Chapter 13 - The Night the Don Fell|
By dawn, every criminal organization in Chicago had heard the same rumor.
Tomasso Barbieri had abandoned his family crest, challenged Enzo's authority, and broken the agreement that had kept the city quiet.
Some called it weakness.
Others called it madness.
The men who had spent years waiting for the Barbieri empire to fracture called it an opportunity.
Tomasso ignored them all.
He and Caterina returned to the estate with the recording device and a single page torn from Lorenzo's folder. The page contained a list of bank transfers and a signature that appeared to belong to Enzo.
Mateo was moved to a safe apartment under Marco's protection. The estate's security system was shut down, its access codes replaced, and every employee interviewed.
Three guards resigned before noon.
Two vanished.
One confessed that Enzo had paid him to report Caterina's movements.
Tomasso dismissed him but did not punish him.
"Why let him go?" Caterina asked.
"Because I need to know where he runs."
"You're letting a traitor walk away."
"I'm letting a frightened man lead me to the person who paid him."
She studied Tomasso.
"You've changed."
"No. I'm learning how little I knew."
At four that afternoon, Enzo summoned Tomasso to a private club near the river. He requested that Caterina stay behind.
Tomasso refused.
They arrived together.
Enzo sat alone in a leather booth, a glass of water before him. Two men stood near the entrance, pretending to study the room.
"You've brought your wife," Enzo said.
"She has a right to hear what you say."
Enzo looked at Caterina.
"Your mother should have sent you away when she had the chance."
Caterina sat opposite him.
"My mother tried to protect everyone. You used that against her."
Enzo's jaw tightened.
Tomasso placed the copied bank records on the table.
"Explain the transfers."
Enzo didn't look at them.
"Your father was planning to dismantle the organization. He wanted to sell the docks, release certain people from their obligations, and turn the remaining businesses over to legitimate management."
"That doesn't explain why you arranged his death."
"I didn't arrange his death."
"Then why were you paid from the account three days before the fire?"
Enzo finally looked down.
"Because I was trying to stop him."
"By killing him?"
"By frightening him. I never intended for the warehouse to burn."
Caterina's voice was quiet.
"Who set the fire?"
Enzo looked at her.
"Lorenzo."
Tomasso felt something inside him go still.
"Why did you blame the Morettis?"
"Because Lorenzo had evidence that I helped move the shipment. He told me he would expose me as a traitor. I believed that if I pointed the blame at Matteo, I could keep the family together long enough to survive."
"You started a war to hide your own involvement."
"I tried to prevent one."
"You let me spend eleven years hunting innocent men."
Enzo's eyes glistened.
"I raised you."
Tomasso leaned forward.
"And you taught me that loyalty was the only thing a man could trust."
"It is."
"No," Tomasso said. "Loyalty without truth is just obedience."
Enzo reached inside his coat.
Tomasso's gun was in his hand before the older man could finish the movement.
"Don't."
Enzo slowly withdrew a folded letter.
It was old, its edges yellowed.
"Your father wrote this the night he died."
Tomasso stared at it.
"Where did you get that?"
"From his office. I've kept it all these years."
He pushed it across the table.
Tomasso opened the letter.
His father's handwriting filled the page.
The message was brief.
Enzo, if anything happens to me, tell Tomasso the truth about the child. He is the only one who can protect him.
Tomasso read it twice.
"The child was Mateo."
Enzo nodded.
"Your father knew Lorenzo would come for him. He wanted you to protect the boy."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because Lorenzo had already threatened your life. I believed I could keep you safe by keeping you ignorant."
Caterina looked at Enzo with disgust.
"You kept yourself safe."
Before Enzo could respond, a gunshot shattered the club's front window.
Tomasso pulled Caterina down as men shouted and chairs overturned. Enzo fell sideways, clutching his shoulder.
Through the smoke, Tomasso saw a gunman retreating toward the exit.
The attacker wore a small silver pin shaped like a blackbird.
Caterina recognized it instantly.
"My mother's symbol."
Tomasso turned toward her.
"Who wears it?"
She stared at the disappearing gunman.
"Someone she trusted more than anyone."
Then she looked at the letter again.
May you like
The last sentence had been written in different ink, as if added later.
And if Elena tells you the boy is dead, don't believe her.
