Chapter 6 - THE MAN I CALLED BROTHER
The address led to an abandoned meatpacking facility near the river.
Appropriate.
Men like Lorenzo appreciated theater.
Beatrice wanted to come inside.
I refused.
“You’ll stay in the car.”
“You don't get to decide—”
“He has Luca because I brought this war back into his life.”
“He had Luca because Lorenzo is a monster.”
“Exactly.”
I handed her a second phone.
“If I'm not back in twenty minutes, call the number saved under Isabella.”
“And tell her what?”
“Everything.”
Beatrice stared at me.
“That sounds like goodbye.”
“It isn't.”
“You sure?”
“No.”
I walked inside.
Lorenzo sat on a metal table twenty yards away.
Three armed men surrounded him.
Luca was tied to a chair.
Bruised.
Conscious.
Vincent wasn't there.
That worried me.
Lorenzo spread his hands.
“You came alone.”
“You asked nicely.”
He laughed.
Luca looked at me.
“Idiot.”
“Good to see you too.”
Lorenzo leaned forward.
“This is touching.”
“Let him go.”
“No.”
“Then tell me what you want.”
“The ledger.”
“I don't have it.”
“Luca knows.”
“He doesn't.”
“We'll find out.”
He walked behind Luca and pressed a gun against his shoulder.
My voice went cold.
“Take that gun off him.”
Lorenzo smiled.
“That tone used to scare me.”
“It should.”
“No. Not anymore.”
His face changed.
Twelve years of loyalty disappeared.
“I spent my whole life standing behind you.”
“So this is jealousy?”
“Don't insult me.”
“You murdered my brother because you wanted my chair?”
“Your brother was never the target.”
Silence.
I stared at him.
“What?”
Lorenzo smiled.
“The bomb was for you.”
Luca looked at me.
Lorenzo continued.
“Your father changed the transfer at the last minute. He sent Luca instead.”
My stomach twisted.
“Why kill me?”
“Because Vincent needed a weak heir.”
“So he chose Luca?”
Lorenzo laughed.
“No. He chose me.”
There it was.
The truth.
Lorenzo believed my death would break the family.
Luca would be blamed.
My father would be vulnerable.
Vincent would control everything through my cousin.
“You killed seventeen people.”
“Collateral.”
“You hunted Luca in the hospital.”
“He saw too much.”
“Then you helped my mother bury him.”
For the first time, Lorenzo looked uncomfortable.
Only for a second.
Then it vanished.
“She wasn't part of the plan.”
“You held her while she cried.”
“I did what I had to do.”
Something inside me broke.
Not loudly.
Not dramatically.
It simply broke.
I had loved this man.
That realization hurt more than the betrayal.
Lorenzo raised his pistol.
“Where’s Beatrice?”
“Far away.”
“Lie.”
“You always were bad at reading me.”
“No.”
He smiled.
“I was better than anyone.”
The lights went out.
Darkness.
Gunfire.
Men shouted.
Luca dropped sideways with the chair.
I fired toward the muzzle flash.
Someone screamed.
Emergency lights flickered red.
I ran.
One guard came at me.
I hit him with the pistol and kept moving.
Lorenzo fired.
The bullet tore through my coat.
I reached Luca.
“Hold still.”
“You took your time.”
“Shut up.”
I cut his wrists.
A gun clicked behind me.
Lorenzo.
“Move away from him.”
I turned slowly.
His pistol was aimed at my chest.
He smiled.
Then a frying pan slammed into the back of his skull.
Lorenzo dropped to one knee.
Beatrice stood behind him holding the pan.
She looked shocked.
“I found a kitchen.”
Luca laughed.
Actually laughed.
For the first time in twelve years.
May you like
Then Lorenzo twisted around and fired.
Beatrice collapsed.
