Chapter 10 - Bradley Hayes Finally Told the Truth
Bradley found the location.
Nobody expected that.
Cameron least of all.
They were inside Moretti Maritime’s command center when Bradley stared at the map and suddenly said:
“Red Hook.”
Marco looked up.
“What?”
“Salvatore uses an old cold-storage warehouse near Red Hook.”
“How do you know?”
“My father bought it in 2011.”
Cameron approached.
“Address.”
Bradley gave it.
Marco checked records.
The property had changed ownership six times through shell corporations.
Final owner:
Hayes Marine Ventures.
Bradley stared at the screen.
“That company is supposed to be dissolved.”
Cameron grabbed his coat.
Bradley caught his arm.
“Wait.”
Cameron looked down at his hand.
Bradley immediately released it.
“There’s something you need to know before you go.”
“Make it quick.”
Bradley looked around the room.
“I knew Avery’s father.”
Avery’s mother went still.
“What?”
Bradley swallowed.
“My father introduced us.”
Cameron’s expression became dangerous.
“When?”
“Two weeks before Vincent died.”
Bradley looked ashamed.
“Vincent came to Hayes Capital pretending he needed investment documents.”
“Pretending?”
“He already knew we were laundering Salvatore’s money.”
Elena whispered, “Why would he meet you?”
“Because he thought I might cooperate.”
“Would you?”
Bradley looked down.
“I wanted to.”
Cameron laughed bitterly.
“You spent this morning insulting his daughter.”
“I know.”
“Why?”
“Because Salvatore told me Cameron Moretti had become careless about a waitress.”
Bradley’s jaw tightened.
“I was supposed to walk into the diner, create a scene, and see whether Cameron reacted.”
“You burned her.”
“Accident.”
“You humiliated her.”
Bradley looked genuinely disgusted with himself.
“That part wasn’t an accident.”
Cameron moved toward him.
Elena stopped him.
Bradley continued.
“I spent twenty years trying to become exactly like my father. Richer. Crueler. Untouchable.”
He looked at Elena.
“This morning, Avery looked at me exactly the way Vincent did.”
“How?”
“Like I was small.”
Silence.
Bradley laughed bitterly.
“I called her fat because I needed someone else to feel smaller than I did.”
Elena’s expression hardened.
“That doesn’t excuse it.”
“No.”
“You’ll apologize to my daughter.”
“If she lets me.”
Cameron said, “Warehouse.”
They arrived at Red Hook after sunset.
Federal agents surrounded the district but held back.
Cameron refused to risk Avery.
Inside the warehouse, Avery sat across from Salvatore.
He had not tied her.
He did not need to.
Two guards watched every exit.
Salvatore poured himself sparkling water.
“You know Cameron will come.”
“Yes.”
“And you know that may get him killed.”
Avery studied him.
“You hate him.”
“I pity him.”
“No. You envy him.”
Salvatore smiled.
“Why would I envy Cameron?”
“Because people choose him.”
“They fear him.”
“Some do.”
“You think loyalty is love?”
“I think you wouldn’t recognize either.”
Salvatore’s smile disappeared.
Avery continued.
“Cameron inherited the company instead of you.”
“He was a boy.”
“And Lorenzo still chose him.”
“He chose blood.”
“You’re blood.”
Salvatore’s jaw tightened.
There.
Avery had found the wound.
“You spent your life thinking power belonged to whoever frightened everyone most.”
She leaned forward.
“But Cameron doesn’t keep people beside him by frightening them.”
“He kept Marco.”
“Marco betrayed you.”
“He kept Bradley.”
“Bradley betrayed you too.”
Salvatore’s face darkened.
Avery smiled faintly.
“You’re losing because nobody loves you.”
Salvatore stood.
For the first time, his calm cracked.
Then the lights went out.
Avery dropped instantly.
She heard shouting.
Footsteps.
A crash.
Emergency lights flashed red.
One guard ran.
The other turned toward the door.
Cameron appeared.
He crossed the space quickly, disarmed the guard, and reached Avery.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
He touched her face as if confirming she existed.
“Avery.”
“I’m okay.”
For one second, everything else disappeared.
Then Salvatore’s voice came from behind them.
“Beautiful.”
They turned.
Salvatore held a small device.
His thumb rested on a button.
Cameron moved in front of Avery.
Salvatore laughed.
“The great Cameron Moretti.”
“What is it?”
“Insurance.”
Bradley entered from a side corridor.
Salvatore saw him.
“You.”
Bradley stopped.
Salvatore’s expression changed from amusement to hatred.
“You always were weak.”
Bradley stared at him.
Then smiled.
“My father said that too.”
“Thomas understood survival.”
“No.”
Bradley stepped closer.
“He understood fear.”
Salvatore raised the device.
Bradley said, “Go ahead.”
Cameron frowned.
“Bradley.”
Bradley ignored him.
“Press it.”
Salvatore’s eyes narrowed.
“You don’t know what it does.”
“I know exactly what it does.”
Bradley held up his phone.
“Because my father designed your security systems.”
Salvatore glanced at the device.
“It opens the old shipping bay doors.”
Avery frowned.
“That’s it?”
Bradley smiled.
“You thought it triggered explosives because my father told you it did.”
Salvatore stared.
Bradley’s voice shook.
“My father spent his whole life making people afraid. I know every trick.”
Salvatore pressed the button.
Nothing exploded.
Across the warehouse, enormous metal doors rolled open.
Federal agents poured inside.
Salvatore’s face collapsed.
For the first time, he looked old.
He was arrested without another word.
Avery watched him disappear between agents.
Cameron touched her arm.
“Come home.”
Avery looked at him.
Home.
The word lingered.
She wanted to say yes.
Instead:
“I meant what I said.”
His face fell slightly.
“I know.”
“I need to leave.”
“How long?”
“I don’t know.”
He nodded.
And because he loved her, Cameron Moretti did the hardest thing he had ever done.
May you like
He let Avery Russo walk away.
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