The Mafia Boss Watched Her Dance With His Brother—Then She Slipped Him a Bloody Note
Chapter 10
They found Daniel Moretti at 2:00 a.m.
He was sitting alone in a hospital room.
No guards.
No weapons.
No escape plan.
Just an old man looking out the window.
When Luca entered, Daniel turned.
“You’re Richard’s son.”
Luca nodded.
Daniel smiled sadly.
“Both of you.”
Matteo stood behind him.
“You know who we are.”
“I’ve known since you were children.”
Elena entered last.
Daniel looked at her.
For several seconds, he said nothing.
Then:
“You have your mother’s eyes.”
Elena froze.
“You knew my mother?”
“I knew everyone.”
Gabriel stepped forward.
“Daniel.”
The old man looked at him.
“You survived.”
“So did you.”
Daniel laughed softly.
“Survival is a strange word.”
Luca stepped closer.
“Are you the Council?”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
“You were in the photograph.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I infiltrated them.”
Luca stared.
Daniel continued.
“Your father asked me to.”
“Then why did he call you a traitor?”
“Because he needed the Council to believe I had betrayed him.”
Elena looked at her father.
“You knew?”
Gabriel nodded.
“I did.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because if you knew, you could be tortured into revealing it.”
Elena’s eyes filled with tears.
Daniel continued.
“I spent twelve years gathering evidence.”
“Then why erase the files?”
“I didn’t.”
Luca looked at him.
“Who did?”
Daniel stared at Elena.
“Someone close to you.”
Luca immediately thought of Vincent.
But Vincent was in custody.
Then Daniel shook his head.
“Not him.”
“Who?”
Daniel looked toward the door.
Victoria entered.
Luca turned.
“Mother?”
She smiled.
“I knew we’d get here eventually.”
Daniel stood.
“You shouldn’t have come.”
Victoria ignored him.
She looked at Luca.
“I erased the files.”
Silence.
“Why?”
“Because the files contained something worse than the Council.”
“What?”
“Proof that your father wasn’t the founder.”
Luca stared.
“Then who was?”
Victoria looked at Daniel.
“His father.”
Luca’s eyes widened.
“My grandfather?”
Daniel nodded.
“The first Romano.”
Luca stepped backward.
His family had not inherited the organization.
They had inherited a war.
Victoria continued.
“Your grandfather built the Council.”
“Why?”
“To protect his business.”
“And Father?”
“He tried to destroy it.”
Luca looked at Daniel.
“Then why were you working for him?”
“Because your father asked me to infiltrate the organization.”
“How did he die?”
Victoria closed her eyes.
“I betrayed him.”
Luca stared.
“You admitted it.”
“I did.”
“But why?”
“Because the Council threatened you.”
She looked at Matteo.
“And him.”
Silence.
“I thought if I gave them your father, they would leave you alone.”
Daniel whispered:
“They didn’t.”
“No.”
Victoria looked at Elena.
“They never do.”
The room became silent.
Then Daniel opened a folder.
Inside were hundreds of documents.
“The Council isn’t one person.”
He looked at Luca.
“It’s an agreement.”
“Between whom?”
“Anyone willing to protect anyone else.”
Judges protecting politicians.
Politicians protecting criminals.
Criminals protecting corporations.
Corporations funding politicians.
A web.
Not a throne.
A system.
Luca understood.
“You can’t kill a system.”
Daniel nodded.
“But you can expose it.”
Elena looked at the documents.
“Then let’s expose it.”
Luca looked at her.
“What?”
She pointed toward the evidence.
“Not with guns.”
Daniel smiled.
“She’s right.”
Luca stared.
“Then how?”
Elena answered:
“Make it impossible for them to bury.”
She looked at the detective.
“Release everything.”
The detective hesitated.
“That could cause chaos.”
“Yes.”
“People could panic.”
“Yes.”
“Your family could be destroyed.”
Elena looked at Luca.
He nodded.
“Do it.”
The detective stared.
“Are you sure?”
Luca looked around the room.
At his mother.
His brother.
Elena.
Gabriel.
Then he said:
“For twelve years, we’ve protected the wrong people.”
He looked at the evidence.
“Tonight, that ends.”
