Chapter 6 - THE MAN DANTE TRUSTED MOSTDante already had a gun against Salvatore’s ribs.
“Don’t.”
Salvatore’s hand stopped.
Two guards closed the elevator doors.
The old man looked almost disappointed.
“After everything I’ve done for you?”
“Take out the gun.”
Salvatore placed a pistol on the marble counter.
Sonia stood beside her father’s room.
“You killed my mother.”
Salvatore looked at her.
“No.”
The certainty in his answer unsettled everyone.
Dante tossed a tablet onto the table.
Evelyn’s video was paused on-screen.
“Explain.”
Salvatore watched it.
Then sat down.
“Your mother was correct about the accounts,” he told Sonia. “Wrong about who ordered her death.”
“Convenient.”
“I helped Luca steal money. I won’t insult you by denying it.”
Dante stared at him.
“Why?”
“Because your father intended to give everything to you.”
“So?”
“Luca was his son too.”
“You stole hundreds of millions because Luca had hurt feelings?”
Salvatore’s expression hardened.
“Your father treated him like garbage.”
“That doesn’t explain murder.”
“No. It doesn’t.”
Salvatore claimed he had ordered Evelyn frightened into silence, not killed.
Luca had changed the order.
Dante did not believe him.
Then Salvatore offered proof.
A recording.
Luca’s voice ordered the sabotage of Evelyn’s car.
Sonia walked away before it finished.
Dante followed her onto the balcony.
Manhattan stretched beneath them.
“I’m sorry.”
“Stop apologizing for things other people did.”
“I brought this world back into your family.”
“You didn’t put that chip around my neck.”
She looked at him.
“You did lie to me.”
“Yes.”
“You tested your employees by pretending to be homeless.”
“Yes.”
“You apparently solve most problems with armed men.”
A pause.
“Yes.”
“That one needs work.”
For the first time in days, Sonia laughed.
Dante did too.
It surprised both of them.
The moment disappeared when an explosion shook the building.
Glass rattled.
Dante pulled Sonia down.
Smoke rose from the medical floor.
“Emma.”
Sonia ran.
Dante chased her.
The hallway was chaos.
A nurse lay unconscious.
Robert’s room was empty.
Emma was gone too.
On the bed sat a phone.
It rang.
Sonia answered.
Luca’s voice.
“I need the chip.”
“If you hurt them—”
“I don’t want to hurt your sister.”
“Where are they?”
“Bring Dante and the chip to Pier 17 at midnight.”
Dante took the phone.
“You want me? Leave them out of it.”
Luca laughed.
“I wanted you eleven years ago.”
“Then why fake your death?”
“Because Salvatore taught me something useful. Dead men can build empires without being watched.”
Dante looked toward his uncle.
Luca continued.
“And don’t trust Uncle Sal. He’s still lying.”
The call ended.
Salvatore’s expression was unreadable.
Sonia turned on him.
“About what?”
He remained silent.
Dante grabbed his collar.
“What haven’t you told me?”
Salvatore finally spoke.
“Your father didn’t die of a heart attack.”
Dante froze.
“He was poisoned.”
“By Luca?”
Salvatore shook his head.
“By me.”
Dante hit him.
Salvatore crashed into the wall.
“You killed my father?”
“He discovered the theft. He was going to kill Luca.”
“So you killed your own brother?”
“I thought I was saving a boy.”
Dante raised his fist again.
Sonia caught his arm.
“Dante.”
His entire body shook.
“He murdered my father.”
“And Emma is still missing.”
That reached him.
Dante lowered his hand.
Salvatore wiped blood from his mouth.
“If you go to Pier 17, Luca will kill all of you.”
Dante looked at him.
“Then tell me how to stop him.”
Salvatore smiled bitterly.
“You can’t.”
“Why?”
“Because Pier 17 isn’t where he’s keeping them.”
Sonia stared.
“How do you know?”
Salvatore looked at the clock.
“Because I taught Luca how to set traps.”
He turned toward Dante.
“And midnight is not the deadline.”
May you like
A distant siren sounded.
“The real attack starts in twenty minutes.”
