Chapter 6 - THE PRICE OF A FAMILY NAME
Alessandro returned to the estate with Sofia beside him.
Rosa was waiting in the conservatory with Lily, who was carefully feeding a toy rabbit imaginary carrots.
When Lily saw Alessandro, she ran toward him.
“Daddy!”
He lifted her into his arms.
For one brief moment, the weight of his family's secrets seemed less important than the warmth of his daughter against his chest.
Then Rosa noticed the woman standing behind him.
“Who is she?”
Alessandro looked at Sofia.
“This is Sofia. She's my sister.”
Rosa's expression softened immediately.
Sofia looked uncomfortable.
“You don't have to be kind to me,” she said. “We just met.”
Rosa smiled gently.
“That's exactly why I should be.”
Something in Sofia's face broke.
She looked away, blinking rapidly.
Alessandro understood then that his sister had spent her entire life expecting rejection from a family that had never given her a chance.
He placed Lily on the carpet.
“Rosa, can you keep her here for a little while?”
“Of course.”
He led Sofia into the study.
The door closed.
For the next hour, they compared documents.
Elena's letters revealed that Matteo had been diverting money from the family trust for years. When she discovered the theft, she confronted him and threatened to tell Alessandro's father.
Matteo had responded by threatening to expose Sofia's existence.
Elena refused to back down.
Three days later, she died in the supposed accident.
The evidence was compelling, but incomplete.
There was no direct proof that Matteo had arranged the crash.
There was, however, proof that Alessandro's father had transferred a large sum of money to a company linked to Matteo the morning after the funeral.
Alessandro stared at the bank records.
“Why would my father pay him?”
Sofia shook her head.
“Maybe he was buying his silence.”
“About my mother?”
“Or about me.”
Alessandro stood and paced the room.
His father had built the family empire on loyalty. He had taught Alessandro that betrayal deserved consequences and that weakness invited destruction.
Yet if these records were genuine, his father had protected the man who might have killed Elena.
The telephone rang.
Dominic answered, listened, and then approached.
“Boss, we found Salvatore.”
Alessandro turned.
“Where?”
“He contacted our investigator directly. He wants to meet tonight.”
“Where?”
“An abandoned restaurant near the waterfront.”
Alessandro's eyes narrowed.
“Tell him we'll meet at the estate.”
“He refuses. He says he won't enter a Moretti property.”
“Why?”
Dominic hesitated.
“He believes someone in the family ordered his death.”
Alessandro looked at Sofia.
She nodded.
“He's telling the truth about being afraid. I saw him shake when he told me what happened to my mother.”
Alessandro made the decision.
“Set up a neutral location. No weapons. No visible security. I want every entrance monitored.”
That evening, Salvatore arrived at a small private dining room in a restaurant owned by an old family acquaintance.
He was thinner than Alessandro remembered, his hair almost entirely white.
For several seconds, the two men stared at one another.
Then Salvatore spoke.
“You have your mother's eyes.”
Alessandro's jaw tightened.
“Tell me what happened.”
Salvatore sat down.
“Your mother discovered Matteo was stealing from the trust. She found records showing that he had diverted millions through companies connected to the shipping business. She planned to expose him.”
“And the accident?”
Salvatore looked at his hands.
“I drove her that night. We were supposed to meet an investigator. But another car followed us. I tried to lose it.”
“What happened?”
“The other car struck us near the turn. Your mother was badly injured. I escaped through the passenger door and ran for help.”
“And she died?”
Salvatore looked up.
“No.”
Alessandro stopped breathing.
“What?”
“She was alive when I returned. A second vehicle had arrived. Two men took her away.”
“Who?”
“I never saw their faces clearly.”
“Then why did everyone believe she died?”
“Because your father told them she had.”
Alessandro felt the room tilt.
Salvatore continued.
“Your father arrived before the police. He told me that if I wanted to protect you, I would say your mother had died at the scene. He promised she would receive medical treatment and that the family would explain everything later.”
“Did he tell you where she went?”
“No.”
“Did you ever see her again?”
Salvatore shook his head.
Alessandro gripped the edge of the table.
For twenty-six years, he had believed his mother died on a wet road outside Naples.
Now he was being told that she had survived the crash, at least briefly, and had been taken away by men whose identities remained unknown.
“Why did you disappear?”
“Because Matteo learned I had survived. Someone tried to kill me. I changed my name and went into hiding.”
“Why wait until now?”
Salvatore looked at him.
“Because your daughter is in danger. The same people who wanted your mother silenced have begun asking questions about the child.”
Alessandro rose.
“Who are they?”
Salvatore's voice dropped.
“I don't know all of them. But I know the man who arranged the transfer after the crash.”
He slid a photograph across the table.
It showed a younger man standing beside a black sedan.
Alessandro recognized him immediately.
His father.
But the man beside him was someone else.
Someone whose face had appeared in the estate's old family portraits.
Someone who had attended Elena's funeral and stood beside Alessandro while he cried.
Matteo Moretti.
Salvatore pointed at the photograph.
“Your uncle didn't act alone.”
Alessandro stared at the image.
“Who helped him?”
Salvatore looked toward the door.
Before he could answer, the lights went out.
A crash sounded in the hallway.
Alessandro grabbed Salvatore and pulled him behind the table.
A gunshot shattered the glass.
Then another.
When the emergency lights flickered on, the room was empty except for overturned chairs and broken glass.
Salvatore was gone.
On the table lay a fresh envelope.
Inside was a photograph of Lily sleeping in Rosa's arms.
Beneath it, someone had written:
Your mother disappeared because she knew the truth. Your daughter will disappear because you refuse to forget it.
Alessandro stared at the photograph.
Then he called Dominic.
“Lock down the estate. Nobody enters or leaves without my approval.”
“Understood.”
“And find my uncle.”
“Boss, we just received word. Matteo's private jet has landed in New York.”
May you like
Alessandro looked at the note one final time.
“Then tell him I'm waiting.”
