Chapter 13 - The Woman Who Refused to Run Again
Serena had spent two years preparing to disappear.
She knew how to abandon a phone in under thirty seconds.
How to travel without credit cards.
How to sleep lightly enough to hear footsteps outside an apartment door.
How to leave photographs behind because sentimental objects created patterns.
She had learned all of it because survival demanded it.
But forty-eight hours after learning Santino might still be alive, Serena did something she had not done in years.
She unpacked.
Not completely.
One sweater.
Two shirts.
A toothbrush placed beside the sink.
Small things.
Still, when she noticed them in the Moretti guest room, she stared as if someone else had put them there.
Staying had become more frightening than running.
Because staying created attachments.
Leo.
Isabella.
Even Dominic, in his irritatingly suspicious way.
And Landon.
Especially Landon.
She found him at four in the morning in his study.
He was reading Santino’s files.
“You sleep?”
“No.”
“Ever?”
“Occasionally.”
She entered.
A photograph of Santino lay on the desk.
“You want to go to Sicily.”
“Yes.”
“But you won’t.”
“Not yet.”
“That must be painful.”
“It is.”
Serena sat.
“You did the right thing.”
“I dislike hearing that.”
“Why?”
“Usually means the decision was miserable.”
She smiled.
“That’s often how it works.”
The investigation accelerated.
Matteo began cooperating fully after Vale’s attorneys implied he would be blamed for everything.
His testimony identified bank accounts, politicians, shipping executives, and customs officials.
Evelyn Cross built cases faster than anyone expected.
Vale’s network started eating itself.
Men who spent decades threatening others suddenly begged for protection.
Landon watched without sympathy.
But he did something that surprised Cross.
He volunteered Moretti corporate records.
All of them.
His attorneys nearly revolted.
“You could expose the company to prosecution.”
“If crimes were committed, they should be exposed.”
“You’re risking billions.”
“I know.”
“Employees.”
“I know.”
“Shareholders.”
“I know.”
The attorney stared.
“What are you doing?”
Landon answered:
“What my brother tried to do.”
He separated legal businesses from compromised ones.
Closed shipping subsidiaries.
Created restitution funds for victims identified through Santino’s records.
Sold properties connected to Vale’s operations.
It cost a fortune.
He did not care.
Serena watched the transformation.
The dangerous Landon Moretti did not become soft.
He became precise.
Instead of using power to protect his empire, he used it to dismantle the parts that should never have existed.
One afternoon, Cross called Serena.
“We need your testimony.”
Serena’s stomach tightened.
“When?”
“Grand jury next week.”
“No.”
Cross paused.
“I thought you wanted these people prosecuted.”
“I do.”
“Your testimony connects your father’s ledger to Santino.”
“There are documents.”
“Defense attorneys will challenge them.”
“I’m legally dead.”
“We can fix that.”
The idea sounded absurd.
Fix being dead.
“What about protection?”
“Witness protection is possible.”
Another identity.
Another city.
Another life.
Serena looked through the window.
Leo played in the courtyard below with Isabella.
Landon stood nearby on a phone call.
Running again suddenly felt unbearable.
“I need time.”
Cross agreed.
That evening, Serena told Landon.
He reacted exactly as expected.
“No.”
She folded her arms.
“You don’t decide.”
“Witness protection means disappearing.”
“Maybe.”
“No.”
“You really need a larger vocabulary.”
“I have one. I’m choosing the clearest word.”
“Landon.”
He stood.
“If you testify publicly, Vale’s remaining people will target you.”
“They already do.”
“You could take protection.”
“And disappear again.”
He stopped.
Serena looked at him.
“That’s what you actually hate.”
“Yes.”
At least he admitted it.
“I spent two years letting fear decide where I lived, what name I used, who I spoke to.”
“That kept you alive.”
“It also kept me from living.”
Landon said nothing.
“I’m testifying.”
He looked away.
She stepped closer.
“You can disagree.”
“I do.”
“You can worry.”
“I do.”
“You can increase security.”
“I will.”
“But you cannot order me not to do it.”
His jaw tightened.
Then he nodded.
“Fine.”
Serena blinked.
“That was easier than expected.”
“I’m learning.”
She smiled.
“Slowly.”
“Don’t ruin it.”
The grand jury appearance lasted three hours.
Serena entered through a secure entrance.
She used her real name for the first time publicly in two years.
Serena Elena Bellandi.
Alive.
Her testimony linked her father’s records to companies Vale controlled.
She described meeting Santino.
The investigation in Sicily.
The threats.
The staged accident.
The fake death.
When she finished, Cross met her outside.
“You did well.”
Serena exhaled.
“I feel sick.”
“That’s normal.”
“I hate courtrooms.”
“Also normal.”
Landon waited in a secure SUV.
When Serena entered, he handed her coffee.
No speech.
No congratulations.
Just coffee exactly the way she had started drinking it at his house.
She looked at him.
“You remembered.”
“I notice things.”
“I know.”
Their eyes held too long.
Dominic cleared his throat from the front seat.
“I am physically present.”
Serena laughed.
Landon glared at him.
The moment broke.
But something had changed.
That night, Serena could not sleep.
She walked downstairs.
Landon stood on the balcony.
Rain fell lightly over Manhattan.
“You too?” she asked.
He nodded.
She joined him.
For several minutes they watched the city.
Then Landon said, “I used to think Santino was reckless.”
“He was.”
“I thought wanting to change everything made him naive.”
“He could be.”
“You’re not helping.”
She smiled.
“He was human.”
Landon looked at the rain.
“I wish I told him I respected him.”
“You can.”
“If he’s alive.”
“When.”
Landon looked at her.
“You sound certain.”
“I have to be.”
He understood.
Hope was dangerous.
But some dangers were worth carrying.
His phone rang.
Dominic.
“Cross found something.”
“What?”
“A monastery medical ledger.”
Landon’s heart stopped.
“Name?”
“Not Santino.”
“Then?”
“A patient admitted two days after the crash. Severe injuries. No identification.”
“That proves nothing.”
“No.”
Dominic paused.
“But the attending physician wrote one note beside the admission.”
“What note?”
Dominic read it.
“Patient repeatedly asks for his son Leo.”
Landon closed his eyes.
Serena grabbed his hand.
Neither of them seemed to notice at first.
Dominic continued.
“The patient remained there seven weeks.”
“After?”
“Transferred.”
“Where?”
“The ledger says only one thing.”
“What?”
“North.”
Landon opened his eyes.
North could mean anywhere.
But Serena already knew.
“The monastery has another retreat.”
“Where?”
“In the Madonie Mountains.”
“How far?”
“Two hours.”
Landon looked at her.
The network was falling.
Vale remained jailed.
Cross had enough evidence to continue without them.
This time, Serena did not tell him to wait.
She squeezed his hand.
May you like
“Go find your brother.”
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