Chapter 12 - The Price of Mateo’s Empire
Gabriel placed the gun on the floor.
“I was there.”
Mateo said nothing.
“I didn't kill Dad.”
Weller smiled.
“He pulled the trigger.”
Gabriel's face twisted.
“Because you put a gun against Mateo's head.”
Silence.
Mateo looked at Weller.
Gabriel explained.
Nineteen years earlier, Weller forced Antonio to choose between surrendering the evidence or watching Mateo die.
Antonio refused.
Gabriel was given a gun.
Kill Antonio.
Save Mateo.
Antonio himself told Gabriel to do it.
Mateo staggered backward.
“No.”
Gabriel's eyes filled.
“Dad's last words were, ‘Save your brother.’”
Mateo stared at him.
“You let me hate you for nineteen years.”
“I preferred your hatred to you knowing Dad died for you.”
Weller laughed softly.
Harper looked at him.
That laugh told her everything.
He still believed he controlled the room.
So she changed it.
“You're recording this.”
Weller's smile disappeared.
Harper pointed toward an antique clock.
Liam found the camera.
Weller had planned to record Mateo killing him.
A final weapon.
Mateo understood.
He holstered his gun.
“No.”
Weller frowned.
“You don't get the ending you planned.”
Police arrived minutes later.
Not Mateo's people.
Actual federal agents.
Harper had called them before entering.
Weller was arrested.
For the first time in generations, a Falcone walked away from revenge.
Outside, Mateo stood beside Gabriel.
Neither spoke.
Finally Mateo said, “I don't forgive you.”
Gabriel nodded.
“I know.”
“But I understand.”
For now, enough.
Then Harper doubled over.
Mateo panicked.
She laughed.
“Relax.”
“What?”
“Postpartum cramps.”
“You're sure?”
“Yes.”
“You need a doctor.”
“I have one.”
“Another doctor.”
Harper stared at him.
“Mateo.”
He stopped.
Gabriel grinned.
Mateo glared.
The moment almost felt normal.
Then Liam received a call.
His smile disappeared.
“What?”
Mateo asked.
Liam looked at Harper.
“Weller wasn't the Custodian.”
Harper's relief vanished.
“What?”
Federal investigators had found communications proving Weller answered to someone else.
Someone whose identity never appeared directly.
Only one code.
A.F.
Mateo stared.
Antonio Falcone?
Impossible.
His father had been dead nineteen years.
Harper searched the ledger again.
A.F. transactions continued until yesterday.
Someone had been using Antonio's identity.
Then Elena whispered:
“There was another Antonio.”
Mateo turned.
“Who?”
“Your father's brother.”
Mateo frowned.
“My father didn't have a brother.”
Elena looked terrified.
“Yes, he did.”
“What happened to him?”
“Nobody knows.”
Gabriel's face changed.
“I do.”
Everyone looked at him.
Gabriel reached into his pocket.
He removed a letter he had carried for nineteen years.
“I found him.”
“Where?”
Gabriel looked at Harper.
“Three months before she disappeared.”
Mateo's voice dropped.
“And you didn't tell me?”
“I wasn't sure.”
“Sure of what?”
Gabriel handed him the letter.
Mateo read the first line.
His face went still.
Harper moved beside him.
The letter said:
MATEO IS NOT ANTONIO'S SON.
Below it was a DNA report.
Mateo turned toward his mother.
Elena closed her eyes.
And someone knocked on the front door.
May you like
Three slow knocks.
Elena whispered, “That's him.”
