Chapter 3 - My Uncle Was the Man Who Had Started the War
My uncle's name was Stefano De Luca.
He had disappeared the year I took control of the family.
Everyone said he retired to Italy.
My mother said he wanted peace.
Ricardo said he had been afraid of me.
I believed all three.
Apparently, all three were lies.
Elena told me everything she knew during the drive.
Stefano had approached Ricardo twenty years ago.
He proposed an alliance.
Not a criminal alliance.
A financial one.
He wanted to merge the De Luca and Vasquez operations.
When Ricardo refused, Stefano started a rumor that the Vasquez family intended to destroy mine.
Ricardo retaliated.
The war began.
Then my father was killed.
The blame fell on Ricardo.
Stefano became my adviser.
He told me revenge was the only language Ricardo understood.
For fifteen years, I obeyed him.
Then I met Elena.
She had been working in one of my legitimate hotels.
I fell in love with her.
She was kind.
Honest.
Completely uninterested in my power.
She made me want a life outside the organization.
That was when Stefano decided she was dangerous.
“Why?” I asked.
Elena looked out the window.
“Because you were going to leave.”
“Yes.”
“You told him?”
“He was my uncle.”
She shook her head.
“He was your jailer.”
I stared at her.
“He knew about the child.”
“Yes.”
“He knew I planned to leave.”
“Yes.”
“And the explosion?”
“He arranged it.”
I felt sick.
“What happened that night?”
Elena's voice broke.
“We were supposed to leave the city.”
She told me Stefano had sent one of his men to the safe house with fake passports.
The explosion came minutes after we arrived.
Elena survived because someone pulled her from the building.
She was badly injured.
Our daughter was born early three months before.
Lucia survived.
But Stefano wanted us both dead.
Ricardo found Elena afterward.
Instead of killing her, he hid her.
Why?
Because Ricardo discovered the truth.
He had spent years believing I was responsible for his brother's murder.
Then he learned Stefano had forged the evidence.
Ricardo's son, Daniel Vasquez, had been killed in one of the first clashes.
Ricardo blamed me.
Stefano had caused it.
Ricardo wanted revenge.
He got it.
Until he discovered the real story.
“When did Ricardo learn?” I asked.
“Years ago.”
“Then why did he keep fighting me?”
“Because by then, he was trapped.”
“By who?”
“Stefano.”
I clenched my fists.
“How?”
“Money.”
Stefano controlled accounts that belonged to both families.
If Ricardo tried to stop, Stefano would destroy him.
If Ricardo revealed the truth, Stefano would kill everyone he loved.
Including Lucia.
That was why Ricardo had kept Elena hidden.
That was why he had pretended to be my enemy.
He had believed distance was the only protection available.
I wasn't ready to forgive him.
But I understood him.
And understanding an enemy is dangerous.
It creates the possibility that he was never the enemy at all.
We reached a safe house.
Lucia ran toward Elena.
“Mommy!”
Elena dropped to her knees and hugged her.
My chest hurt watching them.
Lucia then looked at me.
“Daddy?”
I smiled.
“Hi.”
She ran into my arms.
I caught her.
She buried her face in my chest.
“You came.”
“I told you I would.”
She nodded.
Then she pointed at her stuffed rabbit.
“I need to show you something.”
She opened the rabbit.
Inside was a small memory card.
I looked at Elena.
“What is this?”
“She doesn't know.”
Lucia frowned.
“Mommy said not to lose it.”
We put the card into a secure computer.
A video appeared.
My father.
Alive.
Eight years earlier.
He was speaking directly into the camera.
“If you're seeing this, then Stefano has succeeded.”
My heart stopped.
He continued.
“I know my brother is planning to take control.”
The video showed documents.
Bank transfers.
Property records.
Names.
And one account connected to the Vasquez family.
Then my father's voice returned.
“Adriano, you must not trust Ricardo.”
I looked at Elena.
She stiffened.
The video continued.
“Not because he is your enemy.”
A pause.
“But because he is protecting the same person who destroyed our family.”
Then my father said something else.
“Your child is alive.”
I almost stopped breathing.
“Stefano will make you believe otherwise.”
The video ended.
Lucia watched me.
“Is that Grandpa?”
“Yes.”
“Was he nice?”
I couldn't answer immediately.
“He loved us.”
She smiled.
Then she asked:
“Did he know me?”
“Yes.”
“And you?”
“Yes.”
She nodded.
“Then I like him.”
I almost laughed.
Children had a way of reducing complicated truths to simple things.
That night, I studied the documents.
The account had been opened in my name.
The beneficiary was Lucia.
The funds had been untouched.
Billions.
My father had prepared a financial escape plan.
For me.
For Elena.
For our child.
Stefano had spent eight years trying to find it.
And now he knew I had.
At dawn, Victor entered.
“Boss.”
I looked up.
“What?”
“Stefano's people found one of our safe houses.”
“How?”
“We had a leak.”
“Who?”
Victor hesitated.
Then placed a photograph on the desk.
Daniel Vasquez.
Ricardo's son.
I looked at the picture.
Daniel was dead.
Had been dead for years.
Or so I thought.
The photograph showed him alive.
Standing beside Stefano.
My mind raced.
“Where is Ricardo?”
Victor shook his head.
“Missing.”
I looked toward Elena.
She had been listening.
Her face went pale.
“Daniel is alive.”
She whispered it.
“What does that mean?”
“He wasn't Ricardo's son.”
I frowned.
“He was Stefano's.”
My stomach dropped.
“What?”
“Ricardo adopted him.”
“Why?”
“Because Daniel was born from Stefano's affair with a woman in Ricardo's family.”
I stared at the photo.
The war had never been between two families.
It had been one family tearing itself apart from the inside.
Stefano had created enemies.
Created murders.
Created grief.
And had watched us destroy one another.
Then my phone rang.
I answered.
Stefano's voice filled the room.
“Hello, nephew.”
I stood.
“You're alive.”
“Of course.”
“You killed my father.”
“I did what was necessary.”
“You tried to kill Elena.”
“No.”
He laughed.
“I tried to make you believe she was dead.”
“Where are you?”
“You know where.”
I understood.
The Moretti-style old family estate.
The house I inherited.
The place Stefano had never officially left.
“I want Lucia.”
“No.”
“Then I'll kill Ricardo.”
A gunshot sounded.
Ricardo screamed.
My blood turned cold.
Stefano said:
“Bring me your daughter.”
The line ended.
Lucia ran to me.
“Daddy?”
I looked down at her.
I had spent years fighting men who wanted my empire.
May you like
Now I was fighting the man who had stolen my family.
And this time, I wasn't going to let him walk away.
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