Chapter 5 - The Brother Who Vanished Had Been Secretly Working With My Father's EnemyLorenzo's younger brother was named Marco.
He was thirty-two.
Charming.
Quiet.
Educated.
Everyone trusted him.
That made the discovery devastating.
“Why would he betray you?”
Lorenzo didn't answer.
Maybe he couldn't.
We searched the warehouse.
Empty.
Except for one recording.
Marco appeared on screen.
“Brother.”
Lorenzo watched.
“I know what you think.”
“You think I betrayed you.”
“You think I sold you to Victor.”
“But that's not true.”
Marco looked exhausted.
“I was protecting Mother.”
Lorenzo stared.
“What does she have to do with this?”
The recording continued.
“Victor has her.”
“She has been alive.”
Lorenzo froze.
“My mother?”
Marco nodded.
“Your father lied.”
“He told you she died.”
“She didn't.”
“Victor has kept her for years.”
Marco looked directly into the camera.
“I made a deal.”
“I gave him information.”
“In exchange for her life.”
The recording ended.
Lorenzo sat down.
His mother had been alive.
His brother had been forced to betray him.
The Moretti family had been manipulated from inside.
I looked at Lorenzo.
“Then Marco isn't the traitor.”
“No.”
“Who is?”
“We don't know.”
Then a call came.
Victor.
“Bring the girl.”
Lorenzo's voice went cold.
“No.”
“Then your mother dies.”
I looked at him.
He didn't hesitate.
“We'll come.”
The location was an abandoned theater.
Victor waited.
My grandmother's photograph was on a chair.
My heart stopped.
“What?”
Victor smiled.
“You know her.”
“Yes.”
“She knows where the ledger is.”
My grandmother.
I thought she had died from cancer.
She hadn't.
Victor had taken her.
I stepped forward.
“Where is she?”
“Safe.”
“Let her go.”
“Bring me the drive.”
I held it up.
“Here.”
Lorenzo grabbed my arm.
“No.”
I looked at him.
“She has my grandmother.”
Victor laughed.
“She was always brave.”
“Who are you?”
“Victor Kane.”
“Why do you want the ledger?”
“Because your father stole it.”
“He protected it.”
“From me.”
“Yes.”
Victor smiled.
“Then you understand.”
He pressed a button.
A screen appeared.
My father.
Alive.
But chained.
I gasped.
“Dad.”
Lorenzo stepped closer.
Victor said:
“Bring me the ledger.”
I looked at the screen.
My father shook his head.
“No.”
I cried.
“Dad.”
He whispered:
“Don't trust Victor.”
Victor turned off the screen.
I stared.
Lorenzo pulled out his weapon.
Victor's men appeared.
Gunfire erupted.
I ran toward the screen.
Lorenzo dragged me behind a pillar.
“Stay down.”
“I need my father.”
“I know.”
The fight lasted minutes.
Then Victor disappeared.
He took my grandmother.
And my father.
But he left something behind.
A key.
Lorenzo picked it up.
“What's it for?”
I recognized it.
“The old church.”
We went there.
Beneath the altar was another room.
Inside were boxes.
Photographs.
Documents.
My father had been here.
A letter was waiting.
Mia,
If you've found this, then Victor has already taken your family.
I'm sorry.
There is only one person you can trust.
The name was written underneath.
Lorenzo Moretti.
I looked at him.
He looked at me.
For the first time, neither of us spoke.
May you like
Then the church doors slammed.
Someone had followed us.
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