Chapter 4 - The Dead Uncle
Matteo Moretti entered the room as though he had left yesterday.
Lorenzo raised his gun.
Elena whispered, "Don't."
"Why?"
"Because he's your uncle."
"Dead uncle."
Matteo smiled.
"Your father's sense of humor."
Lorenzo didn't lower the weapon.
Matteo explained.
Twenty-nine years earlier, he had disappeared after a war inside the Moretti organization. Enzo told everyone Matteo had died because revealing the truth would have started another bloodbath.
Matteo had survived.
Then he had built his own network from Europe.
Victor Bellini became his representative in Chicago.
"You ordered Father's death," Lorenzo said.
"No."
"Convenient."
"I ordered Victor to watch Enzo."
"You expect me to believe that?"
"No. I expect you to prove me wrong."
Matteo placed a folder on the table.
Inside were photographs.
Victor meeting Dr. Hart.
Victor meeting city officials.
Victor meeting Gabriel Rossi.
The final photograph had been taken three days before Gabriel died.
Gabriel was handing Victor a package.
Isabella stared.
"My father worked with him?"
"No," Matteo said. "Your father was trying to trap him."
He looked at Isabella.
"Gabriel was brave."
"So brave people keep telling me how brave he was instead of explaining why he died."
Matteo's expression softened.
"Victor discovered the trap."
Isabella's eyes filled.
"And killed him."
"I believe so."
Lorenzo watched Matteo carefully.
"You had twenty-nine years to stop Victor."
"I needed proof."
"You needed courage."
Matteo accepted that without protest.
"Maybe."
Elena approached him.
"Why come back now?"
"Because Victor made a mistake."
"What mistake?"
Matteo looked at Isabella.
"He brought Gabriel Rossi's daughter into the Moretti ballroom."
Lorenzo understood.
Victor hadn't invited Isabella merely to humiliate Elena.
He wanted to see whether Elena recognized her.
If Elena did, Victor would know Gabriel's secret had survived.
"But why provoke Mother?" Lorenzo asked.
"To create confusion."
Matteo nodded.
"And Isabella ruined his plan by stepping between them."
Isabella laughed bitterly.
"I was supposed to carry champagne."
"You changed everything instead."
That evening, Lorenzo moved Isabella and Elena to a secure property.
Isabella hated it.
"Am I a prisoner?"
"A protected guest."
"Your protected guests have armed guards outside the bathroom."
"Efficient hospitality."
She rolled her eyes.
Lorenzo found himself smiling.
Later they stood alone on the balcony.
Chicago glowed below.
"You really run the mafia?" Isabella asked.
"You're persistent."
"You're evasive."
"Yes."
"Do you hurt people?"
He didn't lie.
"Yes."
She looked disappointed.
It hurt more than he expected.
"People who hurt you?"
"Sometimes."
"People who hurt your family?"
"Usually."
"That isn't justice."
"I never claimed it was."
She looked toward the skyline.
"My father died because men like you decided laws didn't apply to them."
Lorenzo had no defense.
So he said nothing.
After a moment she continued.
"But your mother isn't like that."
"No."
"And maybe you don't have to stay like that."
He turned.
"You think you can reform me?"
"I've known you four days. I can barely get you to say thank you."
"Thank you."
She stared.
He smiled.
She laughed.
It was the first time he realized how beautiful she was when she wasn't afraid.
The moment disappeared when Marco stepped onto the balcony.
"We found Victor."
"Where?"
"St. Catherine's Hospital."
"Why?"
"Visiting someone."
Marco handed Lorenzo a photograph.
Victor entering a private hospital room.
The patient was an elderly man.
Isabella took the photograph.
Her hand began shaking.
"No."
Lorenzo looked at her.
"You know him?"
Tears appeared in her eyes.
"That's impossible."
"Who is he?"
She pressed her fingers against the man's face.
May you like
"My father."
Gabriel Rossi was alive.
