Chapter 10 - THE MAN WHO BETRAYED THE FAMILY|
Franco read the note alone.
He had spent six years blaming Brandon Wells for his brother's death. The evidence had appeared clear: a vehicle ambush, a sequence of intercepted messages, and a payment routed through one of Wells's companies.
But the photograph suggested someone else had arranged the attack.
Franco called Luca to the study.
“Tell me what happened the night Matteo died.”
Luca's face changed.
“You know what happened.”
“I know the version you gave me.”
“It's the truth.”
“Then you won't mind explaining why someone claims you gave the order.”
Luca stared at the photograph.
For several seconds, the room was silent.
Finally, he sat down.
“Your brother discovered that one of our shipping routes was being used to move weapons without your authorization. He wanted to shut it down. You told him to wait until we could trace the money.”
“And then?”
“Matteo planned to meet a contact. He asked me to arrange security.”
Franco's jaw tightened.
“You arranged the convoy.”
“Yes.”
“Who knew the route?”
“Three people. Matteo, me, and the driver.”
Franco rose slowly.
“Are you telling me you gave someone the route?”
“No.”
“Then who did?”
Luca looked as though he were choosing between two terrible truths.
“Someone accessed the security schedule through your office. The log showed your authorization.”
Franco's voice went cold.
“Who had access to my office?”
“You. Me. And your uncle, Salvatore.”
Salvatore Richetti had managed the family's financial affairs for thirty years. He had helped raise Franco after his father died and advised him during the early years of his business career.
He had also been the person who told Franco that Samantha had moved away.
Franco sat back down.
“Where is he?”
“At the family estate. He believes you're still in Brooklyn.”
“Have him brought here.”
Luca hesitated.
“Franco, if Salvatore was involved—”
“Then I want to hear it from him.”
Samantha appeared in the doorway, having heard enough to understand that the situation had become even more dangerous.
“Is this why you left me?”
Franco turned.
“Partly.”
“Your uncle told you I had moved?”
“He said a man had been seen near your apartment. He convinced me that staying away was the only way to keep you safe.”
“Did he know about Tyler?”
“I don't know.”
Samantha folded her arms.
“Everyone in your life keeps deciding what I can survive. Your uncle. Your enemies. You.”
Franco lowered his eyes.
“I can't change what happened. But I won't make that decision for you again.”
She searched his face.
“Then let me sit in on the conversation with Salvatore.”
“No.”
Her expression hardened.
He corrected himself immediately.
“I'm sorry. I meant—”
“You meant to protect me by keeping me out of the room.”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“And I'll let you decide whether you want to be there.”
She nodded once.
“That is a better answer.”
Salvatore arrived that evening in a dark suit, carrying the confidence of a man who had never been questioned by anyone younger than himself.
He greeted Franco warmly, then glanced at Samantha with thinly veiled disdain.
“I see the waitress has become a permanent fixture.”
Samantha met his eyes.
“And I see manners are still optional in this family.”
Franco almost smiled.
They placed the photograph and the note on the table.
Salvatore barely looked at them.
“An obvious attempt to create division.”
“Did you give Matteo's route to Wells?” Franco asked.
“Of course not.”
“Did you tell me Samantha had left New York?”
“Yes. Because she was being watched.”
“By whom?”
Salvatore hesitated.
Franco noticed.
“Answer.”
“People connected to Wells. I wanted to protect you.”
“Did you know she was pregnant?”
The older man's expression shifted.
It lasted less than a second.
But it was enough.
Franco stood.
“You knew.”
Salvatore straightened his cuffs.
“I knew there was a possibility.”
“And you let me believe she was gone.”
“I saved your life.”
“You stole six years from my son.”
Salvatore's voice hardened.
“I kept the family alive.”
He turned toward Samantha.
“You should be grateful. Without me, your boy would have been born into a world that would eat him alive.”
Samantha rose.
“No. He was born into a world where men like you believe children are property.”
Salvatore's polite mask fell away.
He looked at Franco.
“If you turn against me, the truth about your father's death comes out. And you'll discover that your family's secrets go far beyond a waitress and her illegitimate child.”
He walked toward the door.
Franco did not stop him.
But after Salvatore left, Luca placed a second folder on the table.
Inside was a photograph taken outside a hospital six years earlier.
Salvatore stood beside a woman holding a newborn.
The infant's face was hidden.
The woman's name appeared on the back.
Samantha Cooper.
May you like
And beneath it, in Salvatore's handwriting, were four words:
The boy must disappear.
