Chapter 6 - The Man Beside the Throne
“Drop your weapon.”
Marco Russo had protected Dante for fifteen years.
He had taken bullets for him.
Buried enemies for him.
Carried Clara’s coffin.
Now his gun was pointed at Dante’s heart.
Emily felt physically sick.
Dante did not move.
“Marco.”
“I’m sorry.”
Vincent laughed softly.
“There it is.”
Dante’s eyes never left Marco.
“How long?”
Marco swallowed.
“Since before Clara.”
The betrayal was worse than anger.
It was intimacy weaponized.
Marco had been Vincent’s insurance policy.
He had altered security schedules.
Destroyed evidence.
Bribed the dentist.
And when Leonard Davies threatened to expose everything, Marco killed him.
Emily’s eyes filled with tears.
“You murdered my father.”
Marco looked at her.
“He was going to bring down everyone.”
“He had children.”
“I know.”
“You knew us?”
“I watched you for years.”
Emily slapped him.
Hard.
Marco accepted it.
Dante moved.
Fast.
He knocked Marco’s weapon aside.
A shot exploded into the ceiling.
Chaos erupted.
Vincent ran.
Marco and Dante crashed against the seats.
Emily kicked the gun away.
Dante pinned Marco.
He could have killed him.
Instead he stopped.
Nine years earlier, Dante would have fired without hesitation.
But Emily’s voice reached him.
“Don’t.”
Dante looked at her.
“If you kill him, we lose everything he knows.”
That was the practical reason.
There was another.
She did not want Dante returning to the man grief had created.
He understood.
Dante stood.
Marco was arrested—not by police, but confined by Marino security while Dante collected evidence.
Vincent escaped.
Again.
But Marco talked.
Vincent’s plan was bigger than revenge.
For twelve years, he had been building parallel control of the Marino empire.
Bank accounts.
Politicians.
Shipping routes.
Judges.
He planned to expose Dante to federal authorities, eliminate him, then emerge as the “legitimate” Marino heir.
The missing three million dollars was funding the final operation.
And the deadline was forty-eight hours away.
“What happens in forty-eight hours?” Emily asked.
Marco looked at her.
“The Marino Foundation gala.”
Dante’s annual charity event.
Hundreds of donors.
Politicians.
Press.
Vincent intended to kill Dante publicly.
Then frame Emily.
“How?”
Marco looked ashamed.
“Her access credentials.”
Emily’s administrator privileges had already been duplicated.
Documents had been planted.
Financial records showed her moving money.
Emails connected her to rival families.
If Dante died, Emily Davies would appear to be the insider who arranged it.
Dante’s expression turned lethal.
Emily touched his arm.
“Warehouse thoughts?”
“Yes.”
“Later.”
He looked at her.
She managed a tired smile.
“We have a gala to ruin.”
For the next two days, they built a trap.
They let Vincent believe his plan remained intact.
Emily continued working.
Dante appeared publicly unaware.
Leo remained protected.
But Leo remembered one final detail.
His father had created a second ledger.
Digital.
It contained evidence connecting Vincent to judges, officials, businesses, and murders.
“Where?”
Leo smiled faintly.
“Dad said Emily had it.”
Emily stared.
“I don’t.”
“You do.”
He pointed toward her old staple gun.
Emily laughed in disbelief.
She had kept her father’s ancient heavy-duty stapler for years.
She opened the base.
Inside was a tiny storage card.
Leonard had hidden the evidence in the most ordinary object imaginable.
Emily looked at Dante.
“The staple gun.”
Dante stared.
Then he started laughing again.
This time Emily joined him.
But the laughter ended when they opened the files.
One document contained a list titled:
AUTHORIZED TARGETS.
Clara Marino.
Leonard Davies.
Dante Marino.
Emily Davies.
Leo Davies.
And at the bottom was one additional name.
A child.
Sofia Marino. Age 8.
Emily looked at Dante.
“Who is Sofia?”
Dante’s face emptied.
“I don’t know.”
But beneath the name was a photograph.
The little girl had dark hair.
May you like
Brown eyes.
And around her neck hung Clara Marino’s necklace.
