Chapter 6 - THE MAN DANTE CALLED FAMILY
Dante's gun came up.
Sarah stepped between him and Arthur.
"Wait."
"Move."
"No."
"Sarah."
"If my mother wanted Arthur dead, she could have said his name."
Arthur did not defend himself.
That frightened Sarah more.
Dante lowered the weapon by an inch.
"Twenty-seven years."
Arthur closed his eyes.
"Yes."
"That's how long you've worked for my family."
"Yes."
Dante's voice cracked with something deeper than anger.
"You held me at my mother's funeral."
Arthur looked at him.
"I did."
"You taught me to drive."
"Yes."
"You stood beside me when my daughters were born."
Tears appeared in Arthur's eyes.
"Yes."
"Did you kill my wife?"
"No."
Dante struck him.
Arthur fell.
Sarah shouted.
Dante stood over him.
"Then give me one reason not to believe you."
Arthur wiped blood from his mouth.
"Because Isabella trusted me."
"Isabella trusted someone who betrayed her."
"Yes."
"Who?"
Arthur looked toward Marco.
Everyone froze.
Marco's expression didn't change.
Dante slowly turned.
Marco Bellini had been his closest friend since they were thirteen.
Marco laughed softly.
"Seriously?"
Arthur stood.
"Your father brought Marco into this house when he was a boy."
"So?"
"He wasn't an orphan."
Marco's smile vanished.
Arthur continued.
"His mother was Victor's sister."
Dante stared.
"That makes him Victor's nephew."
"Half-nephew."
Marco drew first.
Dante moved.
The gunshot shattered a lamp.
Security surged into the room.
Marco grabbed Sarah and pressed a pistol beneath her jaw.
"Everybody back."
Dante stopped.
His face became terrifyingly calm.
"Let her go."
Marco laughed.
"There's the Dante I remember."
"Marco."
"Always so certain loyalty could be purchased."
"I never purchased yours."
"No. You inherited it."
Sarah could feel Marco's pulse through the arm locked around her neck.
Fast.
Afraid.
Good.
Afraid men made mistakes.
"Did you kill Isabella?" Dante asked.
Marco's jaw tightened.
"No."
"Then who did?"
"My uncle ordered the bomb."
Dante's face hardened.
"You knew?"
"I found out afterward."
"And you stayed beside me for three years?"
"I was supposed to make sure you never found the evidence."
Sarah suddenly understood.
"The photograph."
Marco smiled.
"Smart girl."
"You put it in the nursery."
"Yes."
"Why warn us?"
"Because Victor has lost his mind. He doesn't just want the evidence anymore. He wants the twins dead."
Dante took one step.
Marco tightened the gun against Sarah.
"Don't."
"Why?"
"Because Isabella's daughters inherit everything if you die."
Dante stopped.
"And if all three of us die?"
"Victor becomes senior surviving Moretti."
Arthur whispered a curse.
Marco continued.
"I protected the girls."
Dante almost laughed.
"You kidnapped Bella."
"I staged it."
"She was terrified."
"She was alive."
Sarah said quietly, "And Toby?"
Marco hesitated.
That was enough.
"You gave Victor Toby."
"I needed leverage."
Sarah drove her heel down on Marco's foot.
His grip loosened.
Dante moved.
The gun fired.
Sarah hit the floor.
Dante slammed Marco against the wall.
Security disarmed him.
For several seconds Dante looked ready to kill his oldest friend with his bare hands.
Then Mia appeared in the doorway.
"Daddy?"
Everything stopped.
Dante turned.
Mia stood barefoot, clutching her rabbit.
She looked at Marco.
Her face changed.
Then she screamed.
Not the usual scream.
A word.
"Him!"
Dante froze.
Mia pointed at Marco.
"Car man!"
Sarah crawled toward her.
"What did you say?"
Mia began shaking.
"Car man. Mommy crying."
Marco went pale.
Dante looked at him.
"You said you didn't know until afterward."
Marco said nothing.
Dante's face emptied.
"You were there."
Mia buried herself against Sarah.
"Blue car."
Sarah stroked her hair.
"What happened in the blue car?"
"Uncle Marco yelling."
Dante looked devastated.
Marco closed his eyes.
"It wasn't supposed to happen that way."
Dante crossed the room.
Arthur caught his arm.
"Don't."
"He killed her."
"Not in front of your daughter."
That stopped him.
Marco finally spoke.
"Isabella discovered me moving money for Victor. She threatened to tell you."
"So you murdered her?"
"No. I tried to scare her."
"With a car bomb?"
"The bomb wasn't mine."
Dante stared.
"Victor planted it after I left."
"Why should I believe you?"
"Because Isabella called me from the car."
Marco's eyes filled.
"She knew there was a bomb."
Dante stopped breathing.
"She knew?"
"She had maybe two minutes."
"Why didn't she get out?"
"The twins were strapped in the back."
Dante's face collapsed.
Everyone knew the official story.
Isabella had died instantly.
The twins survived because a passerby pulled them from the wreckage.
Marco whispered:
"Isabella got the girls out herself."
Dante looked toward Mia.
"She carried them behind a concrete barrier."
Marco's voice broke.
"Then she went back."
"Why?"
"For the evidence."
Sarah closed her eyes.
"That's when the bomb exploded."
Dante turned away.
Three years of grief changed shape inside him.
Isabella had not died helplessly.
She had saved their daughters.
Marco continued.
"She called one person before she went back."
"Who?"
"Elena."
Sarah looked up.
"My mother?"
Marco nodded.
"And Elena is alive."
Sarah's heart hammered.
"Where?"
"Victor has her."
"With Toby?"
"Yes."
Dante looked at the clock.
Pier Seventeen.
Midnight was less than two hours away.
Dante checked his weapon.
Sarah stood.
"I'm coming."
"No arguments this time."
"There weren't going to be."
Arthur stepped forward.
"Neither of you is going alone."
Dante looked at Marco.
"Take him downstairs."
Marco laughed bitterly.
"You still don't get it, Dante."
Dante paused.
"What?"
"Victor doesn't want Sarah because of Elena."
"Then why?"
Marco looked at Sarah.
"Because Sarah's father is the reason Victor can never control the Moretti empire."
Sarah stared.
"Who is my father?"
May you like
Marco smiled without humor.
"Ask Dante."
