Chapter 6 - The Brother Behind the Empire
Anthony Moretti looked nothing like a monster.
That bothered Vincent.
He was in his seventies, elegantly dressed, his white hair carefully combed, his posture straight despite his age.
He walked toward the estate as bullets remained pointed in both directions.
Men like Anthony didn't need to shout.
They built rooms where everybody else whispered.
Vincent kept Lucy behind the stone wall.
Nico lay ten feet away.
Blood darkened his shoulder.
Alive.
Luca tried to reach him.
A bullet struck the ground beside his shoe.
"Next one isn't a warning," Anthony called.
Vincent stepped into view.
"Then shoot me."
Elena grabbed him.
"No."
Anthony smiled.
"There she is."
Elena's face filled with disgust.
"Anthony."
"Twenty-nine years and you still look at me like that."
"Because twenty-nine years wasn't enough time to forget what you are."
Anthony glanced at Vincent.
"And what am I?"
"A coward."
His smile disappeared.
Vincent stepped forward.
"You wanted me."
"Yes."
"I'm here. Let everyone else leave."
Anthony laughed.
"You really did inherit Salvatore's worst habit."
"Which one?"
"Thinking sacrifice makes a man noble."
Vincent glanced around.
At least fifteen armed men.
Kane's team was still miles away.
Nico had warned them against transmitting the location until they verified Elena's safety.
Now that caution had become a trap.
Anthony held out his hand.
"The card."
Vincent removed the microSD card.
"This?"
Elena whispered, "Don't."
Anthony's eyes stayed on it.
"Give it to me."
"Let Lucy go."
"She's not important."
"Then let her go."
Anthony's gaze moved toward the child.
For the first time, Lucy saw him clearly.
She hugged the rabbit.
Anthony smiled at her.
"Hello, Lucy."
She hid behind Vincent.
Anthony sighed.
"Children usually like me."
Vincent's voice sharpened.
"Don't speak to her."
Anthony looked amused.
"Protective."
"You threatened her."
"I threatened what you cared about."
Vincent said nothing.
Anthony continued.
"That's how power works. You find the thing a man cannot afford to lose, and suddenly all his principles become negotiable."
Vincent thought about his father.
Maybe Salvatore had spent his life trapped by that exact logic.
"Did you threaten my father with me?"
Anthony's expression changed slightly.
Vincent had found something.
"That's why he stayed with Meridian after my mother disappeared."
Anthony looked at Elena.
"You told him?"
"No," Vincent said. "You just did."
For the first time, Anthony looked annoyed.
Vincent continued.
"My father wasn't protecting his empire. He was protecting me."
"Salvatore was weak."
"He fooled you for decades."
"He died miserable."
"Maybe."
Vincent took another step.
"But you're still talking about him."
Anthony's jaw tightened.
Elena almost smiled.
Vincent held up the card.
"You want this?"
"Yes."
Vincent snapped it between his fingers.
Anthony's face changed.
He dropped the broken pieces.
"Then come get it."
Anthony stared.
"You think that's the only copy?"
"No."
Vincent smiled.
"I know it isn't."
Anthony looked toward Lucy.
Vincent immediately understood his mistake.
The rabbit.
Anthony knew.
"Take the girl."
Three men moved.
Vincent fired into the ground in front of them.
"Next one isn't a warning."
Anthony chuckled.
"Now you sound like me."
"No."
Vincent lowered the weapon slightly.
"I sound like a man giving you one chance."
"To do what?"
"Walk away."
"From my life's work?"
"From what's left of it."
Anthony studied him.
Then laughed.
"You still don't understand. Meridian isn't paperwork. It isn't money. It isn't even me."
Vincent waited.
"It's people who need secrets buried. Judges. Police. Corporate boards. Intelligence officers. Men who will kill each other before they allow those files to become public."
"And?"
"And if you release them, you don't destroy Meridian."
Anthony smiled.
"You start a war."
Elena stepped beside Vincent.
"That's why we don't release everything."
Anthony's expression shifted.
She continued.
"We release enough."
Vincent looked at her.
Elena nodded toward Lucy's rabbit.
"Evelyn built the archive so no single file could expose everyone. It verifies individual evidence packages separately."
Anthony stared at her.
"You don't have the master key."
Lucy suddenly spoke.
"Yes, we do."
Everyone froze.
Vincent looked down.
Lucy reached inside the rabbit's damaged ear.
She pulled out a small strip of red fabric.
Numbers were sewn into it.
Anna had hidden something even Vincent hadn't found.
Anthony's calm disappeared.
"Take her."
Gunfire erupted.
Vincent pulled Lucy down.
Kane's agents opened fire from the tree line.
They had arrived.
Luca dragged Nico behind cover.
Daniel and Anna remained in a protected vehicle farther down the road.
Vincent fired only when necessary.
He saw Anthony retreat toward the sedan.
"Stay with Lucy!" Vincent shouted to Elena.
He ran.
Anthony reached the car.
Vincent tackled him before he could enter.
Both men crashed onto wet gravel.
Anthony was older but surprisingly strong.
He struck Vincent across the face with a concealed metal object.
Vincent staggered.
Anthony reached for a pistol.
Vincent kicked it away.
They fought without elegance.
No cinematic choreography.
Two angry men.
One trying to preserve a lifetime of control.
The other trying to end it.
Anthony fell.
Vincent stood above him.
His weapon lay three feet away.
Anthony smiled through blood.
"Do it."
Vincent breathed heavily.
"Pick up the gun."
"Why?"
"So you can tell yourself you had no choice."
Vincent stared at him.
Anthony laughed.
"That's who you are."
Vincent thought of Lucy asking for a promise.
He stepped backward.
"No."
Anthony's smile faded.
Vincent kicked the pistol farther away.
"You're going to live."
"Mercy?"
"Punishment."
Kane arrived with agents.
She cuffed Anthony herself.
But as they pulled him upright, Anthony looked at Elena.
"You still haven't told him."
Vincent froze.
Elena's face changed.
"Told me what?"
Anthony smiled.
"Ask her why Evelyn chose your penthouse."
Elena said nothing.
"Ask her why Anna knew you would protect Lucy."
"Anthony," Elena warned.
Vincent looked at his mother.
"What is he talking about?"
Anthony leaned closer as Kane dragged him away.
"Ask her who Lucy's father is."
Vincent stared at Elena.
Then toward the child.
Lucy stood beside the wall hugging her rabbit, confused.
Vincent's stomach tightened.
"No."
Elena closed her eyes.
Vincent stepped toward her.
"Who is Lucy's father?"
Elena whispered, "Vincent..."
"Who?"
Before Elena could answer, Anna ran from the arriving vehicle.
She had heard.
Her face was pale.
"Don't."
Vincent turned toward her.
Anna stopped several feet away.
"I was going to tell you."
Everything went silent.
Vincent looked from Anna to Lucy.
Then back again.
And Anna finally said the name Vincent never expected to hear.
"Michael Moretti."
May you like
Vincent's younger brother.
The brother who had supposedly died as a baby.
