Chapter 5 - The Betrayal Inside the House
Leo turned.
Carmine Bellucci stood in the doorway.
Two security officers accompanied him.
"Boss," Carmine said. "We need to talk."
Ara immediately looked at Leo.
The person who killed Vittorio is still beside Leo.
Carmine had served the Rossi family for decades.
Leo saw Ara's expression.
"What happened?"
"Nothing."
Lie.
He knew her too well.
Carmine approached.
"Anthony got arrested."
"I know."
"People are nervous."
"They should be."
Carmine looked at Ara.
"Can we speak privately?"
"No."
Ara looked surprised.
Leo continued.
"Anything you say to me, you say in front of her."
Carmine's expression hardened briefly.
There.
Ara saw it.
So did Leo.
"Fine," Carmine said. "The capos want reassurance."
"They'll get it."
"When?"
"When I decide."
Carmine left.
Leo waited until the door closed.
"What did Sofia say?"
Ara told him.
Leo's expression changed.
"Carmine."
"You think it's him?"
"I think he just asked you to leave the room."
Leo ordered Marco to investigate Carmine.
Within hours, irregularities emerged.
Payments.
Hidden properties.
Calls to Anthony.
But nothing connecting him to Vittorio's death.
Gabriel joined them.
When Leo showed him Carmine's photograph, Gabriel shook his head.
"He was involved, but he didn't kill Vittorio."
"Who did?"
"I never saw the shooter."
Ara frowned.
"Sofia apparently knows."
Leo's phone rang.
Carmine.
Leo answered.
"We found your mother."
Ara stood.
Carmine gave an address.
Abandoned church in Brooklyn.
"Come alone."
Leo almost laughed.
"You're terrible at invitations."
"If you want Sofia alive, come alone."
The call ended.
Ara said, "I'm coming."
"No."
She gave him a look.
Leo corrected himself.
"You're coming."
They drove with Marco following at a distance.
Inside the church, Sofia waited near the altar.
No restraints.
No guards.
Leo immediately understood.
"Carmine isn't here."
"No."
Sofia had arranged the meeting.
Ara was furious.
"You could have called."
"I needed to know whether Leo would bring you."
Leo frowned.
"Why?"
"Because Vittorio once faced the same choice."
Sofia looked at Leo.
"Power or the woman he loved."
Leo's expression darkened.
"My mother?"
"Elena begged him to leave the organization."
"He didn't."
"He planned to."
That surprised Leo.
"Your father was preparing to dismantle the criminal side and leave you legitimate businesses."
Leo laughed bitterly.
"He left me a war."
"Because someone killed him first."
"Who?"
Sofia looked toward the church entrance.
Footsteps.
Carmine entered.
Leo drew his gun.
Carmine raised his hands.
"I didn't kill Vittorio."
Sofia said, "He's telling the truth."
Leo's patience snapped.
"Then tell me who did."
Carmine removed an old cassette recorder from his coat.
He placed it on a pew.
"Your father recorded his final meeting."
Leo pressed play.
Static.
Then Vittorio's voice.
Another voice answered.
Leo recognized it.
His face changed.
Marco.
Not the younger Marco.
His father.
Marco DeLuca Sr.
The recording captured an argument.
Vittorio accused someone unnamed of betraying them.
Marco Sr. warned him.
Then a gunshot.
The recording ended.
Leo stared.
"Marco's father killed mine?"
"No," Sofia said.
"He died trying to save him."
There had been a third man.
The actual killer.
A name Vittorio spoke seconds before the tape stopped.
But that section had been damaged.
Carmine possessed another copy.
"Where?"
"Safe-deposit box."
"Get it."
Carmine looked at Sofia.
"It's already gone."
Someone had emptied the box that morning.
Leo called Marco.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Ara tried Enzo.
No answer.
Leo's expression became dangerous.
They drove back to the safe house.
The front door stood open.
Security cameras were disabled.
Inside, furniture had been overturned.
Gabriel was gone.
Daniel lay unconscious near the stairs.
Alive.
Ara ran to him.
Daniel opened his eyes.
"He took him."
"Who?"
Daniel tried speaking.
Leo knelt.
"Who took Gabriel?"
Daniel whispered a name.
Leo stopped breathing.
It was the last name he expected.
"Enzo."
Then a phone began ringing upstairs.
Not Leo's.
Not Ara's.
An old landline nobody had known existed.
Leo climbed the stairs.
Ara followed.
The ringing stopped.
A red light began blinking on an answering machine.
One new message.
May you like
Leo pressed PLAY.
His father's voice filled the room.
