Chapter 5 - The Secret Marco Left With His Daughter
For the first time since Elena met him, Dante Moretti looked shaken.
Not frightened.
Not confused.
Wounded.
“Gabriel?”
Elena watched him.
“You know him.”
“He’s family.”
“That does not answer me.”
“My father’s younger brother.”
Dante stared at Marco’s frozen image on the screen.
“He practically raised me after my mother died.”
Elena understood instantly why Marco’s accusation mattered.
“You trust him.”
“I did.”
Past tense.
The distinction was small but important.
The video continued.
Marco leaned closer to the camera.
“If Gabriel tells you I betrayed Dante, he’s lying. If he tells you I stole from the family, he’s lying. If he says anything about Elena or Mia belonging to the debt, do not believe him.”
Dante’s jaw tightened.
Marco reached offscreen and placed several papers in front of the camera.
“Gabriel has been working with Sarto.”
Elena whispered, “There.”
Dante said nothing.
Marco continued.
“I don’t know how long. I know he redirected shipments. I know he compromised accounts. I know he helped Sarto move money through Moretti companies.”
The recording crackled again.
“And Dante…”
Marco paused.
His eyes looked tired.
“If you’re watching, I’m sorry.”
Dante’s expression did not change.
“I should have told you earlier. I kept looking for proof because I knew what accusing your uncle would cost.”
Marco gave a humorless smile.
“You always said loyalty mattered more when it hurt.”
The video ended abruptly.
Silence.
Elena looked at Dante.
“What happens now?”
He remained focused on the blank screen.
“Nothing.”
“That seems unlikely.”
“I mean we do nothing obvious.”
“Why?”
“Because if Gabriel knows we recovered the card, he disappears.”
“So you pretend you don’t know?”
“For now.”
Elena crossed her arms.
“You’re good at pretending.”
Dante looked at her.
The accusation landed deeper than she intended.
“I suppose I am.”
She immediately regretted it.
Not because it was false.
Because his face suggested it was true in ways she could not understand.
Before she could apologize, Dante’s phone rang.
His uncle.
Dante saw the name.
Elena saw his reaction.
“Answer it.”
He did.
“Gabriel.”
The older man’s voice was warm even through the speaker.
“Dante, I heard there was trouble at Lunetta.”
“Minor.”
“A woman?”
Elena stiffened.
Dante’s eyes met hers.
“Yes.”
“Anyone important?”
Dante paused.
“Not yet.”
Elena understood.
The lie was deliberate.
Necessary.
Gabriel laughed.
“Be careful. Women become important faster than bullets.”
Dante’s face became stone.
“So I’ve heard.”
Gabriel changed subjects.
“Dinner tonight?”
“Can’t.”
“Tomorrow?”
“Maybe.”
“You sound distracted.”
“I am.”
“Anything I can help with?”
Dante looked at Marco’s frozen face on the monitor.
“No.”
They exchanged farewells.
Dante ended the call.
Elena exhaled.
“He knows something.”
“Maybe.”
“He specifically mentioned a woman.”
“News travels quickly in my world.”
“That doesn’t comfort me.”
“It shouldn’t.”
Mia entered carrying Bunny beneath one arm.
“Can I have cereal?”
The shift was so sudden Elena almost laughed.
“Yes.”
Dante looked toward the doorway.
“I’ll have Teresa—”
“No.”
Elena took Mia’s hand.
“I’m making my daughter breakfast.”
“In my kitchen?”
“Yes.”
Dante raised an eyebrow.
“You disapprove?”
“I’m wondering whether I’m allowed to eat.”
Mia answered before Elena could.
“You can have cereal.”
Dante looked solemn.
“Generous.”
The kitchen became an unexpected refuge.
No guards.
No secret files.
No dead husband on a screen.
Just cereal bowls, milk and Mia complaining that Dante’s house had “boring healthy cereal.”
He opened another cabinet.
Chocolate cereal.
Mia’s eyes widened.
“You hid it.”
“I live dangerously.”
Elena snorted before she could stop herself.
Dante looked pleased.
She pointed a spoon at him.
“Do not become charming.”
“I’ll try.”
For ten minutes, life almost resembled normal.
Then Mia asked, “Did Daddy work here?”
Elena and Dante both stopped.
Dante sat across from her.
“Sometimes.”
“Did he sit at this table?”
“No.”
“Where?”
“Mostly my office.”
“Did you like him?”
“Yes.”
“Did he like you?”
Dante considered.
“Usually.”
Mia giggled.
“What did Daddy call you?”
Elena became curious.
Dante looked uncomfortable.
Mia waited.
Finally he sighed.
“Princess.”
Elena burst out laughing.
Dante gave her a wounded look.
“Marco called you Princess?”
“He found my dislike of the nickname amusing.”
Mia was delighted.
“Princess Dante!”
“Absolutely not.”
For the first time since arriving, Mia laughed without restraint.
Dante watched her.
Elena watched Dante watching her.
Something softened.
Then Mia said, “Daddy said powerful men are lonely.”
Dante’s smile vanished.
Elena frowned.
“When did he say that?”
Mia shrugged.
“I don’t know.”
“Do you remember talking about Daddy a lot when you were little?”
“I remember some things.”
“What things?”
She spooned cereal into her mouth.
“He told me Mama was the strongest person.”
Elena’s eyes filled immediately.
Mia continued casually.
“He said if he went away, I had to take care of you.”
Elena looked down.
Seven-year-olds should not carry promises from dead fathers.
Dante changed the subject gently.
“What else did he tell you?”
Mia thought.
“About the moon.”
Dante leaned forward.
“What about it?”
“When I got scared, Daddy said the moon always comes back.”
Elena smiled sadly.
“He used to say that.”
Mia nodded.
“And if someone asked about his secret, I should tell them moonlight doesn’t belong in boxes.”
Dante and Elena exchanged a look.
“What secret?” Elena asked.
Mia shrugged again.
“I don’t know.”
“Did Daddy show you anything?”
She shook her head.
Then paused.
“Maybe.”
Elena remained gentle.
“What?”
Mia looked toward the window.
“A red door.”
Dante’s eyes sharpened.
“What red door?”
“In a picture.”
“Where?”
“Daddy had it.”
“Do you remember what was behind it?”
Mia closed her eyes.
“I think… boats.”
Dante stood.
Elena looked at him.
“You know it.”
“There was an old shipping property Marco used.”
“Where?”
“Brooklyn waterfront.”
“What color was the office door?”
Dante’s face had gone still.
“Red.”
Two hours later they examined files from the recovered card.
A photograph appeared.
Old warehouses.
Shipping containers.
A small brick office with a red door.
Mia pointed.
“That one.”
Dante enlarged the image.
Nothing obvious.
Then Elena noticed numbers written on the doorframe.
218.
Dante searched.
Warehouse 218 had belonged to a dissolved company.
One that vanished a week after Marco died.
The former property was scheduled for demolition.
Tomorrow morning.
“Convenient,” Elena said.
“Very.”
“You’re going.”
“Yes.”
“I’m coming.”
“No.”
She laughed once.
“You clearly haven’t learned anything about me.”
“Elena, if Marco hid something there—”
“He left messages for me and my daughter. I’m coming.”
Dante stared at her.
She did not move.
Finally he exhaled.
“You stay beside me.”
“I’m not one of your soldiers.”
“No.”
His eyes held hers.
“That’s precisely why I’m asking.”
The way he said it changed the air between them.
Elena looked away.
“All right.”
Before dawn the next morning, three vehicles left the estate.
Warehouse 218 stood abandoned beside the river.
Inside, dust covered everything.
The red door hung half-open.
Dante entered first.
Elena followed.
The office was empty.
Desk gone.
Cabinets gone.
Walls stripped.
“There’s nothing here,” Elena whispered.
Dante looked around.
Then saw scratches near the floor.
A section of wood paneling had been removed and replaced.
They opened it.
Behind the wall sat a metal box.
Locked.
Elena’s hands began shaking.
Dante broke the rusted mechanism.
Inside lay one object.
A photograph.
Marco.
Elena.
Mia.
Taken at the beach when Mia was two.
Underneath was a handwritten note.
Elena recognized Marco’s writing.
She picked it up.
If you found this, Elena, then Dante kept his promise.
Her eyes filled.
She continued reading.
But the ledger is not the most dangerous thing I left behind.
Dante frowned.
Elena read the final line.
And the world shifted again.
Mia is not important because she knows the secret. She is important because of who witnessed her birth.
Elena stared at the words.
“I don’t understand.”
Then a sound came from outside.
Engines.
Several.
Dante moved instantly toward the window.
Black vehicles entered the warehouse yard.
His men reached beneath their jackets.
Elena’s pulse exploded.
“Who is that?”
Dante looked at the lead car.
He recognized it.
Gabriel Moretti stepped out.
May you like
And Dante realized his uncle had followed them.
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