's voice sharpened.
"Domenico was working against me. Elena was working against me. Half the people you believe were my agents were trying to reach you before I did."
Salvatore's mind flashed back.
Paolo: I saved him.
Domenico: If Matteo is here, get the boy away.
Could both have been telling the truth?
"Who attacked the mansion?"
Matteo looked toward the church entrance.
"I did."
"Who took Leo from the car?"
"Not me."
"Then who?"
Matteo smiled grimly.
"Ask Dominic."
Salvatore's face became still.
"No."
"You never wondered why my dear cousin always arrives with the right information at the right time?"
"He's your nephew."
"And ambitious."
Leo looked between them.
Salvatore remembered the fire.
Dominic had been in the house.
Dominic had survived.
Dominic had found the location.
Dominic had produced Matteo's identities.
A perfect investigator could also be a perfect manipulator.
Salvatore touched his earpiece.
"Dominic."
Static.
"Dominic."
Nothing.
Carmine responded.
"Boss, Dominic left his position."
Salvatore's stomach dropped.
"When?"
"Two minutes ago."
A gunshot sounded outside.
Then another.
Salvatore moved toward the door.
Matteo raised his hand.
"Don't."
Salvatore aimed at him.
"What?"
"That's what he wants."
"What does he want?"
Matteo looked toward the archive door.
"The same thing I do."
Salvatore frowned.
"The files?"
"No."
Matteo's eyes moved to Leo.
"The boy."
The church doors burst open.
Carmine stumbled inside.
Blood covered one sleeve.
"Boss."
Salvatore ran toward him.
"Where is Dominic?"
"Gone."
"What happened?"
"He turned on us."
Salvatore felt something inside him break.
Carmine continued.
"Four of our men are down. He took an SUV."
"Why?"
Carmine's eyes shifted toward Leo.
Then to Salvatore.
"He left a message."
"What message?"
Carmine handed him a phone.
A video played.
Dominic sat inside a vehicle.
Calm.
Almost apologetic.
"Salvatore, if you're seeing this, I'm sorry."
Salvatore stared.
Dominic continued.
"My uncle spent his life trying to stop Matteo. My father spent his life serving Vittorio. And I spent mine realizing every older man in this family was wrong."
He leaned toward the camera.
"The Moretti empire should not belong to Matteo."
A pause.
"It should not belong to you."
Then Dominic smiled.
"It belongs to whoever controls the heir."
The video ended.
Salvatore looked toward Leo.
The boy was gone.
The side door of the church stood open.
On the floor lay Leo's jacket.
Matteo whispered a curse.
Salvatore ran.
Outside, tire tracks cut across wet pavement.
May you like
Dominic had never left alone.
He had taken Leo with him.
