Chapter 7 - THE FATHER
Alessandro Valenni returned to Chicago three days later.
He arrived without hiding.
A black limousine stopped outside Adriano’s headquarters at noon.
An eighty-year-old man stepped out.
No guards.
No weapon.
Only a cane.
Adriano watched through the window.
Mara stood beside him.
“That’s him?”
“Yes.”
“You okay?”
“No.”
She touched his hand.
He looked down at their fingers.
Neither moved away.
Alessandro entered.
Father and son faced each other after fifteen years.
“You’ve grown,” Alessandro said.
Adriano’s expression remained stone.
“I was twenty-seven the last time I saw you.”
“A father remembers his son younger.”
“A son remembers burying his father.”
Alessandro smiled.
“Your mother always enjoyed theater.”
Isabella stepped forward.
“You don’t get to blame me.”
The temperature seemed to drop.
Alessandro looked at Mara.
“And this must be the widow.”
Mara disliked him instantly.
“Single mother works fine.”
His eyes moved toward Luca.
Mara stepped between them.
Alessandro smiled.
“Protective.”
“Very.”
“Good.”
Adriano’s voice hardened.
“Why are you here?”
“Because Victor failed.”
“You were working with him.”
“No. Victor was working for me.”
Silence.
Alessandro had built the trafficking network.
Victor managed it.
Daniel discovered it.
Isabella tried to expose it.
Everything traced back to Adriano’s father.
Adriano looked physically sick.
“You used my company.”
“Our company.”
“Mine.”
For the first time, Alessandro’s smile disappeared.
“You still believe ownership comes from signatures.”
“No.”
Adriano stepped closer.
“I believe it comes from responsibility.”
Alessandro laughed.
“You’ve become sentimental.”
“Maybe.”
His gaze briefly found Mara.
“Best thing that ever happened to me.”
Mara’s heart stumbled.
Alessandro noticed.
“That weakness will destroy you.”
Adriano shook his head.
“You never understood the difference between weakness and having something worth protecting.”
Alessandro reached inside his coat.
Guards raised weapons.
He slowly produced an envelope.
“Daniel’s final insurance policy.”
Inside were photographs of judges, police officials, and business leaders.
Enough corruption to shake Chicago.
“You release Daniel’s files,” Alessandro said, “and innocent people will fall beside the guilty.”
“Threat?”
“Arithmetic.”
He left.
Mara looked at Adriano.
“What now?”
“We finish what Daniel started.”
They sent everything to federal investigators.
Not Adriano’s compromised contacts.
Independent prosecutors.
Journalists.
International investigators.
The empire began collapsing within forty-eight hours.
Arrests followed.
Companies froze accounts.
Victor agreed to cooperate in exchange for protection.
Alessandro disappeared again.
But this time, Adriano refused to chase him.
“He wants me obsessed with him.”
“So?”
“So I’m done letting him decide my life.”
Mara smiled.
“Look at you developing emotional maturity.”
“Terrifying.”
“Extremely.”
Adriano stepped closer.
“You’re still living here.”
“Temporarily.”
“Three weeks is becoming suspicious.”
“My apartment has bullet holes.”
“I can repair it.”
“You offered to buy the building.”
“It seemed efficient.”
“You offered to buy the block.”
“Also efficient.”
Mara laughed.
He kissed her.
This time she kissed him back without hesitation.
Then Luca walked into the kitchen.
“Gross.”
They separated.
Mara blushed.
Adriano did not.
Luca pointed at him.
“Are you my mom’s boyfriend?”
Adriano looked at Mara.
“Excellent question.”
“Do not encourage him.”
Luca waited.
Adriano crouched.
“I hope so.”
Mara’s expression softened.
Luca considered.
“Okay.”
“That's it?”
“You have a pool.”
Mara covered her face.
Later that evening, Adriano received a call.
The federal prosecutor had bad news.
Victor Hale had been found dead in his holding cell.
No obvious signs of violence.
On the wall, someone had written three numbers.
3103.
Adriano stared.
Mara frowned.
“What does it mean?”
He knew.
His childhood home had thirty-one rooms.
Room three had belonged to his father.
But there was something else.
Adriano walked toward his office safe.
He removed an old photograph.
Written behind it was an address.
3103 Lake Shore Drive.
Mara looked at him.
“What’s there?”
Adriano’s voice became quiet.
“The first house my father ever bought.”
“And?”
May you like
He turned toward her.
“It burned down thirty years ago.”
