Chapter 9 - THE LAST SECRET OF THE MORETTI FAMILYThe Newport estate stood behind a rusted iron gate.
Snow covered the driveway.
The windows were dark, and the gardens had become overgrown.
Lorenzo arrived shortly before midnight.
Meline sat beside him in the rear of the vehicle.
She had refused to stay behind.
Her left sleeve was rolled down, hiding the scar and the emblem.
David's men surrounded the property.
"Three entrances," he reported. "Two guards at the front. At least four inside."
Lorenzo looked at Meline.
"Stay behind me."
She nodded.
They entered through the kitchen.
The house smelled of dust and damp wood.
Every room brought back memories.
His father smoking beside the fireplace.
His mother playing piano.
Mateo arguing with Isabella over stolen Christmas presents.
Then they reached the dining room.
Nicholas sat at the head of the table.
A plate of untouched food rested in front of him.
He looked up.
"Maddie!"
Meline ran toward him.
But Lorenzo caught her arm.
Something was wrong.
Mateo stood behind Nicholas.
He held a small remote in his hand.
"Welcome home."
Lorenzo raised his weapon.
"Let him go."
Mateo smiled.
"First, the recording."
Meline reached into her sleeve.
She removed the tiny device.
Mateo's eyes fixed on it.
"Put it on the table."
She did.
Mateo stepped toward it.
Then he looked at Lorenzo.
"Your father was a fool."
"Why did you kill him?"
Mateo laughed.
"Because he was going to destroy everything."
He explained that their father had discovered a secret arrangement between several powerful families and government officials.
The Moretti organization had been used to move money, conceal assets, and eliminate witnesses.
Their father wanted out.
Richard Croft refused.
Their mother had discovered the plan and tried to warn him.
But Mateo believed she had betrayed them.
"She chose him over us," Mateo said.
Meline looked at him.
"That's not what happened."
Mateo's expression hardened.
"Be quiet."
Meline stepped forward.
"Your mother tried to save you."
Lorenzo looked at her.
"What?"
Meline turned toward the device.
"Your father left another recording. I found it before Mateo did."
She pressed a small button.
A voice filled the room.
It was their father's.
"If anyone hears this, understand that I made the wrong choices. I built this family on fear, and I allowed monsters to believe they were entitled to inherit it."
A pause.
Then their mother's voice.
"Please, stop. They're our children."
Their father continued.
"Mateo has been working with Croft. He believes the organization belongs to him. But Richard is using him. If I die, my wife will be blamed. She knows everything, but she has done nothing to betray us."
Mateo's face changed.
The recording continued.
"She has arranged a way for Isabella to escape. She has hidden the financial ledger. And she has asked me to give Lorenzo the chance to become a different man."
A loud crack echoed through the room.
Mateo had dropped the remote.
"No."
He stepped toward the device.
"No, that's fake."
Meline shook her head.
"Your mother didn't betray you. She spent the last months of her life trying to protect all three of you."
Lorenzo remembered the final conversation he had with his mother.
She had begged him to leave the family business.
He had refused.
He had told her that protecting the Moretti name was more important than anything.
The next morning, she was dead.
Mateo had always claimed she suffered a stroke.
Now Lorenzo understood.
She had been murdered.
Mateo drew his weapon.
"Enough!"
David's men raised their guns.
But Mateo placed the barrel against Nicholas's shoulder.
"Nobody moves."
Meline stepped forward.
"Take me instead."
Lorenzo grabbed her hand.
"No."
Mateo smiled.
"There's the problem, Lorenzo. You still think love makes you powerful."
He pressed a button on the remote.
A hidden door opened behind him.
Two armed men emerged.
One seized Nicholas.
The other grabbed Meline.
Lorenzo fired.
The room erupted into chaos.
Glass shattered.
Bullets tore through the walls.
David tackled one guard while Lorenzo fought the other.
Meline managed to pull Nicholas free.
Then a gunshot rang out.
Lorenzo fell to one knee.
He looked down.
Blood spread across his shirt.
"Maddie!"
She ran toward him.
Mateo stood near the hidden doorway.
He held a second weapon.
"Goodbye, little brother."
He disappeared into the darkness.
Lorenzo reached for Meline.
But before she could touch him, another voice came from behind the doorway.
A woman's voice.
Calm.
Familiar.
"Mateo, don't shoot him."
Lorenzo looked up.
The woman stepped into the light.
May you like
And he recognized her.
His mother.
