Chapter 7 - THE NIGHT THE RUSSO FAMILY BROKE
Dante returned to his father's estate at 10:20 p.m.
He didn't bring security.
He didn't bring Marco.
He brought the recording.
Vittorio was in the library, pouring himself a glass of whiskey.
He looked up.
"You're becoming difficult to manage."
Dante placed the recorder on the desk.
"Listen."
The recording played.
Vittorio's expression remained controlled until his own voice emerged.
Then he slowly put down the glass.
"Where did you get that?"
"From Isabella."
"She shouldn't have it."
"That's your concern?"
"You're too young to understand what happened."
Dante laughed.
"I'm thirty-eight years old. I've spent my life cleaning up the messes you created."
"Everything I did was for this family."
"Did you kill my mother?"
Vittorio looked at him.
"No."
"Did you know Gabriel was alive?"
"Yes."
"Did you hide him?"
"Yes."
Dante's fists tightened.
"Why?"
Vittorio moved toward the window.
"Because your mother wanted to give him the Russo name. She wanted to divide the inheritance. She wanted to bring a Moretti into this family and make him your equal."
"He was my brother."
"He was a threat."
Dante stepped closer.
"To what?"
"To everything I built."
For several seconds, Dante couldn't speak.
Then he said quietly, "You're a coward."
Vittorio turned.
"Watch your mouth."
"No. You've spent years making everyone afraid of you. You've destroyed lives because you couldn't tolerate the possibility that someone might stand beside you instead of beneath you."
Vittorio reached for his glass.
Dante knocked it from his hand.
The whiskey shattered across the floor.
"Where is Gabriel?"
"I don't know."
"Who does?"
Vittorio hesitated.
Then he said a name.
"Marco."
Dante went still.
Marco was waiting outside when Dante emerged.
He looked at his employer.
Then at the broken window behind him.
"You spoke to your father."
"Yes."
"He told you about Gabriel?"
"Yes."
Dante took a step closer.
"Why did he say your name?"
Marco's face changed.
For the first time in fifteen years, he looked afraid of Dante.
"Because I knew him."
"Where?"
"Before I worked for you."
"Explain."
Marco looked toward the driveway.
"My mother worked for your family. She was assigned to care for a boy who was being kept in a private residence outside the city."
"Gabriel?"
Marco nodded.
"He was twelve when I first met him. I was sixteen. We became friends."
"Where is he?"
"I don't know."
"You're lying."
Marco's jaw tightened.
"Your father paid my mother to keep him hidden. When she died, I tried to help him escape."
Dante stared.
"What happened?"
"Someone betrayed us. Gabriel disappeared."
"And you never told me?"
"I was twenty years old. Your father threatened my family. I thought you were better off not knowing."
Dante turned away.
He wanted to hit something.
Instead, he asked, "Did my mother know?"
"Yes."
"Did she die because of it?"
Marco lowered his eyes.
"I think so."
Across town, Isabella received a call from an unfamiliar number.
She answered cautiously.
"Hello?"
A man spoke.
"Isabella Moretti?"
"Who is this?"
"My name is Gabriel."
She stopped breathing.
"Gabriel Russo?"
A soft laugh came through the phone.
"That's not the name I use anymore."
"Are you really Dante's brother?"
"Half-brother. And I think your mother wanted us to meet."
Isabella covered her mouth.
"Where are you?"
"Not somewhere safe."
"Then let me help."
"No. You need to listen first."
His voice became serious.
"Your mother didn't die in an accident."
Isabella closed her eyes.
"Who killed her?"
A pause.
Then Gabriel said something she would never forget.
"Nobody ordered her death. She was killed because she discovered who was supposed to inherit the Russo empire."
"Who?"
"Me."
Isabella heard a noise behind him.
A door slamming.
Someone shouting.
Then Gabriel whispered:
"Don't trust Marco. He knows where I am."
The call ended.
Isabella immediately dialed Dante.
He answered on the first ring.
"Isabella?"
"Your brother called me."
Silence.
"Where is he?"
"I don't know. But he said your mother wasn't killed in an accident."
Dante's voice changed.
"What else?"
"He said Marco knows where he is."
Dante looked toward his office.
May you like
Marco was standing in the doorway.
And for the first time, Dante wondered whether the man who had protected him for fifteen years had also been protecting a lie.
