Chapter 11 - Pier Fourteen
They found Daniel’s note on the kitchen counter.
DO NOT FOLLOW.
Isabella crushed it in her fist.
"Apparently every man in my family is stupid."
Rosa nodded.
"Historically accurate."
Luca was already calling Grant.
Pier 14 had been abandoned for years.
Warehouses.
Broken lights.
Easy exits.
Dominic had chosen well.
Federal agents could surround it, but one mistake could get Elena or Daniel killed.
Isabella insisted on going.
Luca stopped arguing.
Perhaps he had finally learned.
They arrived at 11:40.
Grant had a tactical team positioned four blocks away.
Luca and Isabella watched from inside an unmarked van.
Daniel stood alone near the warehouse entrance.
At midnight, a light came on.
Dominic emerged.
Two armed men behind him.
Elena between them.
Her hands were tied.
Daniel stepped forward.
"Let her go."
Dominic laughed.
"Still rescuing Romanos."
"She’s your aunt too, in a way."
"Don’t sentimentalize this."
"We’re brothers."
"We share a father."
"That’s usually how it works."
Dominic’s face hardened.
"You always thought jokes made you better than us."
"No. Leaving did."
Dominic struck him.
Isabella flinched.
Luca’s hand clenched.
Grant’s voice came through the earpiece.
"Wait."
Dominic pulled out an old cassette.
He held it up.
"The famous tape."
Daniel stared.
"You kept it all these years."
"Insurance."
"Against whom?"
"Everyone."
Dominic looked toward Elena.
"She should have died in 2005."
Luca’s breathing changed.
Grant whispered, "We heard it. Keep him talking."
Daniel said, "You poisoned her."
"Slowly."
Elena closed her eyes.
Dominic continued.
"She kept digging. She would have destroyed everything."
"You murdered Sofia too."
Dominic’s smile faded.
"That was messier."
Isabella stopped breathing.
Daniel’s face became stone.
"You cut her brakes."
"She had your tape location."
"No, she didn’t."
"She believed she did."
"She was a mother."
"So was Elena."
Dominic shrugged.
"People make choices."
Daniel lunged.
One gunman struck him with the weapon.
He fell.
Grant shouted, "Go."
Agents moved.
Dominic grabbed Elena and pressed a gun to her head.
Everyone stopped.
Luca left the van before Grant could stop him.
Isabella followed.
"Dominic!"
Dominic turned.
His eyes lit with something close to satisfaction.
"There he is."
"Let her go."
"Trade."
"For what?"
"You."
Luca stepped forward.
"No," Elena said.
Dominic tightened his grip.
"Come closer."
Luca obeyed.
"Luca!" Isabella shouted.
He did not look back.
Dominic smiled.
"You always were predictable."
"Then predict this."
Luca stopped ten feet away.
"I confessed."
Dominic frowned.
"What?"
"Everything."
"The Santoro killing. The rackets. All of it."
Dominic stared.
"You’re bluffing."
"Grant recorded me."
Grant called from behind cover, "He’s not."
Dominic’s face changed.
His leverage vanished.
"You idiot."
"Maybe."
"You destroyed yourself."
"No."
Luca looked at Isabella.
"I stopped giving you the power to."
Dominic’s gun trembled.
That was the first time Isabella had ever seen him lose control.
Daniel slowly rose behind him.
Dominic noticed.
He fired.
The shot struck Daniel in the side.
Isabella screamed.
Agents opened fire.
One gunman dropped his weapon.
The other ran.
Dominic dragged Elena toward the pier edge.
Luca rushed him.
The two men collided.
The gun skidded across concrete.
Elena fell free.
Isabella reached her.
Dominic punched Luca.
Luca hit back.
Years of hatred came out in brutal silence.
Dominic grabbed the fallen gun.
Daniel, bleeding heavily, kicked it into the water.
Dominic stared at him.
"You always ruin everything."
Daniel smiled through pain.
"Family tradition."
Agents tackled Dominic.
This time he did not leave.
Paramedics rushed Daniel to the hospital.
The bullet missed major organs.
He would live.
At four in the morning, Isabella sat beside his bed.
He opened his eyes.
"You followed."
"Obviously."
"I told you not to."
"You lost voting privileges twenty-six years ago."
He smiled weakly.
"Fair."
She looked at him.
"I don’t forgive you."
"I know."
"I might someday."
His eyes filled.
"That’s more than I deserve."
"Probably."
She took his hand anyway.
Outside, Luca waited.
He had bruises across his face.
Elena sat beside him.
When Isabella emerged, he stood.
"Daniel?"
"Alive."
"Good."
They walked toward the elevators.
"Dominic confessed enough on wire," Luca said. "Grant says the tape is almost unnecessary."
"Almost."
"Divers recovered it."
"Of course they did."
"They also found a second phone on Dominic."
"So?"
"It contains messages."
"About Mom?"
"Yes."
Isabella stopped.
Luca’s expression was grim.
"There’s something you need to see."
He showed her one message from 2008.
Dominic to an unknown number:
Sofia is asking too many questions. Handle the car.
A reply:
Understood.
The number belonged to someone still alive.
Someone Isabella knew.
She stared at the name attached to it.
May you like
Bellaforte’s owner.
Anthony Russo.
