Chapter 9 - THE LAST MORETTI
The private airfield looked abandoned.
One hangar.
One runway.
One jet.
And thirty armed men.
Victor’s people surrounded the perimeter.
Dominic’s men waited on the opposite side.
For the first time in decades, Morettis and Valentis stood together.
Not as allies.
As fathers.
Uncles.
Brothers.
Men trying to stop one monster they had all helped create.
I walked forward with Gabriel and Daniel.
Victor hated the plan.
Thomas hated it more.
But Anthony demanded the three heirs.
So we gave him the three heirs.
The hangar doors opened.
A man stepped out.
Anthony Moretti.
He looked like Victor.
Older.
Thinner.
Same eyes.
Same posture.
Same frightening calm.
Lily was in Margaret’s arms beside him.
My baby cried when she saw me.
“Mommy!”
It was barely a word.
More sound than speech.
But I heard it.
My heart broke.
“I’m here, baby!”
Anthony smiled.
“So this is Hannah.”
I stared.
“You’ve watched me my whole life.”
“Yes.”
“You threatened my father.”
“Yes.”
“You murdered my mother?”
He shook his head.
“Margaret did.”
Margaret looked offended.
“On your orders.”
Anthony shrugged.
“Details.”
Victor stepped from behind a vehicle.
“Give her the child.”
Anthony smiled.
“Brother.”
Victor’s face turned to stone.
“You are no brother of mine.”
Anthony laughed.
“We share a father.”
“So did Thomas.”
Anthony’s eyes moved toward my father.
“Ah.”
Thomas emerged.
Anthony’s smile disappeared.
“Still alive.”
“So are you.”
They stared at each other.
Two hidden sons.
Two erased branches.
Two men shaped by the same father.
Anthony looked back at me.
“Do you know why Salvatore created the trust?”
“To protect his family.”
“No.”
He smiled.
“To control it after death.”
Gabriel stepped forward.
“This family really enjoys that hobby.”
Anthony ignored him.
“The Rossi trust controls ports, logistics and property worth nearly nine hundred million dollars.”
I stared.
More than anyone had told me.
Anthony continued.
“With Gabriel, Hannah and Daniel all present, ownership can be consolidated.”
“How?”
“Signatures.”
Daniel laughed.
“You think we’re signing anything?”
Anthony nodded toward Lily.
Margaret tightened her hold.
My rage exploded.
“You hurt her and I swear—”
Anthony smiled.
“You’ll what?”
I stepped closer.
“Find out.”
For the first time, his smile faded.
Maybe he saw Elena in me.
Maybe that scared him.
Victor called out.
“You want the trust? Take mine.”
Anthony laughed.
“You don’t own it.”
“My businesses.”
Dominic stepped forward.
“And mine.”
Anthony looked between them.
“All this fatherly sentiment.”
Victor’s jaw tightened.
“You always wanted what Father gave me.”
Anthony’s expression changed.
There it was.
The wound.
The thing beneath thirty years of murder.
“He gave you a name.”
Victor said nothing.
“He gave you the house. The empire. The respect.”
“And you killed innocent people because you were jealous?”
Anthony’s face hardened.
“He erased me.”
Victor stepped forward.
“No.”
His voice was quiet.
“He hurt you.”
Anthony stared.
Victor continued.
“And instead of becoming better than him, you became worse.”
Silence.
Anthony raised his weapon.
Victor did not move.
“You always thought you were superior.”
“No.”
Victor looked at Lily.
“I just learned too late that power without family is nothing.”
Anthony smiled bitterly.
“And Elena taught you that?”
Victor’s eyes filled with something dangerous.
“Elena taught me more in two years than my father did in twenty.”
Margaret suddenly spoke.
“Enough.”
Everyone turned.
She looked at Anthony.
“You promised me control.”
Anthony smiled.
“And you believed me.”
Margaret’s face changed.
“What?”
“You were useful.”
I watched her realize.
Thirty years of loyalty.
Murder.
Betrayal.
All for nothing.
Anthony nodded toward one of his men.
“Take the baby.”
Margaret stepped back.
“No.”
The man approached.
She pulled a gun.
Chaos exploded.
Margaret shot Anthony’s guard.
Victor’s men opened fire.
Dominic’s men attacked from the side.
Gabriel grabbed me.
Daniel ran toward Lily.
Anthony fired at him.
Thomas shoved Daniel aside.
The bullet hit Thomas.
“Dad!”
I screamed.
Thomas fell.
I ran toward him.
“No!”
Blood spread across his coat.
He looked at me.
“Lily.”
I looked up.
Margaret was running toward the jet with my baby.
I kissed Thomas’s forehead.
Then ran.
Daniel reached Margaret first.
She fired.
Missed.
He tackled her.
Lily fell.
I dove.
Caught her inches above the concrete.
She screamed.
I held her.
“My baby.”
Behind me, a gunshot cracked.
Margaret fell.
Anthony stood over her.
He had shot his own ally.
Victor aimed at him.
“So this is it,” Anthony said.
Victor’s voice was cold.
“Yes.”
Anthony smiled.
“You won’t shoot your brother.”
Victor looked toward Thomas bleeding on the ground.
Toward Gabriel.
Daniel.
Me.
Lily.
“You’re right.”
Anthony smiled.
Victor lowered his weapon.
Then Dominic stepped forward.
“I will.”
Anthony turned.
Dominic fired once.
Anthony collapsed.
Silence fell.
Victor stared at the body of his brother.
No triumph.
Only exhaustion.
Sirens approached.
Federal agents flooded the airfield.
Thomas had contacted them before we arrived.
He had spent decades collecting evidence.
Anthony’s organization ended that night.
So did Margaret’s.
Dominic surrendered voluntarily.
Victor did not run.
He handed over files.
Records.
Names.
Everything.
I sat beside Thomas inside the ambulance.
“You’re not dying.”
He smiled weakly.
“You always were bossy.”
“You missed twenty-six years. You don’t get to leave after one day.”
His eyes filled.
“I watched.”
“That doesn’t count.”
“I know.”
Doctors rushed him into surgery.
Lily slept against Daniel’s chest while I waited.
It was the first time he had ever held his daughter.
He looked terrified.
“She’s tiny.”
“She bites.”
He smiled.
“I deserved that.”
Gabriel sat beside us.
Victor stood across the hall.
The most feared man in New York suddenly looked old.
I approached him.
“What happens now?”
He looked toward the federal agents.
“I answer questions.”
“Prison?”
“Possibly.”
I studied him.
“Are you scared?”
Victor smiled faintly.
“Of prison?”
“No.”
“Of what?”
He looked at Lily.
“Missing this.”
I understood.
Not power.
Not money.
Family.
Lily woke.
She looked at Victor.
Then reached toward him.
Victor froze.
I smiled despite everything.
“She wants you.”
He took her carefully.
Lily touched his cheek.
May you like
Victor Moretti closed his eyes.
And cried.
