Chapter 5 - The Lieutenant Who Knew Too Much
Damien reached for the pistol beneath his coat.
Frank raised both hands.
“It isn’t Marco’s blood.”
“Where is he?”
“Alive.”
“Where?”
“Safe.”
Damien aimed the gun at Frank’s chest.
“That word means nothing from you anymore.”
Frank looked exhausted.
“Antonio’s men came here first.”
“Calabresi?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“They knew Jackie’s unit existed.”
“How?”
Frank glanced at the photograph.
“Because I told Antonio years ago.”
Damien’s finger tightened around the trigger.
“Why?”
“To protect you.”
“Everyone keeps saying that before admitting they destroyed my life.”
Frank stepped closer.
“Your father was going to get you killed.”
“My father is dead.”
“Exactly.”
Damien’s eyes narrowed.
Frank lowered his hands slowly.
“I didn’t order Salvatore’s death.”
“Jackie thought you knew who did.”
“I did.”
“Name.”
Frank shook his head.
“If I say it before we get Marco back, Marco dies.”
Damien raised the gun higher.
“Then we get him.”
Frank looked relieved.
That annoyed Damien more.
“They took him to an old Calabresi warehouse on Newtown Creek.”
“How do you know?”
“I was supposed to meet them.”
“You’re working for Antonio.”
“I have been.”
Damien nearly fired.
Frank continued quickly.
“For years. Because your father ordered me to.”
Damien stared.
“Explain.”
“Salvatore knew Antonio would eventually betray the alliance. He put me inside Antonio’s operation before he died.”
“You framed Jackie.”
“Yes.”
“You helped kill him.”
Frank’s face tightened.
“Yes.”
“You expect me to believe you were protecting me?”
“No.”
Frank looked at the floor.
“I expect you to hate me.”
For once, Damien believed him.
Frank pulled a small flash drive from his pocket.
“Jackie stole the original agreement because it named the person who would take control if Salvatore died.”
“Who?”
“Antonio.”
Damien frowned.
“That’s impossible.”
“Not officially. Through you.”
“My marriage.”
“Yes.”
Frank held out the drive.
“If you marry Victoria, Calabresi gains contractual control of Russo Maritime voting shares through a series of shell companies.”
Damien stared.
“That can’t be legal.”
Frank laughed softly.
“We’re not exactly discussing a clean corporation.”
“Victoria knows?”
“I don’t know.”
Damien took the drive.
“Who killed my father?”
Frank looked at him.
“Antonio gave the order.”
The words landed harder than Damien expected.
“My father died of a heart attack.”
“No.”
Damien felt the world narrow.
“Say it clearly.”
“He was poisoned.”
Silence.
“By who?”
Frank hesitated.
“Someone inside your house.”
“Who?”
“You’re not ready.”
Damien stepped forward.
Frank said, “Carlo.”
Damien stopped.
His uncle.
The man who had taught him to drive.
The man who had stood beside him at his father’s funeral.
“No.”
“Carlo slipped it into his whiskey.”
“You’re lying.”
“I watched the security footage before it was destroyed.”
“Why didn’t you kill him?”
“Because Salvatore had ordered me never to act without proof connecting Antonio.”
Damien laughed bitterly.
“My father dies and everyone around me decides I’m a child.”
“You were twenty-nine and ready to start a war.”
“I would have.”
“Exactly.”
Damien looked toward the warehouse entrance.
“Where’s Marco?”
“Ten minutes away.”
The rescue was quick and violent.
Damien’s men entered from the river side.
Frank opened the loading bay from inside.
Two Calabresi soldiers surrendered.
A third ran.
Marco was found tied to a chair with a split lip but no serious injuries.
“You look terrible,” Damien told him.
Marco spat blood.
“You should see the other guy.”
Frank almost smiled.
Damien didn’t.
They returned to Damien’s private office before dawn.
Marco decrypted the flash drive.
The documents confirmed most of Frank’s story.
Annual payments.
Control provisions.
Voting proxies.
A final clause triggered by marriage.
Damien stared at Victoria’s signature.
She had signed eighteen months earlier.
Before their engagement was public.
“She knew,” Damien said.
Frank remained silent.
Damien called Victoria.
She answered immediately.
“Where are you?”
“My office.”
“Good.”
“Damien—”
“Come alone.”
Twenty minutes later, Victoria entered.
Damien slid the agreement across the desk.
She stopped.
“You found it.”
“Interesting choice of words.”
She closed her eyes.
“How much do you know?”
“Enough.”
“No. You know documents.”
“I know you signed away my company before I agreed to marry you.”
“It wasn’t like that.”
“What was it like?”
“My father told me the merger was necessary.”
“You signed eighteen months ago.”
“I was protecting my family.”
“So was Jackie.”
The comparison struck her.
Damien stepped closer.
“He died.”
Victoria’s voice softened.
“I didn’t know.”
“My father died too.”
Her face changed.
“You know?”
“Antonio ordered it.”
Victoria looked away.
Damien saw the answer before she spoke.
“You knew that too.”
“No.”
“Victoria.”
“I suspected.”
His anger became quiet.
“That’s worse.”
“I had no proof.”
“You were going to marry me anyway.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Her eyes filled.
Not with love.
With desperation.
“Because if I refused, my father would replace me with my brother. And my brother would start a war within a week.”
Damien stared at her.
“So we were both trapped.”
“Yes.”
That was perhaps the first honest moment between them.
Damien sat.
“The wedding is canceled.”
Victoria nodded.
“I expected that.”
“You’re leaving the estate tonight.”
She turned toward the door.
Then stopped.
“Damien.”
“What?”
“My father isn’t waiting for the wedding anymore.”
Damien’s eyes narrowed.
“What does that mean?”
“He knows you found the agreement.”
“How?”
“I called him.”
Frank reached for his weapon.
Damien remained still.
Victoria continued.
“I told him I wouldn’t marry you.”
Damien studied her.
“What did he say?”
Victoria’s voice shook for the first time.
“He said the marriage was never the final step.”
Damien felt dread settle in his chest.
“What was?”
Victoria looked toward the hallway.
“A child.”
Damien frowned.
“What child?”
Before she could answer, his phone rang.
Sophie.
He picked up.
All he heard was screaming.
Then Sophie’s voice.
May you like
“They took Toby.”
The line went dead.
