Chapter 4 - The Brother Who Was Buried
"Drop it, Luca."
Anthony's voice was calm.
Luca didn't move.
His pistol remained in his hand.
Vincent stared at his brother as if the rest of the penthouse had vanished.
Eleven years had changed Anthony.
His hair was streaked with gray.
His face was thinner.
A scar ran from his right eyebrow toward his temple.
But there was no question.
Same eyes.
Same way of standing.
Same habit of pressing his tongue against the inside of his cheek when angry.
Vincent knew.
"Anthony."
Anthony's gun remained aimed at Luca.
"Tell him to drop the weapon."
Vincent looked at Luca.
"Do it."
"Vincent—"
"Do it."
Luca slowly placed the gun on the floor.
Anthony walked forward.
Elena kept one arm around Vincent.
She could feel his heart pounding.
"You should be dead," Vincent said.
Anthony laughed bitterly.
"Good to see you too."
Vincent took a step toward him.
Elena instinctively tightened her hold.
He looked down at her hand.
Then back at Anthony.
"Why didn't you come back?"
Anthony's expression hardened.
"You think I had a choice?"
"For eleven years?"
"Victor had people everywhere."
"Our father died eight years ago."
"And you inherited half of them."
Vincent absorbed the accusation.
"You thought I would kill you?"
"I didn't know what you would do."
"We were brothers."
"We were Cassanos."
That word carried weight.
Vincent's face changed.
Anthony lowered the gun slightly.
Then Elena saw his eyes move toward Vincent's wound.
"You've been shot."
"Again, everyone seems surprised I noticed."
Anthony almost smiled.
For one second they looked like brothers again.
Then gunfire exploded upstairs.
Luca grabbed his pistol.
"Conversation later."
Anthony motioned toward the stairwell.
"Move."
They descended.
The hidden staircase led two floors below the penthouse into an unfinished service corridor.
Elena supported Vincent.
Anthony walked ahead beside Luca.
Neither trusted the other.
Miriam helped Daniel.
"Where are we going?" Elena asked.
Anthony answered.
"Private garage."
"They control the elevators."
"Not the old freight system."
Vincent glanced at him.
"You remember the building."
"I helped design the renovations."
Vincent stopped.
"What?"
Anthony looked back.
"Before Father decided I was disposable."
Vincent's jaw tightened.
Elena felt his grip around her shoulders increase.
They reached a steel door.
Anthony entered a code.
Nothing happened.
He tried again.
Red light.
Luca stepped forward.
"Codes were changed."
Anthony looked at Vincent.
"Your building."
Vincent gave Luca a number.
Luca entered it.
Green.
The door opened.
Anthony stared.
"Your mother's birthday."
Vincent nodded.
"You remembered."
"I remember everything."
The words silenced both men.
They entered the freight elevator.
Elena checked Vincent's bandage.
Blood was spreading again.
"We don't have long."
Anthony looked at her.
"You're Elena Rossi?"
She met his eyes.
"Apparently everyone knows me except me."
"Teresa showed me photographs."
Elena froze.
"When?"
"Years ago."
"You knew my mother?"
Anthony nodded.
"She saved my life."
Elena felt anger rising beneath the shock.
"Then why did she never tell me?"
"Because knowing me was dangerous."
"That excuse is becoming very popular tonight."
Anthony looked almost ashamed.
The elevator descended.
Vincent watched them.
"My mother trusted Teresa?"
Anthony nodded.
"More than anyone."
"Why?"
"Because Teresa refused Father's money."
Vincent frowned.
Anthony continued.
"Victor tried to pay her after she treated us. She told him she wasn't selling silence."
Elena could hear her mother's voice in that sentence.
Stubborn.
Sharp.
Unimpressed by wealth.
Vincent looked at Elena differently.
"That sounds familiar."
Despite everything, Elena nearly smiled.
The elevator stopped at level B4.
Doors opened onto a dark garage.
Three vehicles waited.
Anthony pointed to an armored SUV.
"That one."
Luca checked the area.
"Too quiet."
Then the garage lights turned on.
Men appeared between the concrete pillars.
At least eight.
Weapons raised.
Luca cursed.
Anthony moved beside him.
Vincent reached for his pistol.
Elena grabbed his wrist.
"Absolutely not."
He looked at her.
"They're trying to kill us."
"And you can barely stand."
"Valid criticism."
A man stepped from behind a black sedan.
He wore a tailored gray suit.
Early fifties.
Silver hair.
Vincent recognized him.
"Marcus."
Luca's face turned pale.
Elena noticed.
"Who is he?"
Vincent's voice was flat.
"Marcus Vale. My father's attorney."
Anthony looked furious.
"Not just his attorney."
Marcus smiled.
"Nice reunion."
Vincent's hand tightened.
"You shot me."
Marcus shook his head.
"I ordered you shot."
"Why?"
"To force Anthony out."
Anthony raised his weapon.
"It worked."
Marcus looked pleased.
"Yes."
Elena looked between them.
"You wanted both brothers in the same place."
Marcus finally noticed her.
"And you must be Teresa's daughter."
Elena's blood ran cold.
"You knew my mother."
"I knew of her."
"Why bring me here?"
Marcus smiled.
"Vincent still doesn't remember."
Vincent's eyes narrowed.
"Remember what?"
Marcus looked almost delighted.
"The night your brother supposedly died."
Anthony's expression changed.
"Don't."
Vincent looked at him.
"What is he talking about?"
"Nothing."
Marcus laughed.
"Still protecting him, Anthony?"
Vincent's voice became dangerous.
"Protecting me from what?"
Anthony stared at Marcus.
"Shut up."
Marcus ignored him.
"Your brother wasn't the only one Victor ordered killed."
Elena felt Vincent stiffen.
Marcus looked at her.
"Teresa Rossi saw too much."
Elena's stomach dropped.
"My mother died from a stroke."
Marcus smiled without warmth.
"Did she?"
Elena couldn't breathe.
Vincent turned toward her.
"Elena."
She stepped away from him.
"My mother's death was investigated."
"By whom?" Marcus asked. "A medical examiner your hospital administrator recommended?"
Elena remembered.
Dr. Warren Pike.
A family friend of her chief.
Marcus continued.
"Teresa kept records."
Anthony looked at Elena.
"Don't listen."
"Why?" she demanded. "Because it's true?"
Anthony didn't answer.
That was enough.
"You knew?"
"I suspected."
"When?"
"After she died."
"And you said nothing?"
"I was protecting you."
Elena laughed once.
A broken sound.
"Everyone keeps protecting me by lying."
Vincent stepped closer.
She backed away.
His face changed.
He stopped.
He understood.
Eleven years without touch.
Now Elena couldn't bear his.
Marcus watched with interest.
"Touching."
Vincent looked at him.
The softness disappeared.
"You're dead."
Marcus raised one hand.
Eight rifles aimed at them.
"Possibly. But not tonight."
He looked toward Elena.
"Your mother hid something before she died."
"What?"
"A ledger."
Anthony's jaw tightened.
Marcus smiled.
"Victor Cassano's real accounts. Judges. police officers. politicians. shell companies. Murders."
Vincent understood.
"You've been looking for it."
"For seven years."
"And you think Elena knows where it is."
Marcus nodded.
"Teresa left her daughter a key."
Elena shook her head.
"No."
"Yes."
"I have no key."
"You've carried it every day since her funeral."
Elena froze.
A memory surfaced.
Her mother's necklace.
A small silver pendant shaped like a heart.
Elena wore it beneath her uniform.
Her hand moved instinctively toward her collar.
Marcus saw.
"So there it is."
Vincent moved between them.
"You don't touch her."
Marcus smiled.
"Interesting choice of words."
The armed men advanced.
Luca whispered, "We can't win this."
Anthony looked toward a maintenance tunnel.
"Maybe we don't have to."
He fired at the overhead lights.
Darkness exploded.
Luca grabbed Elena.
Vincent shouted her name.
Gunfire erupted.
Elena hit the floor.
Someone pulled her sideways.
She couldn't see who.
Shots cracked against concrete.
A vehicle alarm screamed.
Then a hand covered her mouth.
Elena fought.
A voice whispered against her ear.
"Don't scream."
She recognized Marcus.
He dragged her behind a pillar.
Vincent shouted somewhere in the darkness.
"ELENA!"
Marcus pressed a gun against her ribs.
"Tell me where the ledger is."
"I don't know."
"You will."
He ripped the necklace from her throat.
The silver pendant snapped open.
Something tiny fell into his palm.
Not a key.
A microfilm capsule.
Marcus stared.
Then smiled.
"Teresa, you clever woman."
The lights flickered back on.
Vincent stood twenty feet away.
Gun raised.
Blood covered his shirt.
Marcus held Elena against him.
Vincent's eyes turned black.
"Let her go."
Marcus pressed the gun harder against her side.
"No."
Vincent took one step forward.
Elena saw something behind Marcus.
Anthony.
Moving silently.
Marcus didn't.
Vincent did.
His gaze flickered for half a second.
Marcus noticed.
He turned.
A gunshot exploded.
Elena screamed.
Anthony fell.
May you like
Marcus spun back toward Vincent.
And when Elena looked down, she saw blood spreading across the front of her white uniform.
