Chapter 5 - The Friend Who Sold Us Out
Gabriel had been my brother in everything except blood.
We had grown up together.
Fought together.
Lost people together.
When I became head of the family, Gabriel became the commander of my western territory.
He had been loyal through wars.
Yet now he had Sofia.
I wanted to believe there was an explanation.
Matteo did not.
“Kill him,” he said.
“No.”
“He has the child.”
“We don't know why.”
“He warned us.”
“That doesn't prove betrayal.”
Matteo stared at me.
“You trust everyone too easily.”
I almost laughed.
“That's rich coming from the man who lived in my walls.”
He smiled faintly.
“Fair.”
Marco interrupted.
“Gabriel is not working with Bruno.”
“How do you know?”
“Because Bruno hates him.”
“Why?”
“Gabriel killed Bruno's eldest son.”
That surprised me.
“Then why would Gabriel kidnap Sofia?”
Marco was silent.
Matteo stepped toward him.
“What are you hiding?”
Marco looked at me.
“A second recording.”
He played it.
Gabriel's voice filled the bunker.
“I can't protect the child forever. Give me the drive.”
A second voice answered.
Bruno.
“I don't care about the girl. I care about Alessandro's death.”
Gabriel said something I couldn't hear.
Bruno replied.
“You have until midnight.”
I looked at Marco.
“So Gabriel is under threat.”
“Yes.”
“What leverage does Bruno have?”
Marco's face darkened.
“His daughter.”
Gabriel had a daughter.
I remembered her.
Isabella.
A twelve-year-old girl who lived in a private school overseas.
My stomach dropped.
Bruno wasn't asking Gabriel to betray me because he had no choice.
He was forcing him.
I sent a message.
FIND ISABELLA.
Our people found her within an hour.
She was alive.
But there was another problem.
Her room contained a photograph.
Gabriel.
Bruno.
Isabella.
Taken the previous night.
A warning.
I knew then that Gabriel was running out of time.
We located him at an abandoned vineyard.
When we entered, Sofia was sitting at a table, eating strawberries.
Gabriel stood behind her.
“Put your weapons down.”
I did.
Matteo didn't.
Gabriel looked at me.
“I didn't hurt her.”
“I know.”
“You shouldn't be here.”
“I know.”
“You have to leave.”
“No.”
His eyes filled with exhaustion.
“Alessandro, I am trying to save your life.”
“Then tell me the truth.”
He looked at Sofia.
“She saw Bruno.”
“When?”
“The day her mother brought her into the mansion.”
“Why?”
“She was playing near the kitchen.”
“And?”
“She saw Bruno meet someone.”
“Who?”
Gabriel looked at me.
“Your attorney.”
I felt a chill.
My attorney had handled Moretti finances for thirteen years.
Gabriel continued.
“They are moving your money.”
“How much?”
“Nearly half.”
The betrayal went beyond assassination.
Bruno was preparing to destroy the family financially.
Then Gabriel said something else.
“The real target is not you.”
“Who?”
“Matteo.”
My brother stiffened.
“Why me?”
“You are the true heir.”
“So?”
“Because your father changed the succession law.”
I remembered the letter.
Twelve minutes older.
The true heir.
Gabriel continued.
“If Matteo takes your place, all contracts tied to your name become invalid. Bruno can claim the family holdings through a legal challenge.”
It was complicated.
Calculated.
Deadly.
Bruno didn't just want us dead.
He wanted us divided.
He wanted the family to collapse from within.
Gabriel lowered his weapon.
“I took Sofia because I knew Bruno would kill her if I didn't.”
Elena ran toward her daughter.
Sofia cried.
“Mama!”
Elena hugged her.
Gabriel looked at me.
“I am sorry.”
I stepped closer.
“You should have trusted me.”
“I did.”
“You hid this.”
“Because I knew you would try to save me.”
“That is what brothers do.”
Gabriel almost smiled.
Then a gunshot struck the wall beside his head.
Bruno's men had found us.
The vineyard erupted into chaos.
I grabbed Sofia.
Matteo covered Elena.
Marco and Gabriel fought side by side.
We escaped through the cellar.
At the final exit, Gabriel stopped me.
“Alessandro.”
I turned.
“There's something you need to know.”
“What?”
He pulled a small key from his pocket.
“Your father left one last room.”
“Where?”
“Under the church.”
“What church?”
“The church where your mother was buried.”
I stared at him.
“My mother wasn't buried there.”
Gabriel's expression changed.
“Exactly.”
We returned to the mansion.
The clock on the wall showed 11:14.
Less than one hour until midnight.
I took my father's watch.
It ticked softly.
Then the mechanism clicked.
A hidden needle appeared.
Pointing toward the western hills.
I understood.
The clock wasn't counting time.
It was a compass.
We drove to the old church.
The graveyard was empty.
My mother's name was carved on a stone.
But beneath it was another name.
MARIA BIANCHI.
Marco stopped walking.
“That was my mother.”
I looked at him.
The missing piece snapped into place.
Bruno had married into our family.
My father's enemy was closer than any of us had realized.
Marco looked at me.
“My mother wasn't dead either.”
A trapdoor opened beneath the tomb.
We descended.
Inside was a hidden vault.
There we found Lorenzo.
Alive.
Barely.
He looked at me.
“I was wondering how long it would take.”
I stared at the uncle I had mourned for twenty years.
“Why didn't you come home?”
He answered quietly.
“Because your father ordered me to stay dead.”
“Why?”
“To protect you.”
He gave me a folder.
Inside were documents.
DNA reports.
Birth records.
Property transfers.
And one final page.
Bruno Bianchi was not the mastermind.
He was only the executor.
May you like
The name at the top of the page belonged to someone else.
My mother.
