Chapter 6 - Avery’s Father Left More Than a Grave Behind
Nobody moved.
Rainwater dripped from the edge of the pier roof.
Marco Bellini held the gun steady.
Cameron stared at the man who had protected him for nearly fifteen years.
“Marco.”
“Don’t.”
Avery looked between them.
Marco’s face held no triumph.
Only exhaustion.
Bradley stepped backward.
“That’s why I wanted the girl gone.”
Marco glanced toward him.
“You should have stayed gone, Hayes.”
Cameron’s voice remained calm.
“How long?”
Marco laughed once.
“How long what?”
“How long have you worked for Salvatore?”
“Since I was nineteen.”
Avery whispered, “You’ve been beside Cameron all these years.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Salvatore needed somebody beside the king.”
Cameron’s jaw tightened.
“I’m not a king.”
“To everyone else, you are.”
Marco looked at the men surrounding the pier.
“Tell them to stand down.”
Cameron did not move.
Marco pointed the weapon toward Avery instead.
Cameron’s entire demeanor changed.
“Don’t.”
One word.
Different man.
Marco saw it too.
A sad smile appeared.
“That’s the weakness Salvatore never understood.”
Avery’s heart pounded.
“What?”
Marco kept looking at Cameron.
“Money doesn’t scare you. Prison doesn’t scare you. Dying doesn’t scare you.”
His eyes shifted to Avery.
“She does.”
Cameron stepped in front of her.
Avery grabbed his sleeve.
Marco said, “Tell them to lower their weapons.”
Cameron raised one hand.
His men obeyed.
Bradley exhaled.
Marco motioned toward a service door.
“Inside.”
They entered an old warehouse connected to the pier.
Avery walked beside Cameron.
Their hands brushed once.
He took hers.
Not romantically.
Instinctively.
Protectively.
She held on.
Inside, Marco locked the door.
“You killed my father?” Avery asked.
Marco stared at her.
“No.”
“Were you there?”
“Yes.”
Cameron turned.
“What?”
“I followed Vincent from the port.”
“Why?”
“Salvatore ordered me to recover the evidence.”
Avery’s voice shook.
“And then?”
“Vincent realized he was being followed. He called Cameron.”
Cameron looked sick.
“You knew he was meeting me.”
“Yes.”
“What happened on the road?”
Marco lowered the gun slightly.
“I forced his car toward the shoulder.”
Avery’s eyes filled.
“You caused the crash.”
“No.”
“What do you call forcing someone off a road?”
“He got away from me.”
Cameron stared.
Marco continued.
“Vincent turned onto Shore Road. I lost him for almost a minute.”
“And?”
“When I found the car, it had already hit the barrier.”
Avery could barely breathe.
“Who hit him?”
“I don’t know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I saw another vehicle leaving.”
“What vehicle?”
“Black Cadillac.”
Cameron frowned.
“Salvatore drove Mercedes.”
“Yes.”
“Who owned the Cadillac?”
Marco hesitated.
“Lorenzo.”
Cameron’s face went cold.
“My father was dead.”
“His car wasn’t.”
Avery felt everything shift again.
“Who had it?”
Marco looked toward Bradley.
Bradley cursed.
“Oh, come on.”
Avery stared at him.
“You?”
“I was twenty-seven.”
“You drove the car?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
Bradley looked terrified for the first time.
“My father.”
Avery whispered, “Thomas Hayes.”
Bradley nodded.
“My father was Salvatore’s financial partner.”
Cameron’s voice hardened.
“Thomas died five years ago.”
“Heart attack.”
“Convenient.”
“Not everyone dies in a conspiracy, Moretti.”
Avery looked at Bradley.
“Did your father kill mine?”
Bradley’s eyes lowered.
“I think so.”
The warehouse became silent.
Avery stepped backward.
Her knees weakened.
Cameron caught her.
She pushed him away—not because she didn’t want him, but because if he touched her she might collapse.
“My father died because your families stole money.”
Cameron said quietly, “Yes.”
“And then everyone spent eight years protecting me from a truth I had a right to know.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Marco answered.
“Because Vincent asked us to.”
Avery turned.
“What?”
Marco reached into his coat.
Cameron tensed.
Marco removed no weapon.
Only a small digital recorder.
“Vincent gave me this three days before he died.”
Avery stared.
“Why would he trust you?”
“He didn’t.”
Marco smiled bitterly.
“He knew I was following him. He wanted Salvatore to hear it.”
Marco pressed play.
Vincent’s voice filled the warehouse.
“If Salvatore is listening, understand something. You can take the money. You can take the company. You can even take me. But leave my daughter out of it.”
Avery began crying.
Vincent continued.
“She doesn’t know anything.”
Then another voice.
Marco’s younger voice.
“You think that will matter?”
Vincent answered.
“It will matter to Cameron.”
A pause.
“You barely know that kid.”
“I know enough.”
The recording ended.
Avery looked at Cameron.
“Dad trusted you before I even knew you.”
Cameron’s voice was rough.
“I didn’t deserve it.”
Marco looked away.
Cameron said, “Why give us this now?”
“Because Salvatore is coming back.”
Bradley swore.
Avery frowned.
“Back from where?”
Cameron explained.
“Salvatore disappeared six years ago. Everyone assumed he died in Europe.”
Marco shook his head.
“No.”
“You knew?”
“I’ve been sending him information.”
Cameron stared.
“And now?”
“Now he wants Avery.”
Cameron moved instantly.
His fist struck Marco before Avery could react.
Marco hit the floor.
The gun skidded away.
Cameron grabbed him by the collar.
“Why?”
“Because Vincent copied something no one has found.”
“We have the files.”
“Not the file Salvatore needs.”
“What is it?”
Marco coughed.
“Evidence linking him to judges, city officials, port unions, overseas accounts.”
“Where?”
Marco smiled.
“Vincent hid it where nobody would look.”
Avery thought about her father.
The diner.
The locket.
Their apartment.
Then she remembered something strange.
When she was a child, Vincent had given her a wooden recipe box.
He called it her “future inheritance.”
She had laughed because it contained nothing except handwritten family recipes.
It was still at Rosa’s.
On a shelf in the diner kitchen.
Avery looked at Cameron.
He saw the realization immediately.
“What?”
“The recipe box.”
Marco stopped smiling.
That was confirmation enough.
Cameron stood.
“We’re going to Rosa’s.”
“No,” Marco said.
Cameron turned.
Marco looked genuinely afraid.
“You can’t.”
“Why?”
“Because Salvatore figured it out before you did.”
Avery’s phone rang.
Rosa.
She answered instantly.
“Rosa?”
No response.
Then a man spoke.
Older.
Calm.
“Avery Russo.”
She froze.
Cameron took one step toward her.
The voice continued.
“You have your father’s eyes.”
Avery whispered, “Salvatore.”
“Very good.”
“What did you do to Rosa?”
“She’s perfectly safe.”
In the background, Avery heard Rosa shouting something muffled.
Salvatore laughed.
“Bring Cameron to the diner.”
Cameron held out his hand for the phone.
Avery didn’t give it to him.
“What do you want?”
“The inheritance your father left you.”
Avery looked at Cameron.
Salvatore continued.
“And Avery?”
“Yes?”
“Ask Cameron one question before you come.”
Her grip tightened.
“What question?”
“Ask him why your father’s life insurance named Cameron Moretti as your legal guardian.”
Avery’s heart stopped.
The call ended.
She stared at Cameron.
His face gave him away before he said anything.
May you like
It was true.
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