Chapter 5 - THE LIE MY FATHER TOOK TO HIS GRAVEI wanted the prisoner to be lying.
Dante did too.
That was the problem.
Neither of us could afford to assume it.
Back at the estate, I listened to Dad's recording repeatedly.
There was a hidden file we had missed.
It required a password.
I tried birthdays.
Addresses.
My mother's name.
Nothing.
At three in the morning, Dante found me asleep over the laptop.
He placed a blanket around my shoulders.
I woke instantly.
“Sorry.”
“For sleeping?”
“For invading your house.”
His mouth almost smiled.
“You were kidnapped into it.”
“Protected.”
“That sounds better.”
We were quiet.
Then I asked, “Why did you recognize me at La Stella?”
He finally answered.
“I attended your father's funeral.”
I stared at him.
“You were there?”
“Across the cemetery.”
“Why didn't you speak to me?”
“Because Thomas asked me never to enter your life.”
“Until I poured water on you.”
“That complicated things.”
I laughed despite everything.
Dante looked at me in a way that made the room suddenly feel smaller.
Then I remembered the password.
Not a word.
A sentence.
Dad had said it every birthday after Mom died.
You are braver than you know.
The file opened.
Inside was a video.
Dad appeared thin and sick.
“If Dante Russo is watching this, then Eleanor has probably done something reckless.”
Dante looked at me.
I almost laughed.
Dad continued.
“I did not betray your father.”
Relief moved across Dante's face.
“But someone with your blood did.”
A photograph appeared.
Dante's uncle.
Carlo Russo.
Dante stood so quickly his chair fell backward.
“No.”
Carlo had raised him after his father's death.
Taught him the business.
Protected him.
Been more father than uncle.
Dad explained that Carlo and Calder had arranged the bombing together.
Carlo inherited temporary control after Dante's father died.
But Dante survived.
Carlo couldn't murder his twelve-year-old nephew without attracting suspicion, so he spent decades controlling him instead.
Dante stared at the screen.
Every betrayal suddenly had a face.
Then the video changed.
Dad spoke directly to me.
“Ellie, I'm sorry.”
My throat tightened.
“Your mother's death wasn't an accident.”
I stopped breathing.
Mom had died when I was eight.
Car crash.
Drunk driver.
Except there had been no drunk driver.
Calder had ordered it to frighten Dad into surrendering his evidence.
Dad fled with me the following year.
Tears blurred the screen.
Dante reached for my hand.
I let him take it.
For once, neither of us pretended the touch meant nothing.
Then an alarm sounded.
Luca entered.
“Carlo's here.”
Dante's face became stone.
His uncle walked into the library minutes later.
Silver-haired.
Elegant.
Smiling.
“My boy.”
Dante did not return the greeting.
Carlo noticed me.
“So this is Thomas Hale's daughter.”
His smile disappeared.
That was enough.
Dante saw it too.
“You know her.”
Carlo's gaze shifted.
A mistake.
Small.
Fatal.
Dante stepped forward.
“You knew exactly who she was.”
Carlo sighed.
Then men throughout the hallway drew weapons.
Half belonged to Dante.
Half, apparently, belonged to Carlo.
The betrayal had been waiting inside the house all along.
Carlo smiled sadly.
“You were always too sentimental, Dante.”
Dante moved in front of me.
Carlo continued.
“Give me the evidence and the girl.”
“No.”
“She's a waitress.”
Dante's voice dropped.
“Her name is Eleanor.”
Carlo laughed.
And something inside Dante changed.
“No one touches her.”
Carlo lifted one hand.
The lights went out.
Gunfire erupted.
Dante grabbed me.
We ran.
Through darkness.
Down a hidden staircase.
Into an underground garage.
Luca followed.
Behind us, footsteps thundered closer.
We reached Dante's car.
Then Luca suddenly stopped.
His face twisted in pain.
Blood spread across his shirt.
“Go!”
Dante caught him.
But Luca pushed him away.
“Take her!”
The garage doors began closing.
Dante dragged me into the car.
As we accelerated into the night, I looked backward.
Luca remained behind.
Surrounded.
May you like
And Dante whispered the words like a promise.
“I am coming back for him.”
Related Stories
