Chapter 6 - The Brother Who Was Dead
Dominic's father lived forty minutes outside Boston.
Until that morning, I didn't know he existed.
That was becoming a pattern in the Moretti family.
Every time I thought I understood the shape of Dominic's life, another locked room appeared.
"You're not coming," Dominic said.
We were standing in the foyer.
"I wasn't planning to."
"Good."
"Leo?"
"Stays here."
"Also good."
He looked at me.
"Lily too."
"Obviously."
He hesitated.
"If anything feels wrong—"
"I call security."
"No."
He handed me a phone number written on paper.
"You call this."
"Who is it?"
"Someone I trust."
"You have those?"
Dominic almost smiled.
It disappeared quickly.
"One or two."
Then he left.
Leo watched the black SUV disappear.
"Father doesn't like Grandpa."
"Why?"
He shrugged.
"Grandpa makes him quiet."
That sentence stayed with me.
Children notice everything.
Dominic's father, Vittorio Moretti, lived in a sprawling brick estate overlooking a wooded property.
I learned the details later from Dominic.
He walked into his father's library without announcing himself.
Vittorio looked up from a newspaper.
"Dominic."
"Is Matteo alive?"
No greeting.
No small talk.
Vittorio slowly lowered the paper.
"Where did you hear that?"
Dominic's answer was immediate.
"So he is."
"Sit down."
"I didn't come to sit."
"You're still impulsive."
"I'm thirty-five."
"And still my son."
Dominic laughed without humor.
"Then tell me why my son knows the name of a brother you buried twelve years ago."
Vittorio's face changed.
"Leo said something?"
"He said you told him Matteo was far away."
"I never—"
"Don't lie to me."
The old man's eyes hardened.
For a few seconds, father and son looked remarkably alike.
Then Vittorio stood.
"Matteo is alive."
Dominic stared.
Even though he'd suspected it, hearing the words was different.
"Where?"
"I don't know."
"Why did you tell me he died?"
"Because he was supposed to."
"What does that mean?"
Vittorio walked toward the window.
"Your brother made choices."
Dominic's hands curled into fists.
"What choices?"
"He wanted out."
"Out of what?"
Vittorio looked at him.
"You know exactly what."
The Moretti name.
The business.
The world Dominic had inherited without ever discussing whether he wanted it.
"Matteo went to the government?"
"No."
"Then what?"
"He disappeared."
"And you told me he was dead."
"It was safer."
"For whom?"
Vittorio didn't answer.
Dominic stepped closer.
"Did Matteo have anything to do with Elena?"
"No."
"Did you?"
The room went silent.
Vittorio turned slowly.
"Careful."
"Did you move my car that morning?"
The old man's expression barely changed.
But Dominic saw enough.
"Oh my God."
"No."
"You knew."
"I knew the car had been moved."
"Who moved it?"
"I don't know."
Dominic slammed both hands against the desk.
"Four years!"
Vittorio didn't flinch.
"For four years, I have believed Gabriel killed my wife."
"Gabriel was involved in things you didn't understand."
"What things?"
"Things that kept this family alive."
Dominic laughed.
"My wife is dead."
Vittorio's eyes softened.
"That was never supposed to happen."
There are sentences that destroy families.
That was one.
Dominic stared at his father.
"What was supposed to happen?"
Vittorio said nothing.
Dominic stepped around the desk.
"What was supposed to happen?"
"You were meant to be delayed."
"Delayed for what?"
"To keep you away from a meeting."
"What meeting?"
"One you were never supposed to attend."
Dominic's breathing changed.
The morning Elena died, Dominic had been scheduled to meet representatives from a rival organization.
Gabriel had warned him not to go.
Dominic had ignored him.
Then Dominic's car wouldn't start.
He took another vehicle with his driver.
Elena, late for an appointment, took Dominic's car after a mechanic supposedly fixed it.
Thirty minutes later, she was dead.
Dominic had always believed the brakes were sabotaged to kill him.
Now Vittorio was saying the car had been deliberately disabled to prevent Dominic from leaving.
Someone else must have altered the vehicle after that.
Two separate plans.
One meant to delay Dominic.
One meant to kill whoever drove the car.
"Who knew Elena took it?" Dominic asked.
"I don't know."
"You always know."
"Not this."
"Then Gabriel?"
Vittorio shook his head.
"Gabriel discovered what happened."
"And vanished."
"Because someone tried to kill him too."
Dominic stared.
"Who?"
"I don't know."
"Stop saying that."
"I am not lying."
"You lied about Matteo for twelve years."
"To keep him alive."
Dominic's voice dropped.
"And what did you lie about to keep me alive?"
Vittorio did not answer.
Dominic left.
He returned to the mansion three hours later looking ten years older.
I found him sitting alone in the kitchen.
The same kitchen Lily had covered in bubbles.
He had Elena's photograph in front of him.
"How bad?" I asked.
He looked up.
"My brother is alive."
I sat down.
"My father knew the car had been moved."
I stopped breathing.
"He didn't order the crash."
"You believe him?"
"I don't know what I believe."
He rubbed both hands over his face.
"I've spent four years hating Gabriel."
"Maybe he knows who did it."
"Then why send riddles?"
"Maybe he's afraid."
"Of me?"
"Possibly."
Dominic looked toward the ceiling.
Leo and Lily were playing upstairs.
"No."
"What?"
"Gabriel was never afraid of me."
"Then who?"
Dominic stared at the photograph.
"My father."
That evening, Leo came downstairs carrying a book.
"Can you read?"
Dominic looked offended.
"I can read."
"I mean to me."
The room became very quiet.
Dominic put away his phone.
"Okay."
Leo climbed onto the couch.
After a moment, Lily climbed up too.
Then she patted the space beside her.
"For Isabella."
"I have dishes."
Dominic looked toward the kitchen.
"They'll survive."
I sat.
Dominic read.
He was terrible at character voices.
Lily complained.
"That bear doesn't sound like a bear."
"What does a bear sound like?"
She roared.
Dominic stared at her.
Leo laughed.
Eventually, Dominic tried the roar.
It was ridiculous.
I laughed so hard I had tears in my eyes.
And then Dominic laughed too.
For fifteen minutes, there was no mafia.
No dead wife.
No threatening photographs.
Just a father, two children, and a tired housekeeper sitting on a couch.
Then someone knocked.
Three slow knocks.
Every security guard in the house froze.
No one used the front door without clearance.
Dominic stood.
"Stay here."
The guards drew closer.
One opened the door.
A man stood outside.
Mid-thirties.
Dark hair.
A scar beside his left eye.
Dominic went completely still.
The stranger looked at him.
"It's been a long time, little brother."
Leo whispered, "Is that Uncle Matteo?"
Dominic's face lost all color.
Matteo Moretti smiled sadly.
Then he looked directly at me.
"If Gabriel called you," he said, "we don't have much time."
Dominic stepped forward.
"Time for what?"
Matteo's smile disappeared.
"For you to learn who really killed Elena."
May you like
And when he spoke the name, even Dominic Moretti looked afraid.
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