Chapter 6 - The Choice Vittorio Never Expected
Matteo didn’t speak.
That frightened me.
He simply took the phone.
Looked at Gabriel’s photograph.
Then looked at Maya.
“Where was he?”
“Secure pediatric unit.”
“Who had access?”
“Three agents and hospital staff.”
“Names.”
“Matteo—”
“Names.”
Antonio stepped between them.
“Threatening the FBI won’t bring Gabriel back.”
Matteo turned.
“No. But finding the traitor will.”
Daniel Mercer was brought into the room in a wheelchair.
His face was pale.
“What happened?”
No one answered.
He saw the photograph.
Then he broke.
“My son.”
I crouched beside him.
“We’re getting him back.”
“How?”
I looked at the message again.
Come home, daughter.
Vittorio wanted me.
For the first time, I realized that might be useful.
“I’ll go.”
Matteo’s answer was immediate.
“No.”
“Expected.”
“No.”
“He wants me.”
“He wants the ledger.”
“He doesn’t know I have it.”
“He suspects.”
“Good.”
Matteo moved closer.
“You don’t understand him.”
“Apparently he’s my biological father. I understand enough.”
“He will use every weakness you have.”
“Then I won’t give him one.”
His voice dropped.
“You think courage makes you bulletproof?”
“No.”
“Then stop acting like it.”
I stepped closer too.
“You think control makes you responsible for everyone?”
His face hardened.
“I promised Lucia.”
“And I am promising Gabriel.”
“That is not the same.”
“Why?”
“Because you don’t know him.”
I looked toward the empty bassinet.
“I held him when he was hungry. I heard him cry. I watched his father learn his mother was dead.”
My throat tightened.
“I know enough.”
Matteo looked away.
Then said quietly:
“I can’t watch another person I care about walk into Vittorio’s hands.”
The room went silent.
He seemed to realize what he had said.
So did I.
“Another person you care about?”
He looked at me.
No denial.
No joke.
No command.
“Yes.”
It wasn’t a declaration.
It was more frightening than one.
Because it sounded true.
I touched his hand.
“Then help me come back.”
The plan formed quickly.
Vittorio sent an address.
An old DeLuca estate outside Boston.
Matteo knew it.
Childhood home.
Private property.
Security cameras.
Multiple entrances.
The FBI couldn’t rush it without risking Gabriel.
The ledger gave us leverage.
More importantly, Lucia’s files gave us names.
Maya began quietly contacting federal prosecutors outside Massachusetts.
Daniel provided passwords.
Antonio identified loyal officers.
My mother gave us details about Vittorio’s security habits.
And Matteo made one phone call.
“To whom?” I asked.
“My captains.”
“You still have captains?”
“Some people call them regional managers.”
“You’re joking.”
“Barely.”
“What did you tell them?”
“The truth.”
“What truth?”
“That Vittorio killed Lucia.”
Matteo’s face became stone.
“And that anyone who stands with him after tonight stands against me.”
We drove to the estate shortly before noon.
I wore a wire.
Matteo hated it.
I carried the original chip.
He hated that more.
“You should carry a copy.”
“He’ll know.”
“How?”
“He’s paranoid.”
“You sound like you admire that.”
“I survived by understanding him.”
The gates opened.
I entered alone.
The house was enormous.
Silent.
Vittorio waited in a library.
Gabriel slept in a bassinet beside him.
I almost ran to the baby.
Vittorio raised one hand.
“Stay.”
I stopped.
“You kidnapped a newborn.”
“I rescued my grandson.”
“He isn’t your grandson.”
“Blood is more complicated than paperwork.”
“He is Lucia’s son.”
“Yes.”
“You killed her.”
Vittorio’s face didn’t change.
“She betrayed everything.”
“She fell in love.”
“With an enemy.”
“With a man.”
“Same thing, sometimes.”
I hated the calmness in his voice.
“Give me Gabriel.”
“Give me the ledger.”
“I don’t have it.”
He smiled.
“You have never been a convincing liar.”
“We just met.”
“I’ve watched you for years.”
That chilled me.
“Why?”
“Curiosity.”
“You let me believe my mother was dead.”
“That was Maria’s choice.”
“You killed Paolo.”
“He took something from me.”
“He raised me.”
Vittorio’s eyes narrowed.
“Yes.”
That bothered him.
I saw it.
So I pushed.
“He was my father.”
“No.”
“He taught me to ride a bicycle.”
Vittorio’s jaw tightened.
“He sat beside my bed when I had pneumonia.”
“Elena.”
“He packed my school lunches.”
“Enough.”
“He loved me.”
Vittorio slammed his hand onto the desk.
“I said enough.”
There.
The weakness.
Not business.
Not money.
Possession.
He needed blood to mean ownership.
I stepped closer.
“Paolo was my father.”
Vittorio stood.
“And I created you.”
“You contributed DNA.”
His face darkened.
“Careful.”
“I’m not one of your employees.”
“You are my daughter.”
“No.”
His voice softened dangerously.
“You will understand eventually.”
“No.”
“You think Matteo is different from me?”
“Yes.”
“He kills.”
“I know.”
“He threatens.”
“I know.”
“He rules through fear.”
“I know.”
“Then what exactly makes him better?”
I looked through the library doors.
Matteo wasn’t visible.
But I knew he was listening through the wire.
“He can change.”
Vittorio laughed.
“Men like us don’t change.”
“That’s why you’ll lose.”
His smile faded.
I reached into my pocket.
The chip.
Vittorio’s eyes followed it.
“Here.”
He extended his hand.
I closed my fingers.
“Gabriel first.”
“No.”
“Then no ledger.”
“Elena.”
“Those are my terms.”
For several seconds, we stared at each other.
Then Vittorio lifted Gabriel.
My entire body tensed.
He walked toward me.
I opened my arms.
He placed the baby against my chest.
Gabriel stirred.
Made one tiny sound.
I almost cried from relief.
“Now,” Vittorio said.
I gave him the chip.
He smiled.
Then snapped it in half.
I stared.
“You spent thirty-six years afraid of that ledger.”
“I was.”
He dropped the pieces.
“Until an hour ago.”
My blood went cold.
“What changed?”
“I learned your brother already sent copies.”
Good.
That had been the plan.
But Vittorio looked too calm.
“So you lost.”
“No.”
He smiled.
“I changed objectives.”
The library doors closed.
Two armed men stepped out.
I held Gabriel tighter.
Vittorio looked at me.
“If I cannot erase the evidence, I can still control what comes after.”
“You’re under investigation.”
“Investigations end.”
“Not this one.”
“Perhaps.”
He approached.
“But DeLuca power will survive.”
“Not through me.”
“You misunderstand.”
His gaze moved to Gabriel.
“Through him.”
My stomach turned.
“He’s a baby.”
“He is Lucia’s child. Mercer’s child. A bridge between enemies.”
“You’re insane.”
“I’m practical.”
“No.”
“You and Matteo will raise him.”
I stared.
“You planned this?”
“I considered possibilities.”
“You killed his mother and expect us to preserve your dynasty?”
Vittorio smiled.
“You will understand when you have power.”
“I don’t want power.”
“Everyone does.”
A voice sounded behind him.
“No.”
Matteo stood in the doorway.
Vittorio turned.
The armed men raised their guns.
Matteo’s hands were empty.
“You came unarmed?”
“No.”
Matteo looked behind him.
Dozens of footsteps filled the hall.
Men in suits.
Some I recognized from newspaper photographs.
DeLuca associates.
Captains.
Business partners.
Vittorio stared.
“What is this?”
Matteo entered.
“You taught me something important.”
Vittorio’s face tightened.
“What?”
“Power only exists while people agree you have it.”
One by one, Vittorio’s men lowered their weapons.
The two guards beside him hesitated.
Then lowered theirs too.
Vittorio looked around.
“You would betray me for him?”
One older man answered.
“For Lucia.”
Another said, “For the children you buried.”
Another: “For thirty years of fear.”
Vittorio turned to Matteo.
“You think you won?”
“No.”
Matteo looked at me.
“We’re ending it.”
Police sirens approached outside.
Federal vehicles entered the estate.
Vittorio stepped toward me.
I backed away.
“You called them.”
“I did.”
“You’re my daughter.”
“No.”
His face twisted.
“You belong to this family.”
I looked at Matteo.
At Gabriel.
At Antonio entering with federal agents.
At my mother behind him.
At Daniel waiting outside for his son.
Then back at Vittorio.
“I choose my family.”
Federal agents surrounded him.
Maya Chen stepped forward.
“Vittorio DeLuca, you are under arrest.”
For the first time, fear entered his face.
Real fear.
He looked at Matteo.
“Stop this.”
Matteo said nothing.
“Matteo.”
Silence.
“I made you.”
Matteo’s voice was quiet.
“That was your mistake.”
The handcuffs closed.
Vittorio was led away.
Gabriel began crying.
I held him closer.
Matteo came to us.
His hands shook.
“Can I?”
I gave Gabriel to him.
Matteo pressed his cheek gently against the baby’s hair.
His eyes closed.
“He’s safe.”
“For now.”
He looked at me.
“You always ruin good moments.”
“I’m realistic.”
“Same thing.”
I smiled.
Then Daniel entered.
He saw his son.
Matteo walked toward him.
For a moment, I wondered if either man would know what to do.
Then Matteo placed Gabriel in Daniel’s arms.
Daniel cried.
“Thank you.”
Matteo shook his head.
“Thank Lucia.”
Daniel held Gabriel tightly.
“She should be here.”
“Yes.”
Silence settled around them.
Then Maya approached.
“There’s something else.”
We all looked at her.
“What?”
She held a sealed evidence bag.
Inside was a handwritten letter.
“Found in Vittorio’s private safe.”
My name was written on the envelope.
Elena.
Maya handed it to me.
“Who wrote it?” Antonio asked.
I recognized the handwriting immediately.
Paolo Rossi.
The father who raised me.
The father Vittorio murdered.
I opened the envelope.
Inside was one page.
The first line stopped my breath.
Elena, if you are reading this, then Vittorio has finally told you whose blood runs through your veins.
I read faster.
Then reached the final paragraph.
My hands began trembling.
Matteo noticed.
“What does it say?”
I looked at my mother.
She had gone completely pale.
May you like
Because Paolo’s last sentence revealed a secret even she had never told me.
And it concerned Matteo.
