Chapter 4 - The Warehouse by the River
“I’m going with you,” Sophia said.
“No.”
We stood inside my office while Marco prepared a tactical team in the corridor.
Sophia crossed her arms.
“The photograph belonged to Daniel.”
“And Luca has already killed one person over it.”
“Which is why I need to hear what he knows.”
“You have a daughter.”
“I know exactly what I have.”
Her voice cracked, but she did not look away.
“For seven years, I told Emma her father died because the road was wet. I told myself the same lie because the truth was too dangerous. I will not spend the rest of my life hiding from it.”
I looked through the open door.
Emma sat on a bench with my mother, holding the crooked white sock Sophia had finally removed from her ankle.
“She already risked herself once today,” Sophia continued. “I won’t teach her that courage only matters when someone else uses it.”
Marco entered.
“The team is ready.”
“Isabella?” I asked.
“In the vehicle. She’s wearing a tracker.”
Sophia stepped toward the door.
“I’m coming.”
I blocked her path.
“Luca asked for Isabella and the photograph.”
“He asked for the photograph because he knows I have it.”
“He may not know you’re still alive.”
“He threatened me three nights ago through Isabella. He knows.”
I could order her into the secure room.
I could have two guards keep her there.
But the fear in her eyes was no longer controlling her.
It was sharpening her.
“Stay beside Marco,” I said. “You do exactly what he tells you.”
“I will.”
“That was not a request.”
“I understand.”
We left Emma with my mother.
Before Sophia walked away, Emma caught her hand.
“Mommy?”
Sophia knelt.
“I need to help Mr. Moretti.”
“Will the bad lady be there?”
“Yes.”
Emma looked toward me.
“Don’t let her hurt Mommy.”
I crouched beside her.
“She won’t.”
“Promise?”
Men like me rarely made promises.
Promises created vulnerabilities. They placed your word in someone else’s hands.
But Emma was watching me with complete trust.
“I promise.”
The warehouse sat beside the East River, surrounded by rusted containers and abandoned loading cranes. Rain had started falling by the time our vehicles stopped two blocks away.
Marco’s men moved into position.
Isabella sat beside me in the back seat, her hands restrained beneath a white coat covering her wedding gown.
“You brought Sophia,” she said.
“She insisted.”
“That was foolish.”
“You’re concerned for her?”
“I’m concerned Luca will shoot everyone.”
“Then help us stop him.”
She laughed softly.
“You still believe people help each other without wanting something.”
“Sophia’s child stopped my wedding because she wanted her mother safe.”
“She’s three.”
“Which makes her motives cleaner than yours.”
Isabella’s expression tightened.
Marco opened the door.
“We’re moving.”
Inside the warehouse, one row of overhead lights burned above the central floor.
Luca stood beneath them.
My wounded guard was tied to a chair ten feet away. Blood covered one sleeve, but he was conscious.
Luca held a pistol in one hand and the leather ledger in the other.
“You took your time,” he said.
His black tuxedo had been replaced by a dark jacket, but he still wore the white wedding shirt beneath it.
“Release my guard,” I said.
“Give me Isabella.”
Isabella stepped into the light.
“You abandoned me.”
Luca smiled.
“You were always better at creating distractions.”
“You told me the plan was secure.”
“It was until you terrorized a child in a house full of cameras.”
Her jaw clenched.
“I deleted the footage.”
“Badly.”
Luca looked at Sophia.
“And the loyal widow came too.”
Sophia held the photograph at her side.
“What happened to Daniel?”
Luca sighed.
“Straight to business.”
“You murdered him.”
“I ordered him to stop.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“He refused.”
Her face hardened.
“You drove him off that bridge.”
“No. One of my men forced his car from the road.”
Sophia’s breath caught.
Luca continued as though discussing an invoice.
“Daniel survived the crash. He crawled out before the vehicle sank.”
Sophia went still.
“What did you say?”
“He was alive when my men found him.”
Her knees nearly gave way. Marco caught her elbow.
“You knew he was alive?” she whispered.
“For several minutes.”
I raised my weapon.
“You should choose your next words carefully.”
Luca aimed his pistol at the guard.
“You shoot me, he dies.”
Sophia’s eyes filled, but her voice remained steady.
“Did Daniel say anything?”
Luca looked at the photograph in her hand.
“He said Alessandro’s father would find the evidence.”
“My father never saw it,” I said.
“Because your uncle intercepted it.”
“My uncle ordered the murder?”
“No. He ordered Daniel frightened. I made the practical decision.”
“You killed a man to hide stolen money.”
“I killed a man because your father was preparing to remove my side of the family from the business.”
The bitterness in his voice had been waiting for years.
“You inherited everything,” Luca said. “The name. The estate. The docks. I stood beside you, solved problems for you, buried enemies for you—and I remained the cousin.”
“You were my brother.”
“No. Brothers share.”
“You had access to every part of the organization.”
“Access is not ownership.”
I looked at the ledger.
“And marrying Isabella would have changed that?”
“She would gain authority through the Romano alliance. You would sign the restructuring agreement after the wedding. Six months later, an investigation would freeze your accounts.”
“Using evidence you created.”
“You would step down to protect the family.”
“And if I refused?”
Isabella answered behind me.
“You were supposed to die.”
I turned toward her.
She looked at Luca.
“He changed the plan.”
Luca’s smile disappeared.
“You weren’t supposed to tell him.”
“You were going to kill him after the wedding,” she continued. “A heart attack during the honeymoon. The doctor was already paid.”
My finger tightened against the trigger.
Luca aimed his weapon at Isabella.
“You stupid—”
Marco fired.
The bullet struck Luca’s shoulder.
His pistol discharged into the ceiling.
I rushed him before he could recover. We hit the concrete floor hard. The ledger slid beneath a table.
Luca drove his fist into my jaw and reached for the pistol.
I caught his wrist.
“You should have stayed in your place,” he spat.
“My place was beside you.”
I struck him across the face.
“You chose to stand against me.”
A second gunshot exploded.
We both froze.
The wounded guard slumped sideways.
Isabella stood behind Marco holding a small pistol she had pulled from beneath her gown.
Smoke curled from the barrel.
May you like
Marco turned, but she pressed the weapon against Sophia’s head.
“Everyone lower your guns.”
