Chapter 4 - The Other Moretti
The pharmacist's name was Samuel Crane.
But that wasn't his real name.
“Luca Moretti,” Isabella whispered.
Dante stared.
Vittorio's son.
A cousin Dante had never known existed.
Luca walked into the room.
“You really thought Vittorio spent twenty years building an empire for you?”
Dante glanced toward Vittorio.
Understanding arrived.
Vittorio never intended Dante to inherit anything.
Dante had been temporary.
A weapon.
A public face.
Luca had remained hidden while Dante absorbed every enemy and every risk.
“When the time was right,” Luca said, “you were supposed to disappear.”
Mara felt Dante's hand find hers.
Not because he needed protection.
Because he was making sure she was still there.
Luca held up the pregnancy test.
“Then she complicated things.”
Dante's voice became quiet.
“You followed her.”
“Yes.”
“You entered my home.”
“Yes.”
“You threatened her.”
Luca smiled.
“Technically, I tried to persuade her.”
Dante stepped forward.
Mara tightened her grip.
He stopped.
Luca noticed.
“Remarkable.”
“What?”
“She controls you with one hand.”
“No,” Dante said.
“She reminds me I have something worth controlling myself for.”
Mara looked at him.
That sentence changed something inside her.
For months she had feared loving Dante meant accepting his darkness.
Now she understood Dante feared the same thing.
He wasn't asking her to accept it.
He was trying to leave it.
Vittorio suddenly lunged toward the ledger.
Marco intercepted him.
The room erupted.
Eddie knocked one guard sideways.
Isabella ducked.
Mara backed toward the wall.
Dante reached her.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
A gunshot cracked downstairs.
Mara flinched.
Dante shielded her.
“Marco!”
“Security team,” Marco shouted. “Ours.”
Vittorio's men were overwhelmed within seconds.
Luca disappeared.
By the time Dante reached the hallway, the rear door stood open.
He could chase him.
Mara saw the decision.
“Dante.”
He stopped.
He looked at the doorway.
Then at her.
He came back.
That choice mattered more than she could explain.
Police arrived twenty minutes later.
Not local officers.
Federal agents.
Marco had contacted them before entering the property.
Dante had made another decision without telling Mara.
He was turning over everything.
The ledger.
The recordings.
Financial accounts.
Names.
Including evidence that could implicate Dante himself.
“You could go to prison,” Mara whispered.
“Yes.”
Her eyes filled.
“You knew that?”
“Yes.”
“And you still called them?”
“I can't promise our child a different life while protecting the old one.”
Mara looked at him for a long time.
Then hugged him.
Dante froze.
Slowly, his arms surrounded her.
“I’m still angry with you,” she whispered.
“I know.”
“And terrified.”
“I know.”
“And I haven't agreed to come anywhere with you.”
“I know.”
She pulled back.
“You're surprisingly agreeable today.”
“Pregnancy has made you frightening.”
She laughed.
It escaped before she could stop it.
Dante smiled.
A real smile.
Then an agent approached.
“Mr. Moretti.”
Dante turned.
“We need you downtown.”
Mara's smile vanished.
Dante touched her cheek.
“Go with Marco.”
“How long?”
“I don't know.”
“Dante—”
“I'll come back.”
“You can't promise that.”
“No.”
He looked at her stomach.
“But I'll do everything I can.”
They took Dante away.
For seventy-two hours Mara heard almost nothing.
Then the story exploded publicly.
Vittorio Moretti was arrested.
Financial records exposed decades of corruption.
Dante voluntarily cooperated.
Several businesses were seized.
Others were placed under independent management.
Reporters surrounded buildings associated with the Moretti family.
Mara became terrified someone would discover her identity.
Marco moved her to a quiet house outside the city.
Isabella stayed with her.
Their relationship was strange at first.
Then unexpectedly comforting.
Isabella cooked.
Mara discovered Dante's mother was terrible at it.
They laughed over burned pasta.
At night Isabella told stories about Dante as a boy.
He had once rescued an injured pigeon and hidden it beneath his bed for three days.
Mara laughed until she cried.
“He'd kill me if he knew I told you.”
“I'm absolutely telling him.”
On the fourth morning, Mara woke sick.
Isabella drove her to a private clinic.
The doctor performed an ultrasound.
Mara stared at the screen.
A tiny flicker.
Heartbeat.
She cried.
Isabella cried harder.
“Dante should be here.”
Mara wished he were.
When they returned home, a black sedan waited outside.
Marco stepped from it.
Mara ran toward him.
“Is Dante okay?”
“Yes.”
Relief nearly dropped her.
“He's being released tonight.”
Mara smiled.
Then saw Marco's expression.
“What?”
“Luca hasn't been found.”
Her happiness vanished.
“He knows this house?”
“No.”
“You're sure?”
“We've changed every protocol.”
Mara nodded.
That evening she waited.
Eight o'clock.
Nine.
Ten.
Dante didn't arrive.
At 10:17, Marco received a call.
He walked into another room.
When he returned, his face was white.
“What happened?”
“The transport vehicle never reached the house.”
Mara stood.
“Where's Dante?”
“We don't know.”
Her phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
A photograph appeared.
Dante sat in a chair.
Blood marked his collar.
His eyes were open.
Below the photograph were six words.
BRING ME MY FATHER'S LEDGER.
May you like
Then another message appeared.
COME ALONE OR HE DIES.
