Chapter 6 - JAKE’S CONFESSION
We found Jake before Sloane expected us to.
Luca traced the video’s electrical hum to an abandoned cold-storage facility near the industrial waterfront.
I was ordered to remain behind.
I ignored the order.
Naturally.
When Luca discovered me crouched in Dante’s SUV, his expression could have cracked concrete.
“You have a fractured ankle.”
“I also have questions.”
“You have no survival instinct.”
“I survived Jake.”
“Barely.”
Fair.
The rescue happened fast.
Luca’s men entered from two sides.
Sloane escaped.
Jake didn’t.
We found him handcuffed to a pipe.
The moment he saw me, he started crying.
“Ava.”
I slapped him.
My palm stung.
Luca said nothing.
“You stole from me.”
“Yes.”
“You lied to me.”
“Yes.”
“You were paid to meet me.”
Jake closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
The third answer hurt worst.
“Emma?”
His eyes opened.
“No.”
“Don’t lie.”
“I swear to God. Ava, everything started as a job. But Emma wasn’t.”
My throat tightened.
Jake told us the rest.
Sloane had hired him to get close to Katherine Carter’s daughter.
He was supposed to locate the ledger.
Then Emma was born.
Jake wanted out.
Matteo Castellano offered him a deal: steal my inheritance, disappear, and make me believe greed was the reason.
“Why?”
“To push you out of Seattle.”
I stared at him.
“You left me broke to protect me?”
“I know how that sounds.”
“It sounds stupid.”
“It was.”
For the first time, Luca and Jake agreed.
Jake revealed something else.
My inheritance still existed.
He had never spent it.
Matteo had forced him to move it into an account Sloane could track, then secretly transferred it elsewhere.
“I can give it back.”
“You think this is about money?”
“No.”
His eyes filled.
“I think it’s about Emma growing up believing her father never loved her.”
I looked away.
Jake lowered his voice.
“Matteo killed Daniel Carter.”
Luca stiffened.
“Proof?”
“Your father found out. Salvatore was going to expose him. Matteo killed him too.”
Silence swallowed the warehouse.
Two fathers.
One murderer.
Luca’s face became unreadable.
Jake continued.
“Matteo has spent sixteen years building your empire around himself. Sloane launders money for him. Judges protect him. Everyone thinks Luca Castellano runs Seattle.”
He looked at Luca.
“But Matteo built a kingdom underneath yours.”
A gunshot cracked.
Jake jerked.
Blood appeared across his shirt.
I screamed.
Luca pulled me down.
Dante’s men fired toward the upper catwalk.
The shooter vanished.
Jake collapsed.
I crawled toward him.
“No. No, no, no.”
He looked at me.
“Emma.”
“Don’t.”
“Tell her…”
His breath shook.
“Tell her I was sorry.”
“You tell her yourself.”
He smiled faintly.
“I loved being her dad.”
His eyes closed.
“Jake!”
Paramedics rushed in.
They found a pulse.
Barely.
As they carried him away, Luca stared toward the catwalk.
Matteo had tried to silence Jake.
But Jake had given us enough.
Luca turned toward Dante.
“Call every captain.”
“What do I tell them?”
May you like
Luca’s expression turned cold.
“Tell them Matteo Castellano is no longer family.”
