Chapter 9 - THE NAME ABOVE THEM ALLSenator Jonathan Mercer had spent thirty years building the image of a man Americans trusted.
Matteo knew it was a trap.
He went anyway.
Alone.
At least, Victor believed he did.
Elena argued for twenty minutes.
“You cannot walk in there alone.”
“He’ll kill my mother if he sees a team.”
“He’ll kill you if he doesn’t.”
“Possibly.”
“That isn’t funny.”
“I wasn’t joking.”
Elena grabbed his jacket.
“Matteo.”
He stopped.
Her anger cracked.
Fear showed underneath.
“Come back.”
The simple request affected him more than threats ever had.
He kissed her forehead.
“I intend to.”
The casino had closed twelve years earlier.
Broken neon letters hung above shattered windows.
Inside, dust covered roulette tables and empty slot machines.
Victor waited at the center of the gaming floor.
Isabella sat nearby.
Untied.
That surprised Matteo.
“Mom?”
“I’m okay.”
Victor smiled.
“I’m not a monster.”
Matteo looked at him.
“Your résumé disagrees.”
Victor poured whiskey into two glasses.
“I’ve waited a long time for this.”
“For kidnapping my mother?”
“For speaking to my son.”
“I’m Antonio’s son.”
Victor’s expression changed.
“Antonio stole you.”
“He raised me.”
“I created you.”
Matteo stepped closer.
“You contributed biology. Congratulations.”
Victor slammed the glass down.
“I was twenty-eight. I had enemies everywhere. Isabella was pregnant. Antonio convinced her I would use you.”
“Would you?”
Silence.
That was answer enough.
Victor paced.
“I built an empire because I believed power would keep my family safe.”
“You killed family.”
“Antonio betrayed me.”
“He stopped you from selling human beings.”
Victor’s jaw tightened.
“You think the world is clean because Antonio told you a bedtime story? Governments buy weapons. Corporations exploit workers. Politicians lie. I simply stopped pretending morality was consistent.”
Matteo almost pitied him.
Almost.
“Antonio died believing you could have been better.”
Victor stared.
Matteo removed his father’s letter.
“He wrote about you.”
Something changed in Victor’s face.
“Give me that.”
“No.”
“What did he say?”
“That blood doesn’t make a father.”
Victor’s control finally cracked.
“He had no right!”
His shout echoed across the casino.
Isabella flinched.
Matteo didn’t.
“There you are.”
Victor breathed heavily.
“The famous Victor Sloane. Not a mastermind. Not a king. Just a jealous older brother who couldn’t stand that Antonio became the man you weren’t.”
Victor drew his gun.
Isabella screamed.
Matteo didn’t move.
“Shoot me.”
Victor stared.
“Go ahead.”
“You think I won’t?”
“I think you spent twenty years needing me alive because if I die, Antonio wins.”
Victor’s hand trembled.
Matteo saw it.
“You wanted me to choose you.”
Victor’s eyes became wet.
“Every empire needs an heir.”
“And nobody wanted yours.”
The cruelty was deliberate.
Victor fired.
The bullet struck beside Matteo.
Not him.
Matteo had been right.
Victor couldn’t do it.
Isabella stood.
“You never loved him.”
Victor turned toward her.
“You poisoned him against me.”
“No.”
She looked at Matteo.
“I raised him to recognize the difference between fear and respect.”
Victor aimed at her.
Matteo moved.
He crossed the distance and struck Victor’s wrist.
The gun fell.
They crashed against a blackjack table.
Victor was older but strong.
Decades of anger made him vicious.
Matteo was faster.
He hit Victor twice.
Victor slammed him against a column.
“You were mine!”
Matteo drove him backward.
“I was never yours.”
Sirens approached.
Victor heard them.
His face changed.
“You brought police.”
“No.”
Elena’s voice came from the casino entrance.
“I did.”
Matteo turned.
She stood beside Cross and federal agents.
Victor grabbed Isabella and pressed broken glass against her throat.
“Everyone back!”
Weapons raised.
Matteo slowly lifted his hands.
“Victor.”
“Tell them to leave!”
“You know they won’t.”
“Then she dies!”
Isabella looked strangely calm.
“Matthew.”
Victor froze.
Nobody had called him that in decades.
She continued.
“I remember you before all this.”
Victor’s grip loosened slightly.
“You used to make Antonio laugh.”
“Stop.”
“You fixed bicycles for neighborhood kids.”
“Stop.”
“You weren’t born a monster.”
Victor’s eyes filled.
“You became one.”
That hurt more than Matteo’s punches.
His grip loosened.
Isabella moved.
Matteo lunged.
Agents swarmed Victor.
Seconds later he lay facedown in handcuffs.
For the first time in twenty-three years, Victor Sloane had lost control.
Matteo helped Isabella stand.
She hugged him.
He let her.
Then Elena approached.
“You lied.”
Matteo looked at her.
“You said you wouldn’t follow.”
“No. You said I shouldn’t.”
He smiled.
“Technical distinction.”
Cross approached.
“We have Victor.”
“Evelyn?”
“In federal custody.”
“So it’s over.”
Cross’s expression said otherwise.
“What?”
“We opened the second deposit box.”
Elena stepped forward.
“And?”
“The records are there.”
“Then what’s wrong?”
Cross looked at Matteo.
“One ownership certificate was removed eighteen years ago.”
“By whom?”
“We checked the access log.”
He handed Matteo a document.
The signature belonged to someone they all recognized.
Isabella DeLuca.
Matteo slowly turned toward his mother.
“You opened the box.”
Isabella looked devastated.
“Yes.”
“What did you take?”
She said nothing.
“Mom.”
Finally she whispered:
“Proof that Antonio wasn’t murdered where everyone thinks he was.”
Elena frowned.
“What does that mean?”
Isabella looked at Matteo.
“Your father survived the first attack.”
Matteo’s heart stopped.
“How long?”
“Three days.”
“Where?”
Tears filled her eyes.
“In my arms.”
Matteo stepped backward.
“You told me he died instantly.”
“I had to.”
“Why?”
“Because before Antonio died, he told me who else was involved.”
Matteo could barely speak.
“Who?”
Isabella looked toward Cross.
“The person Victor and Evelyn were protecting.”
Cross’s expression changed.
“Who was it?”
Isabella whispered a name.
May you like
And every person in the casino became silent.
“The United States senator who is now running for president.”
