Chapter 9 - The ShotAlessandro hit the floor with Emmy beneath him.
That changed at noon the following day.
Alessandro summoned cousins from Boston, uncles from Chicago, attorneys from Manhattan, trustees from Europe, and every senior family member with legal standing in the Moretti holdings.
Victor had spent years controlling information.
Matteo had spent years weaponizing secrets.
Alessandro decided the only way to defeat both was to remove secrecy from the equation.
The meeting took place at Greystone.
Thirty-two people sat around the long dining table.
The same table beneath which Emmy had hidden two days earlier.
Sofia remained upstairs with Elena and Anna.
Emmy refused to leave Gabriel’s side until the meeting began.
Before Elena took her away, Emmy pointed toward Alessandro.
“Is he my uncle?”
The adults froze.
Gabriel crouched.
“Well…”
Alessandro rescued him.
“You can call me Alessandro.”
Emmy considered this.
“That’s too long.”
A few people laughed nervously.
“What do you want to call me?”
She studied him.
“Sand.”
Gabriel burst out laughing.
Alessandro sighed.
“Fine.”
Emmy smiled.
“Bye, Sand.”
After she left, Alessandro looked around the table.
Several relatives were staring.
“Anyone comments,” he said, “loses voting rights.”
The room went silent.
Gabriel whispered, “Sand.”
Alessandro kicked his chair.
Then the meeting began.
Alessandro placed Gabriel’s ledger on the table.
“This family has been lied to for years.”
He told them everything.
The fire.
Lucia.
Sofia.
Victor.
Matteo.
Gabriel’s survival.
Emmy’s biological connection.
Gasps spread around the room.
Some relatives cried.
Others became angry.
A cousin named Dominic stood.
“You expect us to believe Matteo orchestrated all this?”
“No.”
Alessandro pushed copies of the ledger forward.
“I expect you to read.”
The evidence was overwhelming.
Bank records.
Medical payments.
Communication logs.
Property transfers.
Trust documents.
Matteo’s signature appeared repeatedly.
But one problem remained.
The evidence implicated Victor directly.
Matteo could still argue Victor acted independently.
They needed Matteo speaking.
Admitting.
Explaining.
Gabriel had a plan.
“Make him think we’re divided.”
Alessandro looked at him.
Gabriel continued.
“Matteo’s strongest advantage has always been distrust between us.”
“That’s why Sofia stayed hidden.”
“Exactly.”
“So we give him what he expects.”
By three o’clock, rumors began spreading through the family network.
Gabriel was furious that Alessandro might claim Emmy.
Elena was considering legal action.
Sofia refused to recognize Alessandro.
Several trustees were allegedly preparing to challenge leadership.
None of it was true.
But Matteo heard it.
At 4:18, Gabriel received a message.
We should talk. Alone.
He showed Alessandro.
“He took it.”
“Where?”
“Old courthouse foundation. Midnight.”
Marco objected immediately.
“Absolutely not.”
Gabriel smiled.
“Relax. I’ve survived one fake death.”
“You almost didn’t.”
“Details.”
Alessandro looked at his brother.
“You wear a wire.”
“Obviously.”
“No heroics.”
Gabriel raised an eyebrow.
“You’re telling me?”
“Yes.”
“You threatened a man with a fireplace poker when you were twelve.”
“He insulted our mother.”
“He said her lasagna needed salt.”
“It did not.”
For the first time in years, both brothers laughed.
Briefly.
Painfully.
Like they remembered who they used to be.
Later that evening, Alessandro found Sofia in Lucia’s old bedroom.
The room had remained untouched.
Lucia’s perfume bottles still stood on the dresser.
A photograph of Sofia as a baby rested beside the bed.
Sofia stared at it.
“She was pretty.”
Alessandro stood at the doorway.
“Yes.”
“Do I look like her?”
“Sometimes.”
She looked at the photo.
“Did she love me?”
“More than anything.”
“What happened to her?”
Alessandro sat carefully.
“A bad man caused a fire because your mother discovered something he wanted hidden.”
“Uncle Matteo?”
“Yes.”
Sofia frowned.
“Why do people hurt people for money?”
Alessandro thought about every ugly decision he had seen adults make.
“Because some people mistake having power for having a life.”
Sofia looked at him.
“Do you?”
The question cut deep.
“Sometimes I did.”
“And now?”
“Now I’m trying not to.”
She nodded.
Then she touched the watch he had given her.
“Anna says you’re dangerous.”
Alessandro almost smiled.
“Anna is correct.”
“Are you dangerous to me?”
“No.”
The answer came so quickly Sofia looked surprised.
“Never.”
“What about Emmy?”
“Never.”
“What about Gabriel?”
Alessandro considered.
“Occasionally.”
Sofia laughed.
The sound filled Lucia’s room.
Alessandro looked down because tears had come without permission.
Sofia noticed.
“Smart man?”
He remembered what he had told her.
He nodded.
“Very smart.”
She moved closer.
Not a hug.
Not yet.
But she sat beside him.
Their shoulders touched.
That was enough.
At eleven thirty, Gabriel left Greystone wearing a hidden transmitter.
Alessandro and Marco monitored from a van two blocks away from the courthouse foundation.
Elena stayed with the girls.
Before Gabriel left, Emmy gave him one rabbit.
“For brave.”
Gabriel tucked it inside his coat.
At midnight, Matteo arrived.
Alone.
At least apparently.
Gabriel entered through a side door.
Their conversation transmitted clearly.
“You look terrible,” Matteo said.
“Fake deaths are stressful.”
“You blame Alessandro?”
“For a lot.”
Matteo laughed.
“There’s the Gabriel I remember.”
“I want out.”
“Of what?”
“The family.”
“Then leave.”
“I need protection.”
“From Alessandro?”
“And Victor.”
“Victor is finished.”
Gabriel paused.
“How finished?”
“Permanent.”
In the van, Alessandro looked at Marco.
That sounded like a confession of murder or planned murder.
Gabriel continued.
“I know what you did to Sofia.”
Matteo sighed.
“Do you?”
“And Elena.”
“That was Victor’s idea.”
“But you approved it.”
A pause.
“Yes.”
Alessandro’s jaw tightened.
There.
Admission.
Gabriel pushed.
“You ordered Lucia killed.”
Matteo said nothing.
“Didn’t you?”
“I ordered a problem solved.”
Gabriel’s breathing changed.
“Lucia was family.”
“Lucia was a liability.”
Alessandro stared at the receiver.
Every instinct told him to enter the building.
Marco touched his arm.
“Wait.”
Gabriel continued.
“And Sofia?”
“A contingency.”
“You kidnapped a three-year-old.”
“I protected an asset.”
Gabriel’s voice turned cold.
“She’s a child.”
“That sentimentality is why you’ll never lead this family.”
“Maybe I don’t want to.”
“Then why are you here?”
Gabriel paused.
“To give you the ledger.”
Matteo moved.
Alessandro heard a chair scrape.
“You have it?”
“Yes.”
“What do you want?”
“Ten million. New identity. Elena and Emmy protected.”
Matteo laughed.
“Emmy is not yours.”
Gabriel said nothing.
Matteo continued.
“Does that hurt?”
“No.”
“Liar.”
“She’s my daughter.”
“Biology says otherwise.”
“Biology didn’t change diapers.”
Silence.
Then Matteo’s voice.
“I always underestimated you.”
“That makes two of us.”
“What?”
Gabriel moved suddenly.
A loud bang.
The transmission crackled.
Then Gabriel shouted.
“NOW!”
Alessandro was out of the van before Marco could stop him.
They entered the building.
Inside, Gabriel stood near the conference table.
Matteo had a gun aimed at him.
And Dario Bellucci stood behind Alessandro.
Weapon raised.
“It was a trap,” Dario said.
Matteo smiled.
“Of course it was.”
Alessandro slowly raised his hands.
“You knew about the wire.”
“Victor taught me to check.”
Gabriel’s face was bleeding.
Matteo stepped closer.
“You boys still think evidence matters.”
“It does.”
“Only if witnesses survive.”
Alessandro glanced at Marco.
Dario had disarmed him.
Two additional men entered.
Matteo smiled.
“You wanted a family meeting?”
He pointed toward Alessandro.
“Here it is.”
Then a small voice came from the hallway.
“Sand?”
Everyone froze.
Alessandro’s blood turned to ice.
Emmy stood in the doorway.
Holding one stuffed rabbit.
Elena appeared behind her, horrified.
“I’m sorry—she got out of the car—”
Matteo smiled.
“Well.”
His gun shifted.
Toward Emmy.
Alessandro moved instantly.
May you like
The gun fired.
And the room erupted.
