Chapter 10 - The Last Moretti SecretCeleste had spent her entire life being underestimated.
Three weeks after Ethan Bennett’s funeral.
Claire stared at it until the faces became blurry.
“That’s him.”
Dante stood beside her in the Moretti estate library.
“Are you certain?”
“He’s my brother.”
Ethan looked thinner in the photograph.
Bruised.
But alive.
He was walking beside a man Claire did not recognize.
On the back, someone had written:
ASSET TRANSFERRED — E.B.
Claire’s hands trembled.
“I buried him.”
Dante said nothing.
“I stood beside an empty coffin?”
“We don’t know that yet.”
“Yes, we do.”
She turned toward him.
“If Ethan survived, whose body did they give us?”
Dante had no answer.
Marco entered carrying information from federal databases.
“The warehouse victim was identified through dental records.”
Claire looked at him.
“Ethan’s dental records?”
“Yes.”
“So they were falsified.”
“Apparently.”
“Who can do that?”
Dante already knew.
Someone with medical access.
He looked toward Sofia.
His sister stood across the room.
Her face drained.
“Don’t.”
Dante stared.
“You worked at the hospital that processed Ethan’s records.”
“Yes, but I didn’t—”
“Did you alter them?”
“No.”
“Sofia.”
“I said no.”
Claire watched her.
Sofia looked genuinely horrified.
Then Isabella entered.
“I did.”
Everyone turned.
Claire went still.
“You?”
Isabella closed the door.
“Ethan survived the warehouse attack.”
Claire crossed the room so quickly Dante barely stopped her.
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
“My brother is alive?”
Isabella hesitated.
“That photograph is eleven months old.”
Claire’s expression collapsed.
Dante stepped between them.
“Tell us everything.”
Isabella looked at Claire.
“When Stefano ordered Ethan’s death, the warehouse supervisor refused to complete it.”
“Who?”
“Daniel Reyes.”
Claire remembered the name.
He had attended Ethan’s funeral.
“He helped fake the accident?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To convince Stefano Ethan was dead.”
Claire’s voice broke.
“Then where did Ethan go?”
“Witness protection outside official channels.”
“That makes no sense.”
“Official law enforcement had leaks. Ethan had evidence against people with connections.”
“So you hid him.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t he contact me?”
“Because we believed Stefano was watching you.”
Claire stared.
“You let me think he was dead.”
“He agreed.”
That hurt more.
“He agreed?”
Isabella nodded.
“Ethan knew contacting you could get you killed.”
Claire stepped backward.
Tears filled her eyes.
“No.”
Dante reached for her.
She moved away.
“My brother let me bury him.”
“Claire—”
“No.”
She walked to the window.
Eleven months of grief.
Eleven months of waking up wishing she had answered his last call.
Eleven months of guilt.
And Ethan might have been alive somewhere.
“Where is he now?”
Isabella said, “I lost contact with him four months ago.”
Claire turned sharply.
“What?”
“He disappeared from the safe location.”
“Was he taken?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then he could still be alive.”
“Yes.”
Dante looked at Marco.
“Find him.”
Marco nodded.
“Every resource.”
“Every one.”
Claire looked at Dante.
“Please.”
He crossed the room.
“I will find him.”
“You can’t promise that.”
“I know.”
He touched her face.
“But I can promise I won’t stop.”
This time she believed him.
The search lasted five days.
Five days of hotel records.
Border crossings.
Bank withdrawals.
Security footage.
Five days during which Claire healed enough to walk without assistance.
Five days during which Dante slept even less.
On the sixth morning, Marco entered the breakfast room.
“We found a payment.”
Claire stood so quickly her chair fell.
“Where?”
“Vermont.”
“A motel?”
“Cabin rental.”
“Name?”
“Eric Barnes.”
Claire frowned.
“That means nothing.”
Marco turned the tablet.
The email address attached to the payment was:
cbennett1989
Claire covered her mouth.
“What?”
Dante looked at her.
“That was our father’s email.”
They drove north immediately.
The cabin sat near a frozen lake surrounded by pine trees.
No security.
No vehicles.
Dante ordered Claire to remain behind him.
For once, she listened.
He knocked.
Nothing.
Again.
A sound inside.
Dante reached for his weapon.
The door opened.
Claire forgot how to breathe.
Ethan stood there.
Alive.
Older.
A scar crossing his eyebrow.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Then Claire whispered:
“You idiot.”
Ethan’s eyes filled.
“Claire.”
She hit him.
Not hard.
One open-handed slap against his shoulder.
Then again.
“You idiot.”
He caught her wrists.
“I’m sorry.”
She started crying.
“You were dead.”
“I know.”
“You were dead!”
Then she threw her arms around him.
Ethan held her.
“I’m sorry.”
Dante turned away, giving them privacy.
Claire cried against her brother’s chest.
When they finally separated, she touched his face repeatedly as if confirming he was real.
“Why didn’t you call?”
“I couldn’t.”
“You could have found a way.”
“I tried once.”
“What happened?”
“They found me two days later.”
“Who?”
Ethan looked toward Dante.
“Luca.”
Dante stepped closer.
“You saw him?”
“No. His men.”
“Why would Luca hunt you if Stefano ordered the original attack?”
“Because I had evidence against both.”
Ethan invited them inside.
From beneath a floorboard, he removed a waterproof case.
Inside were documents.
Hard drives.
Photographs.
Enough evidence to destroy what remained of the conspiracy.
“I was waiting,” Ethan said.
“For what?” Claire asked.
“For someone I could trust.”
His eyes moved to Dante.
“I heard what happened.”
Dante raised an eyebrow.
“How?”
“News travels.”
“You trust me?”
Ethan looked at Claire.
“I trust her.”
Claire gave him a tired smile.
“That’s not the same thing.”
“It’s enough.”
Then Ethan removed one final envelope.
“This is why Volkov wanted Pier Seventeen.”
Inside were financial records tying Volkov, Stefano, and several corrupt officials to an international weapons operation.
Dante studied them.
“This puts them away permanently.”
“Exactly.”
Claire sat beside her brother.
“Then it’s over.”
Ethan’s expression changed.
“No.”
She noticed.
“What?”
“There’s one more person.”
Dante looked up.
Ethan continued.
“Someone financed the operation from the beginning.”
“Who?”
Ethan hesitated.
Then answered.
“Celeste Moretti.”
Dante stared.
His aunt.
Adrian’s mother.
The woman who had looked frightened when Dante found Claire’s flash drive.
Claire remembered.
The shattered glass at Vittorio’s birthday.
Celeste’s face.
Fear.
Not because she recognized the evidence.
Because she knew what it could expose.
Ethan looked at Dante.
“She’s been running the money for twenty years.”
Dante closed the folder.
“Where is she?”
Marco checked his phone.
Then cursed.
“What?”
“Celeste left New York three hours ago.”
“Destination?”
Marco’s face tightened.
“Your Hudson property.”
Claire went cold.
The estate where much of the family believed she was still recovering.
Including Dr. Shaw.
And several innocent staff members.
Dante was already moving toward the door.
Then Claire’s phone rang.
Unknown number.
She answered.
Celeste’s voice came through.
“Claire.”
Her blood chilled.
“You should have stayed a waitress.”
Behind Celeste, Claire heard someone crying.
A woman.
Dr. Shaw.
Celeste continued.
“Bring Ethan’s evidence.”
May you like
A pause.
“Or everyone in that house dies.”
