Chapter 7 - BLOOD IS NOT LOYALTY
By morning, Alessandro Moretti had lost three captains.
Two warehouses.
Four financial accounts.
And almost twenty percent of the men who had sworn loyalty to him.
Matteo’s betrayal had been planned for months.
Maybe years.
Emma’s kidnapping had simply forced the timetable forward.
Sophia learned that because men kept entering Alessandro’s study and leaving looking terrified.
She sat downstairs with Emma.
Bruno had survived surgery but remained sedated.
Emma refused breakfast.
“Bruno eats breakfast.”
“Bruno is sleeping.”
“He needs oatmeal.”
“He cannot eat oatmeal right now.”
“He likes oatmeal.”
“He stole your oatmeal once.”
Emma considered this.
“Because he likes it.”
Sophia brushed hair from her face.
She had not slept.
She could still hear the gunshots.
Still see Bruno falling.
Still feel Emma’s little body shaking in her arms.
The door opened.
Alessandro entered.
His tie was gone.
His white shirt sleeves were rolled to his elbows.
There was dried blood near one cuff.
Sophia looked at it.
“Yours?”
“No.”
She decided not to ask.
Emma looked at him.
“Bruno?”
“Still sleeping.”
“You check?”
“Five minutes ago.”
Emma nodded.
Then returned to arranging crackers into a circle.
Sophia watched Alessandro.
“What happened?”
“With?”
“Your entire house appears to be preparing for war.”
He sat across from her.
“Matteo has support.”
“Your aunt?”
“Yes.”
“Your brother?”
Alessandro paused.
“Yes.”
Sophia stared.
“Why?”
“Money. Resentment. Fear.”
“Which one?”
“All of them.”
Emma pushed a cracker toward Alessandro.
He looked at it.
“Eat.”
Sophia almost laughed.
He obeyed.
Then Sophia asked, “Did Luca know they took Emma?”
Alessandro’s expression changed.
“I don’t know.”
“That matters.”
“Yes.”
“If he knew, what will you do?”
Alessandro looked at her.
She already knew.
“Don’t.”
“Sophia.”
“Not in front of Emma.”
His gaze shifted toward the child.
He nodded.
Emma placed another cracker on his side.
“You need two.”
Apparently crime bosses required snacks during family betrayals.
Sophia waited until Emma was distracted.
“Your aunt told me about Daniel.”
“Yes.”
“Why warn me if she’s helping Matteo?”
“That is the question.”
The study door opened.
Marco entered.
“We found Aunt Elena.”
Alessandro stood.
“Where?”
“She returned.”
Silence.
“To the estate?”
“She’s at the gate.”
Alessandro looked almost offended by the audacity.
“She wants to speak to Sophia.”
“No.”
Sophia stood.
“Yes.”
“No.”
“She specifically came back to speak to me.”
“That is precisely why you are not speaking to her.”
“Alessandro.”
He looked at her.
“Stop deciding which truths I’m allowed to hear.”
That landed.
Five minutes later Elena sat in a glass-walled sunroom surrounded by armed guards.
She looked perfectly calm.
Sophia entered with Alessandro.
Emma remained upstairs with Bruno and two guards Sophia personally approved.
Elena looked at Alessandro.
“You brought an audience.”
“You helped the man who kidnapped a child.”
“I helped Matteo leave Chicago.”
“Difference?”
“A significant one.”
Alessandro stood behind a chair.
“Explain quickly.”
Elena looked at Sophia.
“Daniel did not trust Alessandro’s father.”
Sophia sat.
“That doesn’t answer anything.”
“No.”
Elena folded her hands.
“But it explains why Daniel came to me.”
Alessandro’s face changed.
“When?”
“Two weeks before he died.”
“You never told me.”
“Your father was alive.”
“So?”
“So I was afraid of him.”
That seemed to surprise Alessandro.
Elena continued.
“Vittorio knew money was disappearing. He thought Matteo was behind it. Daniel discovered Matteo was only moving the money.”
“For whom?” Sophia asked.
Elena looked toward Alessandro.
“For Luca.”
The room went quiet.
Alessandro’s younger brother.
Sophia glanced at him.
He showed no reaction.
But his hand tightened around the chair.
Elena continued.
“Luca began siphoning money at twenty-two. Gambling first. Then private ventures. When your father discovered shortages, Luca blamed Matteo.”
“Why would Matteo protect him?”
“Because Luca promised him control of the organization after Vittorio died.”
Alessandro laughed once.
Cold.
“My position.”
“Yes.”
“Matteo believed Luca could remove me?”
“He believed enough people hated you to help.”
Sophia leaned forward.
“And Daniel?”
“Daniel found evidence.”
“Did Luca kill him?”
Elena looked down.
“I believe so.”
Sophia’s eyes filled.
“Believe?”
“Daniel called me the night he died. He said he was meeting Luca.”
A chair scraped.
Alessandro moved.
“Where is my brother?”
Elena looked at him.
“I don’t know.”
“You were photographed with him last night.”
“At the airport.”
“Where did he go?”
“He didn’t board Matteo’s plane.”
Marco stepped closer.
“Then why were you there?”
Elena’s voice softened.
“To convince Matteo Emma was too much.”
Sophia stared.
“What?”
“He called me after taking her.”
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
Sophia stood so fast the chair tipped.
“You knew my daughter had been kidnapped?”
“I tried to get her released.”
“You could have called us!”
“And Matteo would have known immediately.”
“You left my child with him!”
Elena stood.
“I made a choice.”
“A cowardly one.”
Elena flinched.
Good.
Sophia wanted it to hurt.
“Daniel came to you because he trusted you.”
“Yes.”
“And you let his killer live for three years.”
“I was protecting my family.”
Sophia’s face hardened.
“No.”
She looked at Alessandro.
“Everybody in this family keeps using that word.”
Her voice shook.
“Family.”
She looked back at Elena.
“Daniel lied to protect family. You stayed silent to protect family. Luca stole from family. Matteo kidnapped my daughter to control family.”
Sophia stepped closer.
“Maybe your definition is the problem.”
Nobody spoke.
Sophia picked up her chair.
Set it upright.
Then walked out.
Alessandro followed.
In the hallway he caught up.
“You were right.”
She turned.
“About?”
“My family.”
“I didn’t say your family.”
“You didn’t need to.”
They stood quietly.
Then Emma’s scream came from upstairs.
Both ran.
They burst into Bruno’s recovery room.
Emma was crying beside the dog.
But not from fear.
Bruno was awake.
His enormous head rested in her lap.
Richard stood nearby.
“He woke up five minutes ago.”
Emma kissed Bruno’s nose.
“You came back.”
The dog’s tail moved.
Alessandro stepped closer.
Bruno looked at him.
For once, he did not growl.
Alessandro touched the dog’s head.
“You nearly died.”
Emma looked up.
“He saved me.”
“Yes.”
“He’s hero.”
“Yes.”
“Hero gets steak.”
Richard said, “Not today.”
Emma frowned.
“Tomorrow.”
Richard wisely nodded.
“Tomorrow.”
Alessandro’s phone vibrated.
He almost ignored it.
Then saw the sender.
LUCA.
One message.
You want answers about Daniel? Come alone.
Beneath it was an address.
And a photograph.
Daniel Carter’s wedding ring.
Sophia saw it over his shoulder.
Her breath caught.
“That ring was never recovered.”
Alessandro looked at her.
Luca had kept it.
For three years.
A trophy.
Sophia’s face became very still.
“I’m coming with you.”
“No.”
She looked at him.
He reconsidered.
May you like
“Body armor.”
“Fine.”
