Chapter 4 - The Man Bruno Called Uncle
Anna made a sound that barely qualified as a breath.
Salvatore noticed.
His gaze moved to her face.
For the first time, the old man's smile disappeared.
“Ellen.”
“My name is Anna.”
Salvatore stared.
Then understanding arrived.
“Michael's daughter.”
Anna moved toward Lucy.
Bruno blocked her subtly.
Not because he wanted her away from her child.
Because Salvatore wanted exactly that reaction.
“Ledger,” Salvatore repeated.
Bruno kept his hands visible.
“You came into my home.”
“I practically built this home.”
“My father built it.”
“And your father was weak.”
Lucy frowned.
“Mr. Bruno isn't weak.”
Nobody expected that.
Salvatore looked down.
Lucy looked up at him with absolute seriousness.
“My mommy says people who need guns when they talk are scared.”
Anna closed her eyes.
“Lucy.”
“What?”
Bruno would have laughed under different circumstances.
Salvatore did not.
He tightened his grip.
Bruno's expression changed.
“If you hurt her, there will be nowhere on earth you can hide.”
“There’s Vittorio's son.”
Salvatore smiled.
“I wondered where he went.”
Bruno took the ledger from beneath his jacket.
Anna looked at him.
He had carried it since leaving the study.
“Let Lucy go.”
“Slide it.”
“No.”
Salvatore lifted the gun slightly.
Bruno remained motionless.
“You won't shoot her.”
“You sound certain.”
“You came here for evidence. Murdering a three-year-old destroys every exit you still have.”
Salvatore's smile weakened.
Bruno continued.
“You've survived because people think you're respectable. Kill her and you become exactly what my father said you were.”
“Your father is dead.”
“Yes.”
Bruno's voice dropped.
“Did you poison him?”
Silence.
That was answer enough.
Anna's eyes filled.
Salvatore glanced toward the recorder.
“You found the tape.”
“We found everything.”
“No. You found Vittorio's version.”
“And Michael Nolan?”
Something ugly passed through Salvatore's face.
“He should have minded his business.”
Anna lunged.
Bruno caught her.
Salvatore raised the gun.
That was his mistake.
Desmond moved.
One shot exploded.
The pistol flew from Salvatore’s hand.
Bruno crossed the room in two strides and struck him hard enough to send him against the wall.
Lucy screamed.
Anna grabbed her.
Bruno stopped himself from hitting Salvatore again.
Barely.
Desmond kicked the weapon away.
Two guards rushed downstairs.
Salvatore laughed through blood.
“You won't kill me.”
Bruno stared at him.
“No.”
Salvatore smiled triumphantly.
“Because you're weak.”
“No.”
Bruno stepped back.
“Because Lucy is watching.”
The smile vanished.
“Take him upstairs.”
Desmond's men restrained Salvatore.
As they dragged him away, he looked at Anna.
“You think Ellen was innocent?”
Anna froze.
Salvatore laughed.
“Ask why she really disappeared.”
Then he was gone.
Later that night, police vehicles filled the drive.
Bruno had spent years ensuring his legitimate businesses were clean enough that law enforcement entering his home did not terrify him.
Still, handing over his father's evidence felt like tearing open his family's chest.
He did it anyway.
Anna sat beside Lucy in the kitchen.
The little girl ate pancakes because trauma apparently made three-year-olds hungry.
Bruno entered.
Lucy looked up.
“Did the scary man leave?”
“Yes.”
“Forever?”
Bruno glanced at Anna.
“I’m going to try very hard to make sure he does.”
Lucy considered this.
“Okay.”
Then she offered him half a pancake.
Bruno accepted it.
Anna watched.
When Lucy finally fell asleep in her mother's lap, Bruno carried her upstairs.
He returned twenty minutes later.
Anna stood at the kitchen window.
“You should hate me.”
Bruno stopped.
“Why?”
“I lied to you.”
“Yes.”
“I entered your house because of my mother's letter.”
“Yes.”
“I searched rooms when nobody was watching.”
“I assumed.”
She turned.
“You aren't angry?”
“I’m furious.”
Anna almost smiled.
“That sounds more believable.”
“But I understand why.”
She looked away.
“Salvatore said my mother wasn't innocent.”
“Salvatore also pointed a gun at your daughter.”
“That doesn't mean every word he says is false.”
Bruno knew that.
He hated that he knew it.
Anna pulled an envelope from her apron.
“I found this inside the hidden room.”
Bruno recognized his father's handwriting.
On the front:
For Bruno. Only after Ellen returns.
Anna handed it to him.
“Open it.”
Bruno broke the seal.
Inside was one page.
He read the first line.
Then stopped.
Anna watched his expression.
“What?”
Bruno read it again.
Son, if Ellen or her daughter ever returns, trust her before you trust your own blood.
Below that was another sentence.
One that made Bruno's stomach tighten.
Salvatore is dangerous, but he isn't the person I'm most afraid of.
Bruno looked up.
Anna whispered, “Then who was?”
He continued reading.
The final line contained only a name.
Bruno stared at it.
His uncle.
His father's younger brother.
May you like
Carlo Castellano.
And Carlo was arriving at the estate the next morning.
