Chapter 6 - The War Nobody WantedThe first explosion came at 4:13 a.m.
A Moretti construction office on the west side.
Empty.
Deliberately.
The second attack came before noon.
Two trucks belonging to Luca's legitimate freight company were torched.
Still, no casualties.
Matteo was sending a message.
He could reach Luca whenever he wanted.
Luca refused to respond in kind.
That infuriated several captains.
Victor Salvi slammed his hand on the conference table.
"We look weak."
"We look disciplined."
"We look scared."
Luca leaned back.
"You've known me twenty years. Do I look scared?"
Victor shut up.
Luca's plan was simple.
Strip Matteo of money.
Freeze shell companies.
Expose bribed officials.
Turn lieutenants.
Feed evidence to prosecutors.
Make violence financially impossible.
It wasn't glamorous.
It didn't satisfy men who wanted revenge.
But Luca understood something Matteo never had.
Power wasn't measured by how many men you could hurt.
It was measured by how many no longer had a reason to fight you.
Elena became essential.
Her father's records contained codes only she recognized.
Days blurred into nights.
She and Luca worked across the same dining table until sunrise.
They argued.
Constantly.
"You need sleep," Elena said one evening.
"So do you."
"I'm not recovering from a gunshot."
"I'm healed."
"You nearly passed out climbing stairs yesterday."
"That was tactical resting."
She laughed.
Luca stared.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"You were staring."
"I've never heard you laugh like that."
Her smile slowly faded.
Neither moved.
Luca reached across the table.
His fingers brushed hers.
Elena didn't pull away.
Then his phone rang.
Reality returned.
He answered.
Rosa had been taken.
Matteo's people intercepted her car after church.
The message arrived seconds later.
Pier 17. Midnight. Bring Elena and the ledger.
Luca crushed the phone in his hand.
"No."
Elena's face went pale.
"I'm going."
"No."
"He's holding your aunt because of me."
"He's holding Rosa because he's my brother."
"He wants the ledger."
"He wants control."
"Luca—"
"I'm not trading you."
"You're not trading me. I'm choosing."
"No."
"Stop deciding what I'm allowed to risk."
"I am responsible for keeping you alive."
"Why?"
The question hit him.
Elena stepped closer.
"Why, Luca?"
He said nothing.
She waited.
He couldn't.
Not yet.
At 11:50 p.m., they reached Pier 17.
Elena came willingly.
But the ledger was fake.
And Gabriel had arranged surveillance from three surrounding buildings.
Matteo stood beside Rosa beneath a warehouse light.
Salvatore Greco waited behind him with six men.
Rosa looked irritated rather than frightened.
When she saw Luca, she shouted, "You better not give these idiots anything!"
Matteo rolled his eyes.
"Aunt Rosa has been difficult."
"I raised you," she snapped. "I wiped your backside. You think a gun impresses me?"
Even Salvatore looked amused.
Luca stopped twenty feet away.
"Let her go."
"The ledger."
Elena held up the bag.
Matteo smiled.
"And Elena."
"No."
"Then Rosa dies."
Rosa sighed loudly.
"Always dramatic."
Matteo pressed the pistol closer.
Luca's entire body tensed.
Elena stepped forward.
"Luca."
"No."
She looked at him.
"Trust me."
Those words changed everything.
For months, Elena had refused to trust him.
Now she was asking for his.
Luca let her walk.
Matteo grabbed her when she reached the center.
He opened the bag.
The ledger was inside.
He laughed.
"You finally learned."
Then Elena said quietly, "So did I."
Matteo looked down.
The notebook contained a tracker.
Police sirens erupted in the distance.
Salvatore spun toward Matteo.
"You idiot."
"You said you checked her!"
Gunfire erupted outside the warehouse.
Not inside.
Police were intercepting Salvatore's reinforcements.
Chaos spread.
Rosa slammed her heel onto Matteo's foot.
He cursed.
Elena pulled free.
Luca ran toward them.
Salvatore escaped through a side entrance.
Matteo grabbed Elena's hair.
Luca stopped instantly.
A gun pressed to her neck.
"One more step."
Luca froze.
Matteo was breathing wildly.
"This is your fault."
"No," Luca said.
"You took everything from me."
"No."
"Stop saying that!"
"You did this yourself."
Matteo's eyes filled with something that looked disturbingly like grief.
For one second, Luca saw the little boy he used to protect.
Then Matteo whispered, "I hated you."
Luca's expression broke.
"I know."
"No. You don't."
"I loved you anyway."
Matteo hesitated.
That was all Elena needed.
She drove her elbow backward and dropped.
Luca moved.
Gabriel fired.
Matteo's weapon spun across the concrete.
Officers rushed in.
This time, there were twenty witnesses.
Body cameras.
Federal agents.
And the physical ledger in police custody.
Matteo looked at Luca from the ground.
"You'll regret this."
Luca stared at his brother.
"No."
He looked at Elena.
"I've regretted protecting the wrong person long enough."
But while police dragged Matteo away, Salvatore Greco was already gone.
And in his abandoned car, investigators discovered a photograph.
Elena.
Sleeping in Luca's house.
Taken through her bedroom window.
May you like
On the back, someone had written:
Matteo wasn't the only one watching.
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