Chapter 4 - The Man Behind The Smile
Carmine's was surrounded by police before midnight.
Dante's people arrived first.
Marco arrived second.
He stepped from a black SUV with a calm smile and a cane in his hand.
"My nephew," he said.
Dante stood near the restaurant entrance.
"Uncle."
Marco looked toward the building.
"Trouble?"
"Someone searched the cellar."
Marco smiled.
"Did they find anything?"
That was the wrong question.
Dante knew it instantly.
Marco had asked not whether the place was secure.
He had asked whether they found something.
"What should they have found?" Dante asked.
Marco's smile held.
"Food?"
The tension between them became almost visible.
Talia watched from inside a parked car.
She had learned enough about dangerous men to know that the calm ones were often the worst.
Dante entered the cellar.
Talia followed despite his order to stay outside.
The room smelled of old wine and dust.
There were hundreds of bottles.
Nothing else.
Until Dante noticed one shelf had been moved.
Behind it was a steel compartment.
Inside sat a black ledger.
Talia stared.
"For twenty years," Dante whispered.
He opened it.
Names filled page after page.
Judges.
Detectives.
Bankers.
Developers.
Politicians.
Then Dante reached the final pages.
His own name was there.
Talia's name was there.
And Marco's.
But Marco's entry was marked in red.
Betrayal.
Dante turned the page.
There was a note.
The heir must never learn that his uncle arranged the warehouse fire.
Dante's hand tightened.
Talia read the line.
"Your uncle killed my father."
Dante closed the ledger.
"Not only your father."
He looked at her.
"The fire killed seven people."
Marco had known.
For twenty years, he had hidden behind family loyalty.
The revelation shattered something inside Dante.
He left the cellar carrying the ledger.
Marco was waiting upstairs.
He looked at the book.
And sighed.
"I was hoping you wouldn't find that."
Dante raised his eyes.
"You knew."
Marco leaned on his cane.
"I knew everything."
Talia stepped forward.
"You killed Elias."
Marco looked at her.
"I didn't."
Dante's head snapped toward him.
"Then who?"
Marco smiled.
"Your father."
The words landed like a bomb.
Dante's face went pale.
"Explain."
"Your father discovered what Elias had stolen."
"The ledger."
"Yes."
"And?"
"He ordered Elias silenced."
Dante shook his head.
"You're lying."
Marco sighed.
"That is what I believed too."
Talia watched him.
There was fear beneath Marco's performance.
Real fear.
"Then what happened?"
Marco looked at her.
"Your father escaped the first attempt."
"And the second?"
"Victor Hale took over."
Talia's stomach tightened.
"Victor."
Marco nodded.
"He was the one who burned the warehouse."
"Why?"
"Because Elias had made copies."
"Where?"
Marco smiled sadly.
"Inside your mother's pendant."
Talia touched her chest.
The pendant.
Marco continued.
"Your mother knew."
"Why did she disappear?"
"Because she was trying to save you."
Talia's eyes burned.
"From Victor?"
"From everyone."
A gunshot cracked through the window.
Marco dropped.
Dante pulled Talia down.
Another shot shattered the glass.
Dante moved with terrifying speed.
He dragged Talia behind a stone pillar.
"Stay here."
She grabbed his sleeve.
"Where are you going?"
"To stop this."
"No."
Talia looked toward the street.
"Look."
A figure stood across the road.
Victor Hale.
Older than the photographs.
Alive.
Smiling.
He raised a phone.
Dante's phone rang.
He answered.
Victor's voice came through.
"Hello, Dante."
Dante went still.
"You've lost."
"Not yet."
Victor laughed.
"You found the girl."
Talia froze.
Victor continued.
"And now you will make the same mistake your father made."
"What mistake?"
"Believing blood makes people loyal."
The call ended.
Marco stared at the phone.
"He has her mother."
Talia's heart stopped.
"What?"
Marco looked at her.
"Victor took your mother years ago."
"My mother died."
"No."
He swallowed.
"She has been alive this entire time."
Dante looked at Talia.
There were tears in her eyes.
"Where is she?"
Marco answered.
"The old Marchelli estate."
Dante's expression became cold.
"We're going."
Talia stood.
"I'm coming."
"No."
"I'm coming."
"This isn't a discussion."
"Neither is my mother."
Dante stared at her.
For a moment, something passed between them.
Not fear.
Not attraction.
Recognition.
Two people who had both spent their lives surviving.
Then Dante nodded.
"Stay beside me."
"I can do that."
He offered his hand.
She took it.
For the first time, Talia realized that the man everyone feared was trembling.
May you like
Not for himself.
For her.
