Chapter 14 - The Grave of Gabriel Moretti
Gabriel Moretti's grave was not empty.
That was the first surprise.
The second came from the forensic pathologist.
"He didn't die in a car accident."
Salvatore stood under a temporary tent beside the open grave.
"How?"
The doctor pointed toward the skull.
"Gunshot."
Matteo closed his eyes.
"Vittorio."
Salvatore said nothing.
Yet the answer seemed obvious.
Gabriel Moretti died months before Salvatore's birth.
Vittorio married Gabriel's fiancée shortly afterward.
Then raised Salvatore as his own son.
Why?
Duty?
Possession?
Or guilt?
Nathaniel Crane arrived holding a file older than most of the men present.
"I found your mother's original marriage papers."
Salvatore stared.
"What marriage?"
"She married Gabriel privately."
Matteo swore.
"So Salvatore is Gabriel's legitimate son."
Nathaniel nodded.
"And Vittorio?"
"Married her after Gabriel's death."
"Why hide it?"
Nathaniel looked toward the grave.
"Control."
That word again.
The Moretti family's favorite inheritance.
If Salvatore was Gabriel's son, Vittorio's legitimate firstborn remained Matteo.
Yet Vittorio had publicly made Salvatore his heir.
Matteo's entire grievance rested on a lie.
Salvatore looked at him.
"My existence didn't steal your place."
Matteo laughed bitterly.
"Apparently Vittorio did."
Their father's sins reached into every generation.
Carmine approached.
"We have company."
Several black vehicles waited beyond the cemetery road.
Federal agents.
The lead agent introduced herself as Special Agent Andrea Mills.
"We have a warrant."
"For what?"
"Financial records connected to the Moretti Continuity Trust."
Salvatore's expression hardened.
"Convenient timing."
Mills met his stare.
"We received an anonymous evidence package."
Dominic.
Of course.
The package implicated Salvatore in tax fraud, money laundering, extortion, and two murders.
Some evidence was real.
Some fabricated.
All damaging.
Salvatore could not risk arrest with the custody case unresolved.
Nathaniel pulled him aside.
"If they charge you, temporary guardianship could shift."
"To who?"
"If Matteo's claim remains active, possibly him."
Matteo heard.
"I'm withdrawing it."
Nathaniel looked surprised.
"What?"
"The paternity claim. The guardianship petition. All of it."
Salvatore stared at him.
"Why?"
Matteo looked toward Leo, who waited in the car with a guard.
"Because the kid called you his father."
Salvatore said nothing.
Matteo shrugged.
"Some things even I understand."
It was the first truly selfless act Salvatore had seen from him.
It frightened him more than violence.
Federal agents searched the penthouse.
Leo watched silently as drawers opened and boxes filled.
Afterward he asked, "Are they taking you away?"
"No."
"Could they?"
Salvatore crouched.
"Maybe."
Leo's face crumpled.
Salvatore had almost never seen him cry.
Not even after kidnapping.
Now he did.
"You said nobody was taking me."
"No one is."
"If they take you, it's the same thing!"
The boy ran to the movie room and slammed the door.
Salvatore stood frozen.
Carmine murmured, "Go."
"I don't know what to say."
"Neither does he."
Salvatore entered.
Leo sat behind the sofa.
Salvatore sat on the floor several feet away.
"I made you a promise."
Leo didn't answer.
"I said nobody would take you."
"They can."
"Listen."
"No."
"I can't promise I won't ever be arrested."
Leo looked at him angrily.
"I can't promise nobody will ever shoot at me. I can't promise nothing bad will happen."
The boy's face tightened.
"Then what can you promise?"
Salvatore thought about it.
Everything men like him promised was usually based on power.
Money.
Fear.
Control.
None of those had protected Elena.
None had protected Leo.
"I can promise I won't choose to leave you."
Leo stared.
Salvatore continued.
"If something happens, I fight my way back. If a judge separates us, I fight legally. If someone threatens us, I protect you. But I don't disappear because I'm scared."
Leo's lower lip trembled.
"Mom disappeared."
"She thought she had to."
"Did she choose me over you?"
"Yes."
"Would you?"
Salvatore's heart tightened.
"Every time."
Leo crawled forward and wrapped his arms around him.
Salvatore held him.
Later that night, Matteo arrived with information stolen from an old federal database.
"Dominic has a daughter."
Salvatore stared.
"What?"
"Six years old."
"No one knew."
"Exactly."
Her name was Sophia Russo.
Mother deceased.
The child lived under a different surname with foster parents in New Jersey.
Salvatore understood.
Dominic wasn't merely chasing power.
He had an heir of his own.
"Why does that matter?"
Matteo placed Vittorio's trust document on the table.
"The language says control goes to Vittorio's youngest confirmed direct descendant if the primary line fails."
Salvatore's eyes narrowed.
"Dominic isn't Vittorio's descendant."
"No."
Matteo turned another page.
"But Sophia is."
Silence.
"Through who?"
Matteo met his eyes.
"Her mother."
"Who was she?"
"Vittorio's secret daughter."
Salvatore almost laughed from disbelief.
Another hidden child.
Another lie.
Matteo continued.
"If Leo dies, Sophia becomes beneficiary."
Carmine's face hardened.
"So Dominic gets the empire through his daughter."
"Yes."
Salvatore stared toward Leo's room.
Three weeks to his birthday.
Dominic did not need to control Leo.
He only needed Leo dead.
Then Salvatore's phone rang.
A child's voice came through.
Not Leo.
A little girl.
"Mr. Moretti?"
Salvatore frowned.
"Who is this?"
"My name is Sophia."
Everyone froze.
The girl whispered.
"My daddy told me you're a bad man."
A pause.
"But he's outside my house with a gun."
May you like
Her voice began to shake.
"And I think he's going to kill my foster parents."
