Chapter 8 - Midnight at Pier NineThe harbor wind cut through wool, leather, and bone.
Pier Nine had been closed for six years, officially because of structural damage.
Unofficially, because the Castellis had used it for meetings they did not want recorded.
Emmett arrived with Valerie beside him.
Luca’s men stayed out of sight.
Adrian and Delphine waited two blocks away.
The plan was simple.
Simple plans had the advantage of leaving fewer ways to fail.
Unfortunately, Matteo had built most of Emmett’s instincts.
He would expect every obvious trap.
Valerie walked with both hands visible.
“You’re shivering,” Emmett said.
“It’s twenty degrees.”
“You’re scared.”
“That too.”
He looked at her.
“Stay behind me.”
“No.”
“Valerie.”
“If he sees me hiding, he’ll know we’re planning something.”
“He knows.”
“Then at least let me annoy him.”
Emmett almost smiled.
“Try not to inherit his personality.”
“No promises.”
A light appeared at the far end of the pier.
Matteo stepped from an old warehouse.
He looked older than the photograph.
But unmistakable.
Same broad shoulders.
Same tilted head.
Same scar beside the mouth.
Emmett felt thirteen years old.
Then nineteen.
Then thirty-five.
All at once.
“Emmett.”
“Matteo.”
His uncle smiled.
“You became handsome.”
“You became dead.”
“Temporary condition.”
Valerie stared.
Matteo’s expression changed.
“My daughter.”
“Don’t.”
Pain flickered across his face.
Real or performed, Emmett could not tell.
Valerie stepped forward.
“Where is Franca?”
“Safe.”
“Marian?”
“Safe enough.”
“My cousin Isabella?”
Matteo smiled at Emmett.
“She learns quickly.”
“Where are they?”
Matteo opened the warehouse door.
Inside, Franca sat tied to a chair.
Alive.
Marian stood beside her.
Not tied.
Valerie froze.
“Marian?”
Marian looked at her.
Tears filled her eyes.
“Red.”
Valerie’s voice cracked.
“You’re with him.”
Marian shook her head.
“It isn’t what you think.”
“It never is.”
Matteo sighed.
“She has spent twenty years protecting you.”
“By standing beside the man who killed my mother?”
Marian’s face crumpled.
“He did not kill Angela.”
Valerie stared.
“What?”
Matteo’s eyes moved toward Emmett.
“Your father did.”
Emmett’s face hardened.
“You already tried that.”
“No.”
Matteo walked closer.
“Salvatore gave the final order.”
“Franca said you started the fire.”
“Franca saw what Sofia needed her to see.”
Franca shouted from inside.
“He’s lying!”
Matteo smiled.
“Of course she says that.”
Valerie stepped forward.
“Tell me exactly what happened.”
Matteo’s expression changed.
For the first time, he looked like a father facing the child he had failed.
“Angela discovered the accounts. She confronted me.”
“You were together?”
“Yes.”
“Were you my father?”
“Yes.”
Valerie swallowed.
“Did you know?”
“From the beginning.”
“Then why did I have another man’s name?”
“To protect you from the Castellis.”
Emmett laughed coldly.
“You were a Castelli.”
“Exactly.”
Matteo’s smile vanished.
“Salvatore would have used her.”
“You did.”
“I kept her alive.”
“You hunted her.”
“I hunted the ledger.”
“You sent men to the shelter.”
“No.”
The answer came immediately.
Emmett studied him.
“Then who did?”
Matteo looked at Adrian’s distant position.
“You brought Costas?”
“You know I did.”
“Ask him why his men tried to kill Valerie.”
“They weren’t his.”
Matteo smiled.
“Correct.”
Emmett understood a second before Valerie did.
“Delphine.”
Silence.
Valerie turned.
“No.”
Matteo continued.
“Who knew where you were?”
“Luca found me.”
“Who knew Luca’s surveillance route?”
Valerie looked at Emmett.
“Your people.”
“And Delphine,” Emmett said.
Matteo nodded.
Valerie shook her head.
“She admitted what happened at the fire.”
“Selective honesty is the most useful lie.”
Emmett’s phone buzzed.
Luca.
Two words.
DELPHINE GONE.
His jaw tightened.
Matteo saw.
“Problem?”
Emmett ignored him.
“Where is Isabella?”
Matteo’s expression softened.
“Closer than you think.”
“Stop speaking in riddles.”
“Your sister has lived under another name for thirty-two years.”
Emmett stepped closer.
“Where?”
Matteo looked at Marian.
Marian whispered, “Boston.”
Emmett stared.
“What name?”
Before she answered, gunfire cracked outside.
Matteo turned sharply.
One of his guards fell.
Then another.
Emmett shoved Valerie behind a steel pillar.
Shots came from the rooftops.
Luca’s voice shouted through Emmett’s earpiece.
“Not ours!”
Chaos erupted.
Matteo returned fire.
Marian dragged Franca’s chair behind cover.
Valerie shouted, “Who is shooting?”
Emmett looked through broken glass.
Black SUVs blocked both ends of the pier.
Men moved between them.
Not Costas.
Not Castelli.
A third crew.
Then a woman stepped from the lead SUV.
Camel coat.
Dark gloves.
Delphine.
Valerie stared.
“No.”
Delphine raised a handgun.
Her face showed no fear.
Only exhaustion.
“Put the weapons down.”
Emmett stepped into view.
“You ordered the shelter attack.”
“Yes.”
Valerie’s face broke.
“Why?”
Delphine looked at her.
“Because every time you come back, my father’s world burns.”
Adrian emerged behind the SUVs.
His hands were bound.
Blood ran from his forehead.
“Delphine,” he said. “Don’t do this.”
She turned.
“For twenty years, I cleaned your mess.”
“I never asked you to.”
“You built my life around it!”
Her voice cracked.
“You told me we survived because we were smarter than the Castellis.”
Adrian shook his head.
“We survived because others died.”
“Yes.”
Delphine’s eyes filled with tears.
“And I’m tired of paying for dead women.”
Valerie stared.
“So you decided to make me one?”
Delphine looked at her.
“I wanted you gone.”
“Dead?”
“At first, no.”
“And after?”
Delphine said nothing.
That was answer enough.
Emmett’s voice became cold.
“You planned to marry me while killing her.”
“I planned to marry you because it was the only way to control what happens when Matteo returns.”
“Control me?”
“Protect both families.”
“By murdering Valerie.”
“By ending the problem.”
Valerie laughed bitterly.
“There it is.”
Delphine looked at her.
“What?”
“The sentence every monster uses.”
Wind moved across the pier.
Emmett stared at Delphine.
“You’re done.”
“No.”
Her gun lifted.
“You don’t understand.”
A red laser dot appeared on Valerie’s chest.
Emmett saw it.
He moved without thinking.
The rifle fired.
He hit Valerie sideways.
Pain exploded through his shoulder.
They fell together.
Valerie screamed his name.
Emmett rolled, raising his gun.
Luca’s team opened fire on the sniper position.
Matteo lunged toward Delphine.
Adrian shouted.
A second shot cracked.
Matteo staggered.
Blood spread across his coat.
Valerie crawled toward him.
“My God.”
Matteo dropped to one knee.
Emmett grabbed her wrist.
“Stay down.”
“He’s hurt.”
“He’s dangerous.”
“He’s my father.”
The words tore out of her.
Emmett released her.
She reached Matteo as Marian covered them.
Delphine backed toward the SUV.
Adrian stepped into her path.
“Give me the gun.”
“Move.”
“You are my daughter.”
“You only remember that when you need obedience.”
“Delphine.”
She raised the weapon.
Adrian did not move.
The gun shook in her hand.
Then Luca struck her from behind.
She collapsed.
Silence arrived unevenly.
Sirens sounded in the distance.
Purchased police.
Real police.
Nobody knew yet.
Matteo lay on the ground.
Valerie pressed both hands against his wound.
“You don’t get to die before telling me the truth.”
He smiled weakly.
“You sound like Angela.”
“Where is Isabella?”
Matteo coughed.
Blood touched his lips.
“Marian knows.”
Valerie looked toward Marian.
Emmett did too.
Marian’s face was pale.
“Tell him,” Matteo whispered.
Marian closed her eyes.
Then looked directly at Emmett.
“Isabella has been living under the name Dr. Isabelle Vance.”
Emmett stopped breathing.
“Vance?”
Marian nodded.
“She’s my daughter on paper.”
Emmett stared.
“Where?”
“Massachusetts General.”
“What does she do?”
Marian’s answer almost broke him.
“She’s a trauma surgeon.”
A sister he had mourned as a toddler had grown into a woman who saved lives.
Valerie was still pressing on Matteo’s wound when he reached for her hand.
“Red.”
She looked down.
“I did terrible things.”
“Yes.”
“I loved your mother.”
“That doesn’t erase them.”
“No.”
His eyes closed briefly.
“Good girl.”
Valerie’s jaw trembled.
“Don’t call me that.”
His fingers loosened.
“Matteo?”
No response.
“Matteo.”
Emmett checked his pulse.
Alive.
Barely.
An ambulance would ask questions.
So would police.
Then Marian suddenly grabbed Emmett’s arm.
“There’s something else.”
“What?”
“Isabella is in danger.”
His face hardened.
“From who?”
Marian looked toward Delphine.
“Not her.”
“Then who?”
“The person financing all of this.”
Emmett stared.
“Who?”
Marian’s voice dropped.
“Your mother.”
Everything stopped.
Emmett laughed once.
“My mother is dead.”
Marian shook her head.
“No.”
His chest tightened.
“Sofia Castelli died sixteen years ago.”
“No.”
Marian’s eyes filled.
“She disappeared sixteen years ago.”
Emmett took one step backward.
Another grave.
Another lie.
May you like
Marian whispered:
“Your mother is alive.”
