Chapter 9 - THE DEAD MAN AT THE DOOR
Vittorio Rossi wasn't dead.
That fact made every lie before it look small.
Lorenzo watched the security feed three times.
Each time his father stepped from the black sedan, looked directly into the camera, and entered the mansion.
Daniel stood motionless.
“You knew?”
Lorenzo turned on him.
“No.”
“You're lying.”
“I thought he was dead.”
“You expect me to believe—”
“Yes!”
Daniel's voice cracked.
For once, Lorenzo's younger brother looked terrified rather than angry.
“He had cancer. I saw records.”
“So did I.”
Nico interrupted.
“Records can be forged.”
Apparently so could death.
I looked at Eli and Leo.
“Why reveal himself now?”
Nobody answered.
Then my phone rang.
Unknown number.
Everyone looked at it.
I almost ignored the call.
Then I answered.
“Hunter Morgan.”
The voice was old.
Calm.
“I'm glad my grandson survived.”
My skin went cold.
“Vittorio.”
Lorenzo moved toward me.
I put the call on speaker.
“My sons are with you?”
Neither man spoke.
Vittorio chuckled.
“They always were emotional.”
Lorenzo's voice became lethal.
“You have ten seconds to explain.”
“I have nothing to explain to you.”
“You let me bury you.”
“It was necessary.”
“You let your wife—my mother—believe you were dead.”
“She knew.”
Lorenzo went still.
Another betrayal.
“How many people knew?”
“Enough.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“Why create the trust in Eli's name?”
“Because you are my son.”
“You never treated me like one.”
“That doesn't change blood.”
Daniel laughed.
“Apparently blood excuses everything in this family.”
Vittorio ignored him.
“Bring both children to the mansion.”
“No,” I said.
Everyone looked at me.
Vittorio paused.
“You must be Hunter.”
“I am.”
“My son chose an interesting woman.”
“Which son?”
Silence.
I had him.
“I am not bringing either baby anywhere.”
“They are Rossi children.”
“No. They are children.”
“You don't understand the responsibilities attached to their name.”
“Then remove the name.”
Lorenzo stared at me.
Vittorio laughed once.
“You think you can walk away from history?”
“I walked into your family's mansion wearing a maid uniform and accidentally uncovered half your secrets in three days. So I'm feeling optimistic.”
Nico turned away.
I think he was hiding a smile.
Vittorio's tone changed.
“You have courage.”
“I've heard.”
“Courage without power is dangerous.”
“I have both your grandsons.”
Silence.
That was power.
For the first time in the conversation, Vittorio sounded cautious.
“What do you want?”
I looked at Lorenzo.
He understood.
“The council,” he said.
Vittorio laughed.
“So Sophia succeeded.”
“She left evidence.”
“That woman always underestimated consequences.”
“My wife died because of you.”
“I never ordered her death.”
“Daniel said—”
“Daniel believes whatever lets him hate you.”
Daniel cursed.
Vittorio continued.
“Carlo Vane acted independently.”
“Salvatore said your contingency order authorized it.”
“My contingency applied to financial betrayal, not murder.”
“Convenient.”
Apparently that word belonged to this family.
Vittorio sighed.
“Meet me.”
“No.”
“Then this continues.”
“No.”
Another silence.
Lorenzo spoke quietly.
“This ends.”
“How?”
“I give Sophia's evidence to federal investigators.”
The room froze.
Even I wasn't prepared.
Vittorio's voice changed.
“You wouldn't.”
“I will.”
“You will destroy everything your family built.”
“Yes.”
One word.
No hesitation.
Vittorio became cold.
“You think you can raise Leo without the Rossi name protecting him?”
Lorenzo looked at his sleeping child.
“I think the Rossi name is why he nearly died.”
The call ended.
Daniel stared at his brother.
“You'd really do it?”
“Yes.”
“Lose everything?”
“Not everything.”
Lorenzo looked at Leo.
That was the moment I understood Sophia had been right.
Maybe the man she believed he could become had finally arrived.
Nico contacted federal authorities through a lawyer Sophia had previously trusted.
Within hours, arrangements were made.
Not public yet.
Lorenzo would turn over financial records, communications, and evidence tied to the council.
In exchange, he was not promised immunity.
That surprised me.
“You could go to prison.”
“I know.”
“For your own crimes?”
“Yes.”
“You're still doing it?”
He looked at me.
“If I only do the right thing when it protects me, it isn't much of a right thing.”
I didn't know what to say.
Daniel agreed to cooperate too.
Salvatore demanded his own lawyer.
Mara prepared medical documentation.
Then we made one mistake.
We believed Vittorio would wait.
At 6:20 that evening, power died.
The waterfront house went dark.
Nico immediately drew his weapon.
“Back room.”
I grabbed Eli.
Mara grabbed Leo.
Lorenzo moved toward us.
Then glass shattered.
Smoke filled the hallway.
Again.
“Not again,” I whispered.
I was beginning to hate smoke more than fire.
Men entered from both sides.
Not shouting.
Professional.
Nico fired toward the floor line to slow them.
Lorenzo pushed us toward a rear exit.
Daniel appeared through the smoke.
“This way!”
We followed him into the laundry room.
A hidden door led to the garage.
Of course Sophia had installed one.
We reached the vehicle.
Then someone grabbed me.
I screamed.
Eli nearly slipped.
A masked man ripped him from my arms.
“No!”
I fought like an animal.
I clawed his face.
Bit his hand.
Kicked.
He shoved me against the car.
Lorenzo hit him.
The man dropped Eli—
Daniel caught the baby before he struck the ground.
My heart stopped.
Daniel curled around his son.
Another attacker appeared.
Lorenzo went down.
I heard Mara scream.
Then silence.
When I opened my eyes, I was on the floor.
My head pounded.
Eli was gone.
So was Leo.
Mara was gone too.
Lorenzo was bleeding from his forehead but conscious.
Daniel lay beside the garage door.
Alive.
Barely awake.
Nico stumbled inside.
“They took them.”
“No.”
I stood.
The room spun.
“No.”
Lorenzo grabbed my shoulders.
“We'll find them.”
I shoved him.
“Don't say that!”
My scream echoed.
“I already lost my son once!”
His face broke.
Then my phone buzzed.
Video.
Vittorio.
He sat inside the Rossi mansion.
Behind him were two bassinets.
Eli.
Leo.
Mara sat beside them under guard.
Vittorio looked into the camera.
“No more running.”
He placed a document on the table.
“Lorenzo comes alone.”
Another page.
“Daniel signs away his claim.”
Another.
“And Hunter remains with the children.”
My stomach turned.
Remain?
As what?
Then Vittorio smiled.
“After all, a family with two motherless Rossi boys needs someone capable of keeping them alive.”
Lorenzo's face turned white with rage.
I felt something colder.
Vittorio didn't see me as a person.
He saw a resource.
A body.
A replacement.
A woman useful because I could feed one child and calm another.
He thought motherhood made me weak.
That would be his mistake.
I took Lorenzo's phone.
“I'll go.”
“No.”
“I said I'll go.”
“He wants you trapped there.”
“I know.”
“You aren't bargaining yourself.”
“I'm not.”
I looked at Nico.
“Can we send the evidence without being inside the mansion?”
“Yes.”
“Can federal agents receive it now?”
“Yes.”
“Can Vittorio stop it once it starts?”
“No.”
Lorenzo understood.
“You want to trigger the release before we enter.”
“Yes.”
Daniel pushed himself upright.
“And make him believe he still has leverage.”
“Exactly.”
Lorenzo stared at me.
For once, he didn't say no.
He said, “What do you need?”
I looked at the image of both babies.
“My maid uniform.”
Lorenzo blinked.
“What?”
“Vittorio thinks I'm just the maid.”
May you like
I smiled without humor.
“Let's make sure that's the last mistake he ever makes.”
