Chapter 8: The Dead Man’s Command
Nobody in the room moved.
The accusation was too impossible to process.
Too insane.
Too large.
Gabriele’s father had been dead for twelve years.
A man buried.
A man mourned.
A man whose name still carried weight throughout Chicago.
Federica looked at Matteo.
“You’re saying your father is alive?””
Matteo shook his head.
“No.””
“Then what are you saying?””
Matteo looked toward Gabriele.
“I’m saying someone has been using his name.””
Gabriele’s face hardened.
“Who?””
Matteo looked exhausted.
“That’s what I was trying to find.””
The room erupted with questions.
But Federica noticed something.
Matteo wasn’t looking at Gabriele.
He was looking at the floor.
Like he was afraid of what came next.
“Matteo,” Gabriele said.
His brother looked up.
“You disappeared for eight months.””
“I know.””
“You let me bury you.””
“I had to.””
Gabriele stepped closer.
“No.””
His voice became dangerous.
“You chose to.””
Matteo accepted that.
Maybe because it was true.
“I thought if I came back, they would kill Leo.””
That stopped everyone.
Federica looked at the sleeping baby monitor.
“The kidnapping was connected to you?””
Matteo nodded.
“Yes.””
Gabriele’s expression changed.
“Explain.””
Matteo sat down.
Slowly.
Like he had been carrying the weight for years instead of months.
“After Dad died, I found files.””
“What files?””
“Records of every operation. Every payment. Every person connected to the family.””
Federica listened carefully.
“Someone had been moving money for years.””
“How much?””
Matteo looked at her.
“Enough to build an empire.””
The accountant in her immediately understood.
This wasn’t a robbery.
It was an acquisition.
Someone had been slowly stealing control.
“Who was helping them?”” she asked.
Matteo looked at her.
“That’s the problem.””
“What?””
“I never found the person at the top.””
Gabriele stared.
“You found Damian.””
“Yes.””
“Marco.””
“Yes.””
“Then who?””
Matteo’s voice lowered.
“Someone closer.””
The room went silent.
Federica felt the answer before he said it.
“Family.””
Matteo nodded.
“Yes.””
Gabriele stepped back.
“No.””
Matteo looked at him.
“You need to listen.””
“I know my family.””
“No, you know the family we showed you.””
That sentence hurt.
Federica saw it.
Gabriele was not angry because he disagreed.
He was angry because he feared it was true.
Then the safe house lights flickered.
Once.
Twice.
The power died.
Everyone moved.
A guard shouted from the hallway.
“Movement outside!””
Gabriele grabbed a weapon.
Matteo stood.
Federica held Leo’s monitor close.
Then a gunshot echoed.
Not outside.
Inside.
Everyone turned.
One of the guards collapsed.
Another figure stepped from the shadows.
A person who had been in the room the entire time.
Watching.
Waiting.
Federica recognized the face.
And her blood ran cold.
Because the attacker wasn’t a stranger.
It was someone who had protected her.
Someone who had helped save Leo.
Someone she never suspected.
The person smiled sadly.
“I’m sorry, Federica.””
Gabriele raised his weapon.
“Why?””
The person looked at him.
“Because she was never supposed to survive the warehouse.””
A second later, they pressed a button.
The safe house doors locked.
And every screen in the building turned on.
May you like
A message appeared.
*WELCOME HOME, GABRIELE.*
