Chapter 9 - A Debt Written in Blood
“Teo.”
Matteo’s weapon lowered.
Sofia Moretti crossed the restaurant.
She touched his face.
Matteo did not move.
Then he pulled his sister into his arms.
Tessa looked away.
Some reunions were too private even in public.
Sofia eventually turned toward her.
“Anna’s daughter.”
“You knew my mother?”
“She saved my life.”
Sofia explained the crash.
It had been staged after Gabriel discovered they had copied his ledger.
Anna and Sofia fled separately.
Sofia entered witness protection through a federal investigator who later turned corrupt.
Anna refused.
She had Tessa.
“She chose you over the case,” Sofia said.
Tessa’s eyes burned.
“Good.”
Sofia smiled sadly.
“She would have liked that answer.”
Matteo asked about Salvatore.
“He’s trying to destroy Gabriel.”
“By lying to everyone?”
“He thinks secrets are protection.”
“So did Anna.”
Sofia looked at Tessa.
“And both were wrong.”
She removed a memory card from her coat.
“This contains the evidence Anna preserved.”
Tessa reached for it.
Sofia did not release it.
“There’s something you need to know first.”
“What?”
“Gabriel knows you’re his daughter.”
“I assumed.”
“He doesn’t want you dead.”
“Then why shoot at me?”
“That wasn’t Gabriel.”
Matteo frowned.
“Who?”
Sofia looked toward Luca.
Luca had just entered.
His face changed when he saw her.
“Sofia.”
She pointed at him.
“Ask your friend.”
Matteo turned.
“Luca?”
Luca raised his hands.
“I didn’t order the shooting.”
“But?”
Luca closed his eyes.
“My daughter doesn’t exist.”
Silence.
“What?”
“I invented her.”
Matteo’s expression became lethal.
“Why?”
“Because Gabriel contacted me. He offered me control of the Moretti organization if you died.”
Tessa remembered the ledger.
Five million dollars.
M. Moretti.
Not Matteo.
Another Moretti.
Through marriage.
Through loyalty.
Through betrayal.
“You took the money?” Matteo asked.
“Yes.”
Frank moved toward Luca.
Luca pulled a pistol.
Everything stopped.
“I never meant for Tessa to be there.”
Matteo stepped forward.
“You tried to kill me.”
“I spent twenty years standing behind you.”
“I trusted you.”
“That was the problem.”
Luca’s hand shook.
Tessa watched his face.
He was frightened.
Not murderous.
“Where is Gabriel?” she asked.
Luca looked at her.
“Waiting.”
“For what?”
“For you.”
“Why?”
“Because Anna took something more valuable than the ledger.”
Tessa frowned.
“What?”
“Evidence that can identify every person still working for him.”
“Where?”
Luca looked at her pendant.
Then the restaurant windows exploded inward.
Smoke filled the room.
Tessa heard Matteo shout.
Someone grabbed her from behind.
A cloth covered her mouth.
The last thing she saw before darkness swallowed her was Matteo running toward her through the smoke.
When Tessa opened her eyes, she was tied to a chair.
Across the room stood a silver-haired man she had never seen before.
May you like
He smiled.
“My daughter.”
