Chapter 5 - The Betrayal at Belladonna
Marco did not move.
Neither did Elena.
Isabella descended one step at a time.
Her heels clicked against stone.
"You were supposed to stay home," Marco said.
"So were you."
His face went hard.
"Explain the ledger."
Isabella stopped three steps above them.
"Which part?"
"The part where everyone connected to the Architect is dead except you."
"That doesn't make me the Architect."
"No."
Marco closed the ledger.
"But walking into a hidden vault nobody told you about does raise questions."
Isabella smiled faintly.
"I told Sofia about it."
"Sofia told us."
"Then it isn't exactly hidden anymore."
Elena looked at her.
"Did you sedate my mother?"
Isabella's expression changed.
"Elena—"
"Yes or no."
"I authorized medical care."
"Did you pay people to keep her confused?"
"No."
"Mateo found payments."
"Then the payments were altered."
"Convenient."
Marco looked at his mother.
"Who else had access to the foundation accounts?"
"Dozens of administrators."
"Who signed off?"
"Electronic authorization could be forged."
Elena felt anger rising.
"You have an answer for everything."
"When you've lived as long as I have, you usually do."
Marco stepped closer.
"Stop."
Isabella looked at him.
He held up the ledger.
"Who is the Architect?"
"I don't know."
"Mother."
"I don't."
"You knew my father traded Sofia's location."
"Yes."
"You knew Gabriel's death wasn't what I was told."
"Yes."
"You knew about the vault."
"Yes."
"You knew this ring opened it."
"Yes."
"But you don't know who spent twenty-seven years cleaning up every witness?"
"No."
Marco's laugh was cold.
"Remarkable."
Isabella's composure cracked.
"You think I would do this to you?"
"I think you've lied to me my entire life."
"For your survival!"
The words echoed.
Elena watched mother and son.
She understood both more than she wanted to.
Fear could turn love into control.
Control could disguise itself as sacrifice.
And eventually the person being protected no longer knew whether they had been saved or imprisoned.
A phone rang.
Not Marco's.
Not Elena's.
Inside one of the archive boxes.
They froze.
Marco followed the sound.
He found an old desk phone wired through the wall.
Impossible.
It rang again.
He lifted the receiver.
"DeLuca."
A distorted voice answered through speaker mode.
"Midnight."
Elena's skin prickled.
Marco looked at his watch.
12:00 exactly.
The voice continued.
"You brought the girl."
Marco glanced at Elena.
"Who are you?"
"You already know."
"Architect?"
Soft laughter.
"Such a dramatic name."
Isabella went pale.
Marco saw it.
"You recognize the voice?"
"No."
The caller continued.
"Antonio used to ask too many questions too."
Marco's expression turned lethal.
"What did you do to my father?"
"I taught him the cost of disobedience."
Elena stepped closer to the phone.
"Where is my mother?"
"Safe."
"My brother?"
"Safe."
"Rafael's family?"
A pause.
"Not relevant."
"They are to me."
"Interesting."
"What?"
"You sound like Sofia."
Elena gripped the table.
"Stay away from my family."
"Then bring me the original ledger."
"You called the phone inside the room where we're standing. You know we found it."
"Yes."
"Then you can come get it."
Marco looked at her.
So did Isabella.
Elena held the phone.
"I'm done carrying packages for men who hide behind other people."
The distorted voice went quiet.
Then:
"Brave."
Elena said nothing.
"Your aunt was brave too."
Her blood chilled.
"Eva?"
"Yes."
"What happened to her?"
"She made the same mistake you're making."
"What mistake?"
"Believing Marco DeLuca will choose you over his family."
Marco took the receiver.
"Try me."
The caller laughed.
Then the line went dead.
At the same moment, alarms sounded upstairs.
Nico's voice came through Marco's phone.
"Boss! Fire!"
Smoke began drifting down the stairwell.
Marco grabbed the ledger.
"Move."
They ran up.
Belladonna's kitchen was burning.
Not uncontrollably.
Strategically.
Someone had ignited two exits.
Marco's men were fighting the flames.
Elena coughed.
"Front door!"
They reached the dining room.
A blast shattered the windows.
Elena fell.
Marco covered her.
Isabella screamed.
Sprinklers erupted overhead.
Through smoke, a figure ran toward the rear corridor.
Elena recognized him.
"Vincent!"
Vincent Rusk.
Bloodied.
Barely upright.
Alive.
He carried a pistol.
Marco shouted, "Rusk!"
Vincent turned.
His face filled with terror.
"Don't let her leave!"
He fired.
Elena screamed.
Marco shoved Isabella aside.
The bullet struck the wall behind her.
Nico tackled Vincent.
Marco grabbed him by the throat.
"What the hell are you doing?"
Vincent coughed.
"She'll kill us all."
He pointed at Isabella.
Everyone turned.
Isabella stood drenched beneath the sprinklers.
Shock on her face.
Vincent sobbed.
"She is the Architect."
Marco stared at his mother.
Isabella whispered, "He's lying."
Vincent screamed.
"She killed Antonio!"
Marco hit him.
Once.
Hard.
"Say that again."
Vincent sagged.
"Your mother ordered it."
Isabella stepped backward.
"No."
Vincent reached into his coat.
Nico grabbed his arm.
"It's not a gun."
He pulled out a small cassette tape.
Vincent held it toward Marco.
"Your father recorded everything."
Isabella's face drained of color.
Marco noticed.
That was enough.
"Take her phone."
"Marco," Isabella said.
"Now."
One of his men approached.
Isabella slapped his hand away.
"I am your mother."
"And I'm asking for the truth."
"You don't understand what your father was."
"Then help me understand."
Her eyes filled.
"Not here."
Vincent laughed weakly.
"She always says that."
Marco took the cassette.
"What's on it?"
"Antonio's last meeting."
"With whom?"
Vincent looked at Isabella.
"Her."
The fire alarm shrieked.
Sirens approached outside.
Marco ordered everyone out.
They moved to the alley.
Rain soaked them.
Belladonna burned behind.
Elena stood wrapped in Marco's overshirt.
Isabella was placed in another SUV under guard.
She did not resist.
That frightened Elena more than denial would have.
Vincent went with Nico.
Rafael, brought from the safe house, watched the flames from a separate vehicle.
He looked devastated.
"My father built half his network in there."
Marco stared at the restaurant.
"Then maybe it's fitting."
Elena looked at him.
"Do you believe Vincent?"
"No."
"Do you believe your mother?"
"No."
"What do you believe?"
Marco looked at the cassette.
"This."
They returned to the DeLuca estate.
A vintage tape player was found in storage.
Everyone gathered in Marco's study.
Sofia sat beside Mateo.
Rafael stood across the room under guard.
Isabella sat alone.
Marco inserted the cassette.
Static.
Then Antonio DeLuca's voice.
"If you're hearing this, I failed."
Marco stopped breathing.
Elena watched his face.
Antonio continued.
"The Architect isn't one person."
Everyone looked at one another.
"It's a system."
Static crackled.
"Five families built it. We told ourselves it would keep Greybridge stable. Politicians took money. Judges took money. Police took money. Businesses obeyed. Violence decreased. We called it peace."
Sofia closed her eyes.
Antonio's voice continued.
"But peace bought by fear belongs to whoever controls the fear."
A second voice entered.
Isabella's.
Younger.
"Antonio, turn that off."
Marco looked at his mother.
The tape continued.
"No, Bella. Someone needs to know."
"You'll get Marco killed."
"I'm trying to stop that."
"Then give Gabriel the ledger."
"He'll use it."
"So will you."
A pause.
Then Antonio:
"I already gave Sofia's location."
Elena felt her mother stiffen.
"I betrayed her."
Isabella's voice softened.
"You saved our son."
"No. I became Gabriel."
Static.
Then:
"There is another copy."
Isabella on tape inhaled sharply.
"Where?"
"I gave the key to Thomas Rusk."
Vincent closed his eyes.
Antonio continued.
"If something happens to me, Sofia gets the ledger."
"Why Sofia?"
"Because she's the only one of us who still knows right from wrong."
Sofia began crying silently.
Then a new voice entered the recording.
A man's voice.
Calm.
Unfamiliar.
"You two shouldn't be discussing this without me."
Antonio said, "How did you get in?"
The man's reply:
"You built a system with doors everywhere."
Rafael stepped forward.
"I know that voice."
Marco paused the tape.
"Who?"
Rafael looked stunned.
"My father."
Sofia shook her head.
"No."
Rafael stared.
"That's Gabriel."
Sofia whispered, "Gabriel was already dead when this recording was made."
Silence.
Marco restarted.
The voice continued.
"Antonio, you've disappointed us."
Antonio said, "Who are you?"
The man laughed.
Then the tape cut out.
Marco removed it.
"That's it?"
Vincent nodded.
"That's all I had."
Rafael looked sick.
"If that wasn't my father..."
Sofia leaned forward.
"He copied voices."
Elena looked at her.
"What?"
"Eva told me someone was impersonating people on telephone calls."
Marco's gaze sharpened.
"The Architect didn't need to be present."
"Exactly."
Nico entered quickly.
"Boss."
"What?"
"We traced the midnight call."
"Where?"
Nico looked toward Isabella.
"The DeLuca Foundation building."
Everyone froze.
Isabella stood.
"I told you someone has access."
Nico continued.
"There's more."
He held up a tablet.
"Security camera caught someone entering the executive floor at 11:42."
Marco took it.
The footage was grainy but clear enough.
A man in a dark coat.
Gray hair.
Walking with a cane.
Sofia gasped.
Vincent whispered, "Impossible."
Marco stared at the screen.
"Who is he?"
Isabella sat down as if her knees had failed.
Her voice was barely audible.
"Antonio."
Marco looked at her.
"My father is dead."
Isabella's face collapsed.
"No, Marco."
May you like
She began to cry.
"Your father has been alive for twenty-two years."
