Chapter 6 - THE FATHER WHO NEVER DIED
Dante did not speak for nearly a minute.
Then:
“Find him.”
Gabriel was already moving.
Salvatore Moretti’s death had been private.
A sudden cardiac event while traveling overseas.
The body returned in a sealed coffin.
Family doctors handled the paperwork.
Dante remembered wanting to see his father.
He had been told decomposition made viewing impossible.
He had accepted it.
Because grief makes intelligent people stupid.
Now he understood.
There had been no body.
Only a coffin.
Dante sat alone in his office.
Claire found him there.
“You should be with Lily.”
“She’s asleep with Rosa.”
“She shouldn’t be alone.”
“Neither should you.”
Dante looked at her.
Claire closed the door.
For several seconds neither spoke.
Then Dante said:
“I became head of this family because my father died.”
Claire sat opposite him.
“What if he wanted you to?”
“What?”
“What if disappearing was part of the plan?”
Dante stared.
She continued.
“Maybe he needed you in control.”
“Why?”
“So you could be blamed for whatever happens next.”
That landed.
Every illegal action.
Every alliance.
Every conflict since Salvatore’s supposed death had Dante’s signature.
If Salvatore had been secretly working with Adrian…
He could destroy Dante while remaining invisible.
Gabriel entered without knocking.
“Private airfield footage shows Salvatore leaving with Sophia.”
“Destination?”
“Unknown.”
“Adrian?”
“Still local.”
Claire frowned.
“Why would your father work with the man who killed Luca?”
Dante’s face hardened.
“Maybe Luca wasn’t killed because of a feud.”
Gabriel understood.
“He found out about Father.”
The pieces shifted.
Luca discovered Salvatore’s hidden alliance with Adrian.
Sophia, secretly loyal to Adrian, arranged Luca’s death.
Michael discovered it.
Michael died.
Then Salvatore faked his own death.
Why?
Dante looked toward the recovered ledger.
“Because he knew Michael had evidence.”
Claire whispered:
“And he’s been waiting for it.”
A message arrived.
Video.
Salvatore Moretti appeared on-screen.
Older.
Calm.
Alive.
“Hello, son.”
Dante’s face became stone.
“I imagine this is uncomfortable.”
Gabriel almost threw the phone.
Salvatore continued.
“You were always emotional about family, Dante. I told you that weakness would cost you.”
Dante whispered:
“You buried Luca.”
“Luca buried himself when he became curious.”
Gabriel turned away.
Claire felt physically sick.
Dante’s voice was barely controlled.
“You killed your own son?”
“No.”
“Sophia did.”
“I allowed necessity.”
Claire saw Dante’s fists tighten.
Salvatore continued.
“I need Michael Vescari’s archive.”
Dante looked toward Claire.
“You’ll never get it.”
“Then Claire Bennett and her daughter become permanent liabilities.”
Dante stepped toward the screen as if he could reach through it.
“You touch them and—”
Salvatore laughed.
“There it is.”
“What?”
“Your weakness.”
His father smiled.
“A woman. A child. You’re becoming ordinary.”
Dante’s eyes changed.
Claire had expected shame.
Instead he said:
“Maybe ordinary is better than becoming you.”
Salvatore’s smile vanished.
Good.
The first wound.
He ended with coordinates.
Midnight.
Old Moretti shipping terminal.
Bring the archive.
Come alone.
Claire immediately said:
“No.”
Dante looked at her.
“I’m going.”
“Obviously. And so am I.”
“No.”
She laughed in disbelief.
“Why do men keep saying that to me?”
“This is dangerous.”
“My husband died because of these people.”
“Claire—”
“My daughter is being hunted because of these people.”
He stepped closer.
“I will not put you in that room.”
She looked directly at him.
“You don’t get to decide whether I confront the people who destroyed my family.”
Dante wanted to argue.
Then he remembered what she said before.
You don’t own us.
He exhaled.
“Fine.”
Gabriel smiled faintly.
Dante glared.
“Don’t.”
At 11:58 p.m., they entered the abandoned shipping terminal.
Not alone.
Dante had men surrounding three blocks.
Police contacts waited farther out.
Claire carried a fake archive.
The real files had already been duplicated and encrypted elsewhere.
Salvatore stood beneath a warehouse light.
Adrian beside him.
Sophia several feet away.
Marco was there too.
Claire stopped.
Marco?
Dante’s jaw tightened.
“You.”
Marco looked ashamed.
“It isn’t what you think.”
Adrian laughed.
“It usually is.”
Salvatore looked at Dante.
“You brought Claire.”
“She insisted.”
His father studied her.
“Michael had poor taste in family.”
Claire raised her chin.
“He had better taste than you.”
Adrian nearly smiled.
Salvatore did not.
“Give me the archive.”
Dante held up the drive.
“First tell me why.”
“Because Michael stole twenty years of work.”
“What work?”
Salvatore’s eyes sharpened.
“An empire without pointless family wars.”
Dante laughed.
“You murdered people to create peace?”
“Your grandfather built this organization through blood. I intended to transform it through leverage.”
Salvatore and Adrian had secretly combined financial networks.
Judges.
Ports.
Contracts.
Businesses.
They planned to end traditional mafia wars by controlling everything economically.
Luca discovered the alliance.
He threatened exposure.
He died.
Michael discovered the payment trail.
He died.
Salvatore faked his death to continue operating secretly.
Dante stared at his father.
“You killed your sons for a business plan.”
“I sacrificed obstacles.”
Gabriel’s voice came through Dante’s hidden earpiece.
He had heard everything.
Salvatore continued.
“Give me the drive.”
Dante threw it across the floor.
Adrian picked it up.
Inserted it into a laptop.
The screen went red.
EMPTY.
Salvatore looked up.
Claire smiled.
“You really thought Michael’s wife would give you the only copy?”
Gunfire erupted outside.
Salvatore’s men realized they were surrounded.
Sophia grabbed Claire.
A weapon appeared against her side.
“Move.”
Dante raised his gun.
Sophia pulled Claire backward.
“Drop it.”
Dante obeyed.
Salvatore smiled.
“Weakness.”
Then Lily’s voice suddenly came through Claire’s phone.
“Mommy?”
Everyone froze.
Claire’s blood turned cold.
Lily was supposed to be secure.
Sophia smiled.
“How sweet.”
Claire answered:
“Baby?”
“Grandpa man is at the house.”
Dante stared at Salvatore.
Salvatore’s smile disappeared.
There was another man?
Lily continued:
“He says he’s Mr. Dante’s real daddy.”
Dante looked at Salvatore.
Impossible.
Salvatore looked equally confused.
Then Gabriel shouted through the earpiece:
“Dante, GET OUT.”
The warehouse lights exploded.
Smoke filled the room.
And from somewhere in the darkness, an unfamiliar voice shouted:
“Salvatore! You should have stayed dead!”
Dante suddenly understood.
His father wasn’t the final mastermind either.
May you like
Someone else had been using all of them.
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