Chapter 5 - The Betrayal Inside the Rossi Family
The attack left three men dead.
One was a Rossi guard.
Two were Bellandi operatives.
But the worst discovery came afterward.
Someone had opened the gates from inside.
Only five people had access.
Marco.
Matteo.
Elena.
Isabella.
And Matteo's younger brother, Dante.
Dante had been away during the attack.
He returned the next morning.
He entered the study smiling.
“You look terrible.”
Matteo stared at him.
“You weren't here.”
“I was in Chicago.”
“Prove it.”
Dante laughed.
“You don't trust me?”
“No.”
The room went silent.
Elena stood near the window.
Dante looked at her.
“So this is the famous Elena.”
Matteo stepped between them.
“Don't.”
Dante raised his hands.
“I'm only saying hello.”
Elena watched him.
There was something wrong.
His shoes were wet.
But it hadn't rained in Chicago.
It had rained only in the city the previous night.
Matteo noticed Elena looking.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
Later she told him.
They checked Dante's travel records.
Fake.
His plane ticket had been purchased by Sofia Bellandi.
Matteo confronted him.
“You opened the gate.”
Dante didn't deny it.
“I had no choice.”
“What did they threaten?”
“My son.”
Matteo froze.
“You have a son?”
“Six years old.”
“Where is he?”
“Bellandi has him.”
Matteo's face changed.
“Where?”
Dante handed over a location.
An abandoned warehouse.
The rescue went wrong.
The warehouse was empty.
Only one thing remained.
A recording.
Sofia's voice.
“Matteo, you always thought loyalty was a weapon.”
The recording continued.
“It isn't.”
A second voice appeared.
A man's voice.
Older.
Familiar.
Matteo went pale.
His father.
“Protect the girl.”
Elena's skin went cold.
Her father had been working with Matteo's father after all.
But there was more.
The recording revealed that both men had hidden evidence of a larger trafficking operation years earlier.
They had planned to expose it.
Then one of their own people betrayed them.
The mastermind was not Bellandi.
It was someone inside the federal task force that had investigated the Rossi family.
Someone had used both criminal organizations to enrich himself.
The war had been engineered.
The dead had been expendable.
And Elena's father had discovered the truth.
That was why he died.
Dante admitted he had been manipulated.
Matteo forgave him only after rescuing his son.
But Elena remained focused on one thing.
Her father had died protecting a secret.
And she had finally found it.
A ledger.
A digital archive.
The names of the officials involved.
But the drive was missing.
Isabella approached Elena.
“I know where it is.”
“You do?”
“My mother gave it to me.”
“Your mother?”
“She died when I was seventeen.”
“What did she tell you?”
“That if Matteo ever truly loved you, give him the drive.”
Elena stared.
“Why wait until now?”
“Because I had to know whether he was capable of choosing you over his empire.”
“And?”
Isabella smiled.
“He already did.”
The drive was hidden beneath the old chapel on the Rossi property.
They found it buried beneath a loose stone.
Inside were years of records.
Payments.
Names.
Photographs.
One photograph made Matteo drop the file.
It showed Sofia Bellandi beside a federal investigator.
The same man who had publicly led the task force against Matteo.
His name was Agent Richard Hale.
Hale had built his career prosecuting organized crime.
He had also secretly controlled both sides.
Matteo immediately called his lawyer.
“We expose him.”
The lawyer hesitated.
“That could destroy the entire Rossi network.”
“Then let it.”
Elena looked at him.
“You're serious.”
He nodded.
“I spent years protecting my family name.”
He took her hand.
“I don't want Emma to grow up believing this is what power looks like.”
Elena smiled.
“You already have a daughter in mind?”
He laughed.
“No.”
“You're impossible.”
“I know.”
That evening, Elena was alone in the kitchen.
Matteo came in.
He looked tired.
She handed him coffee.
“Thank you.”
“You're welcome.”
He leaned against the counter.
“Stay.”
She looked up.
“You mean tonight?”
“I mean here.”
Her heart skipped.
“As your employee?”
“No.”
He stepped closer.
“As the woman I love.”
She smiled.
“I'll think about it.”
He frowned.
“Seriously?”
She laughed.
“You should suffer a little.”
He shook his head.
Then Elena stepped forward.
She kissed his cheek.
He immediately raised an eyebrow.
“Again?”
She smiled.
“This time because I wanted to.”
He caught her gently around the waist.
May you like
“You're learning.”
“So are you.”
