Chapter 4 - The Name Alina Never Told Him
Vincent met his brother in the garden.
No guns visible.
That meant little.
Dominic positioned men throughout the estate.
Alina and Mia remained inside.
Matteo stood beside the fountain Vincent’s mother had installed when they were boys.
For a dead man, he looked healthy.
Thinner than Vincent remembered.
A long scar from his temple to his jaw.
Dark coat.
Gray in his beard.
But same eyes.
Same irritating half-smile.
“Nine years,” Vincent said.
Matteo opened his arms.
“No hug?”
Vincent hit him.
Once.
Hard.
Matteo staggered.
Then laughed.
“Fair.”
Vincent grabbed his coat.
“Mom died thinking you were dead.”
The smile disappeared.
“I know.”
“She called your name during her final week.”
“I know.”
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
Vincent nearly hit him again.
Matteo didn’t stop him.
But Mia’s voice echoed in Vincent’s memory.
Bird man mad.
He released him.
“Start talking.”
Matteo touched his bleeding lip.
“Dad tried to kill me.”
Vincent stared.
“Our father?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I found his side business.”
The pharmaceutical network.
Vincent already knew.
Matteo continued.
“Dad had been moving restricted drugs through family logistics companies since the late nineties.”
“I shut down everything after I took control.”
“You shut down what he allowed you to see.”
Vincent’s jaw tightened.
“Why fake your death?”
“Because the warehouse fire wasn’t an accident.”
Matteo explained.
Their father learned Matteo had copied records.
He ordered a hit.
Matteo survived.
A burned body belonging to another man was identified using substituted dental records.
“Who helped you?”
“Elias Grant.”
Dominic’s former deputy.
The same man who later scared Javier into silence.
Vincent felt sick.
“So Grant worked for you.”
“At first.”
“At first?”
“Eventually Dad found him.”
“Then?”
“Grant became his.”
“And after Dad died?”
“Grant worked for whoever paid.”
“Who?”
Matteo looked toward the mansion.
“You really think Frank is the problem?”
“No.”
“Good.”
“Who is?”
“Raymond Vale.”
Vincent’s corporate counsel.
One of three people who would inherit emergency authority if Vincent disappeared.
Vincent didn’t react outwardly.
“You have proof?”
“Yes.”
“Then why the device under my vehicle?”
“To stop you going downtown.”
“That was Frank’s story.”
“Because it’s true.”
“You could've called.”
Matteo laughed.
“Would you have listened if your dead brother called and said your lawyer planned to kidnap you?”
Vincent considered.
“No.”
“Exactly.”
“So you put a remote ignition trigger under my car.”
“To disable it if Frank failed.”
“You have an unusual definition of brotherly concern.”
“Family trait.”
Vincent almost hated that he remembered Matteo being funny.
“Javier Ruiz.”
Matteo’s expression changed.
“Good man.”
“Did you kill him?”
“No.”
“Did you cause his death?”
“No.”
“Who did?”
“Vale.”
Vincent stared.
“Why?”
“Javier had video proving Northern Prairie belonged to a shell company Vale controlled.”
“But records point to you.”
“Vale used my identity.”
“Convenient.”
“Very.”
“Why would he frame a dead man?”
“Because a dead man can’t sue.”
Vincent didn't smile.
“Why stay hidden after Dad died?”
“Because by then Vale owned half the people around you.”
“Not half.”
“You sure?”
That question landed.
Vincent thought of Frank.
Marcus.
Drivers.
Lawyers.
Security.
How many people did he truly know?
Matteo continued.
“I tried warning you twice.”
“When?”
“The Detroit conference.”
Vincent remembered an anonymous envelope.
He had ignored it because it contained unverified financial charts.
“The note was you?”
“Yes.”
“And second?”
“Funeral for Uncle Paul.”
Vincent remembered seeing a man across the cemetery.
He dismissed it.
“You were there.”
“Yes.”
“You stood twenty yards from me.”
“You were surrounded by Vale’s people.”
“You could've said my name.”
“And been shot.”
Vincent’s anger had nowhere clean to go.
“You expect me to believe you’ve spent nine years hiding to protect me?”
“No.”
Matteo’s honesty surprised him.
“I spent the first five protecting myself.”
“And the last four?”
“Trying to destroy Vale.”
“That sounds more believable.”
Matteo looked toward the house.
“Then Javier died.”
“Why did you care?”
“Because he had a family.”
That answer did not fit the man Vincent remembered.
Matteo saw his skepticism.
“I changed.”
“We all say that.”
“You did.”
Vincent went still.
Matteo gestured toward the legal companies around them.
“You dismantled Dad’s ugliest operations. I noticed.”
“From where?”
“Everywhere.”
“Creepy.”
“Useful.”
Vincent crossed his arms.
“Why target me now?”
“Vale is moving.”
“Why?”
“He knows federal investigators are close to Northern Prairie.”
“So he removes me and gains temporary authority.”
“Yes.”
“Then what?”
“Sell the vulnerable companies, destroy records, disappear.”
“Where does Anthony fit?”
Matteo’s expression shifted.
“Your cousin?”
“Yes.”
“He’s not involved.”
“What about Dominic?”
“No.”
“You're certain?”
“As certain as I can be.”
Vincent hated uncertainty.
Then a thought surfaced.
“Alina.”
“What about her?”
“You looked at her through the window before we came outside.”
Matteo’s face changed.
Small.
But Vincent saw.
“You know her.”
Matteo said nothing.
Vincent stepped closer.
“How?”
“Vincent.”
“How?”
Before Matteo could answer, the mansion door opened.
Alina stood there.
She had heard enough.
Her face was pale.
Mia held her hand.
Vincent looked between them.
“Alina?”
She stared at Matteo.
Not like a stranger.
Like a ghost.
“You.”
Vincent turned.
“You know him?”
Alina’s lips trembled.
“Yes.”
The garden became silent.
“How?”
Matteo looked away.
Alina answered.
“He came to our apartment before Javier died.”
Vincent felt something hard drop inside him.
“When?”
“Five days before.”
“What did he want?”
“To see Javier.”
“You never told me.”
“You never asked about my husband until yesterday.”
Fair.
Painfully fair.
“What happened?”
“Javier sent me and Mia to my sister’s.”
“Why?”
“He said they needed to talk privately.”
Vincent looked at Matteo.
“What did you tell him?”
“That his life was in danger.”
“You knew Vale was after him.”
“Yes.”
“And Javier still died.”
Matteo’s jaw tightened.
“I tried.”
Alina’s eyes filled with anger.
“You gave him a gun.”
Vincent turned sharply.
Matteo said nothing.
Alina continued.
“My husband hated guns. After that night, I found one under our mattress.”
“He needed protection.”
“He needed help.”
“I was helping.”
“He died three days later.”
Matteo looked genuinely wounded.
“I know.”
“You disappeared.”
“I had to.”
“You always had to.”
Her voice cracked.
“You powerful men always have a reason why somebody else had to carry the consequences.”
Vincent looked at her.
The sentence hit both brothers.
Mia began tugging Alina’s sleeve.
“Mama.”
Alina knelt.
“I’m okay.”
Mia looked toward Matteo.
“Bird man.”
“Yes.”
Mia frowned.
“You under car?”
Matteo looked at Vincent.
Then at the child.
“I watched.”
“Why?”
“To make sure Frank did it right.”
Mia pointed accusingly.
“Bad.”
For the first time, Matteo Marchetti appeared genuinely defeated.
“Yes.”
Mia crossed her arms.
Vincent nearly smiled.
Then Dominic emerged.
“Boss.”
His expression was serious.
“What?”
“We found Raymond Vale.”
“Where?”
“He’s not missing.”
Vincent frowned.
“He’s downtown.”
“At his office?”
“No.”
Dominic held out a tablet.
Live surveillance footage showed Raymond entering a private hospital.
“What’s there?”
Dominic looked at Alina.
“Someone checked in under the name Javier Ruiz.”
Alina stopped breathing.
“What?”
Vincent stared.
Javier Ruiz had been buried three years ago.
Matteo went pale.
“That’s impossible.”
May you like
Dominic looked at him.
“Apparently this family has a problem keeping dead men dead.”
