Chapter 3 - THE BROTHER WHO NEVER DIED
Luca Lombardi had been twenty-three when the warehouse burned.
Dante was twenty-nine.
He remembered the night clearly.
The smell of smoke.
The sirens.
The blackened building.
The body identified through dental records.
His father's silence.
Now, sitting in Gemma's hospital room, Dante wondered how much of that night had been manufactured.
Gemma explained what she'd discovered.
Three months earlier, while reviewing old financial archives for the wedding merger, she'd found discrepancies in accounts established by Vittorio Lombardi.
Payments to shell companies.
Transfers to offshore trusts.
Large withdrawals made after Luca's supposed death.
At first, she thought it was ordinary corruption.
Then she found Luca's name.
Not in a death record.
In a current account.
She followed the trail quietly.
It led to a private rehabilitation facility in Switzerland.
A man registered under another name had been receiving payments for eleven years.
Gemma showed Dante the documents.
“His medical records were altered,” she said. “But the photographs match.”
Dante stared.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
Gemma's eyes filled.
“Because I needed to be sure.”
She hesitated.
“And because I was afraid.”
Dante looked at her.
“Of me?”
“No.”
She swallowed.
“Of what you'd do.”
Dante said nothing.
Gemma continued.
“Your father arranged the fire after Luca discovered a secret trust.”
“What trust?”
She looked away.
“A fund created for the families of dockworkers killed in accidents connected to Lombardi operations.”
Dante frowned.
“I know that fund.”
“Then you know it was supposed to pay compensation.”
“Yes.”
Gemma's voice shook.
“It didn't.”
She explained that Vittorio had diverted millions from the fund.
Widows received almost nothing.
Children lost scholarships.
Families were told the money had run out.
Luca had discovered the theft.
He threatened to expose it.
Vittorio arranged for him to disappear.
Dante sat motionless.
His brother had been punished for trying to do the right thing.
“And Bianca?” he asked.
Gemma looked at him.
“She knows where Luca is.”
Dante's jaw tightened.
“Her family has been keeping him hidden.”
For several seconds, he couldn't speak.
Then he stood.
“I'm bringing him home.”
Gemma grabbed his hand.
“Dante.”
He looked down.
“Don't become your father trying to undo what he did.”
The words stopped him.
May you like
He sat back down.
And for the first time in his life, Dante Lombardi asked someone else what he should do.
