Chapter 9 - THE BROTHER WHO LEFT
Salvatore hadn’t spoken to Vincent DeLuca in five years.
Not since Sofia’s funeral.
Not since Vincent blamed him for choosing business meetings over his dying wife.
Not since Salvatore punched him.
Now Vincent sat in the library wearing a stolen security jacket.
His hands were cuffed.
Salvatore stood across from him.
“You took Ruby.”
“I moved Ruby.”
“You put my daughter in a dark room.”
“I got her away from the safe room.”
“Why?”
“Because the safe room was compromised.”
Salvatore laughed without humor.
“You expect me to believe you kidnapped her for her safety?”
“I expect you to stop acting like anger makes you intelligent.”
Marco stepped between them.
“Vincent, explain.”
Vincent looked exhausted.
“I’ve been investigating Matteo for eight months.”
Salvatore stared.
“Why?”
“Because Sofia asked me to.”
The room went still.
“She’s dead.”
“I know.”
“She died five years ago.”
“And six months before she died, she sent me a file.”
Vincent looked at his brother.
“She believed Matteo was stealing from the company.”
Salvatore’s stomach tightened.
“Why didn’t she tell me?”
“She tried.”
“No.”
“You were never home.”
The words landed.
Salvatore looked away.
Vincent continued.
“After Sofia died, I checked. I found shell companies, fake vendors, missing payments. But Matteo got smarter. Then you met Lucinda.”
“You knew her?”
“I knew she’d received money from him.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I tried.”
“You disappeared.”
“Because two days after I started asking questions, my brakes failed.”
Silence.
Vincent leaned forward.
“I left because someone wanted me dead.”
Salvatore glanced at Matteo’s guarded room.
“You think Matteo?”
“I know Matteo.”
“And Lucinda?”
“She was supposed to get close to you.”
Ruby, safe upstairs, flashed through Salvatore’s mind.
“Did she hurt Ruby because Matteo told her to?”
Vincent shook his head.
“No.”
“How do you know?”
“Because Matteo’s messages show he told her not to attract attention.”
Salvatore went still.
“So the brace…”
“That was Lucinda.”
Jealousy.
Cruelty.
Control.
Her own choice.
Vincent continued.
“But Matteo used it once he discovered what she was doing.”
“How?”
“He encouraged you to travel more.”
Salvatore remembered.
Chicago.
London.
Miami.
Meetings Matteo insisted could only happen in person.
Each trip left Ruby with Lucinda.
His chest tightened.
Vincent said quietly:
“He created opportunities.”
Salvatore looked at his brother.
“And tonight?”
“I came because Matteo planned to destroy the archive.”
“You started the fire?”
“No. I was trying to stop whoever did.”
“You took Ruby.”
“I saw someone entering the safe-room code. I moved her before they got there.”
“Who?”
Vincent hesitated.
“I couldn’t see the face.”
Marco placed something on the desk.
“We recovered part of the cloud archive.”
A video loaded.
Three months earlier.
The garage.
Matteo stood beside Lucinda.
Their conversation was clear.
Matteo said:
“The child is the leverage. Not the target.”
Lucinda answered:
“You don’t know how annoying she is.”
Matteo grabbed her arm.
“Do not hurt Ruby.”
Lucinda laughed.
“Relax.”
Then she said:
“I only make her hurt herself.”
Salvatore turned away.
Marco stopped the recording.
But Vincent stared at the screen.
“Go back.”
“Why?”
“The car.”
Marco rewound.
A dark SUV sat behind Matteo.
Vincent pointed at the damaged front bumper.
“That’s the vehicle.”
“What vehicle?”
Vincent looked at Salvatore.
“The one that was at the villa the day Ruby fell.”
Salvatore’s face emptied.
Ruby’s injury had come from falling down six stone steps.
Everyone had called it an accident.
Vincent whispered:
May you like
“It wasn’t.”
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