Chapter 4 - The Dock Where Trust Dies
The old London dock was almost abandoned.
Heavy fog covered the water. The lights from the warehouses flickered through the darkness, making everything feel colder than it really was.
Lorenzo sat inside the black SUV, watching the entrance.
Matio had chosen this place for a reason.
A place where secrets disappeared.
A place where people disappeared.
Naomi sat beside him, her hands wrapped around a cup of coffee Carlo had brought earlier.
She looked exhausted.
But she was still there.
Still fighting.
“You can leave,” Lorenzo said quietly.
Naomi looked at him.
“What?”
“You know too much now. You know what kind of world I live in.”
She gave a small bitter laugh.
“You think I didn’t know before?”
Lorenzo looked at her.
She continued.
“I knew Matio was dangerous. I knew the people around you were dangerous.”
A pause.
“But I never thought the most dangerous thing would be trusting the wrong person.”
Lorenzo looked away.
That sentence hit closer than she realized.
His entire life was built on loyalty.
And Matio had destroyed the one thing Lorenzo believed in.
The radio crackled.
Carlo’s voice came through.
“Boss. Movement.”
Lorenzo looked toward the dock entrance.
Three vehicles.
Black.
Expensive.
Familiar.
Matio had arrived.
“Stay here,” Lorenzo told Naomi.
She immediately shook her head.
“No.”
His eyes narrowed.
“This isn’t a discussion.”
“No.”
Her voice surprised him.
“I’m done hiding.”
Lorenzo stared at her.
Naomi swallowed.
“He ruined my life because he thought I was weak.”
She opened the car door.
“I’m not letting him decide what happens to me anymore.”
For a moment, Lorenzo said nothing.
Then he nodded.
“Stay behind me.”
Naomi followed.
---
Matio Russo stepped out of the first car wearing a dark coat and a calm smile.
The same smile Lorenzo had seen for twenty years.
The same smile that had convinced him they were brothers.
“Lorenzo.”
Matio opened his arms slightly.
“You look like you haven’t slept.”
Lorenzo stopped several feet away.
“You sent men after her.”
Matio looked at Naomi.
Then sighed.
“So she talked.”
Naomi’s face changed.
“You don’t even deny it?”
Matio smiled.
“Why would I?”
Carlo moved forward, angry.
“Boss, let me—”
Lorenzo raised his hand.
Nobody moved.
Matio looked amused.
“You still control the room.”
“No.”
Lorenzo’s voice was cold.
“I’m deciding whether you walk away from it.”
Matio laughed softly.
“After everything we built?”
He stepped closer.
“After everything I did for you?”
Lorenzo stared at him.
“And everything I did for you.”
The smile disappeared from Matio’s face.
For the first time, the mask cracked.
“You always thought you were better than me.”
Lorenzo frowned.
“What?”
“That was your problem.”
Matio’s voice became sharper.
“You became the name everyone feared. The man everyone respected.”
He pointed at Lorenzo.
“But nobody ever looked at me.”
A silence followed.
Naomi watched them carefully.
She finally understood.
This wasn’t only about money.
It was about jealousy.
Years of resentment.
“You were never my brother,” Matio said.
Lorenzo’s eyes hardened.
“No.”
A pause.
“You were the brother I chose.”
Those words hit harder than anger.
Matio looked away.
Then smiled again.
“Enough emotion.”
He pulled out his phone.
“You want proof?”
He turned the screen toward Lorenzo.
A video.
Naomi six months earlier.
Talking to Matio.
Giving him information.
Lorenzo watched silently.
Naomi’s face went pale.
“Lorenzo…”
He didn’t look at her.
The video ended.
Matio smiled.
“There she is.”
“She lied to you.”
Lorenzo remained still.
Matio continued.
“She worked for me.”
Naomi stepped forward.
“I told him everything.”
Matio looked at her.
“You told him half.”
Her voice shook.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I was scared.”
Matio laughed.
“Exactly.”
He looked at Lorenzo.
“She’s not innocent.”
Lorenzo looked at Naomi.
For a second, nobody knew what he was thinking.
Then he said:
“I know.”
Naomi froze.
Matio smiled.
“But she admitted it.”
Lorenzo turned back to him.
“That’s the difference.”
Matio’s smile faded.
“What?”
“My enemy hides the truth.”
Lorenzo stepped closer.
“She faced it.”
The dock became silent.
Matio’s expression changed.
Because he understood.
Lorenzo had already chosen.
---
Matio suddenly became serious.
“You’re making a mistake.”
“No.”
Lorenzo looked directly into his eyes.
“You did.”
A phone rang.
Not Lorenzo’s.
Matio’s.
He looked at the screen.
His face changed.
Just slightly.
But Lorenzo noticed.
“Who is it?”
Matio didn’t answer.
Lorenzo nodded to Carlo.
“Take it.”
Carlo grabbed the phone.
A voice came through.
“Matio? The accounts are frozen. The police are asking questions.”
Everyone went silent.
Matio slowly looked at Lorenzo.
“You planned this.”
Lorenzo shook his head.
“No.”
He stepped closer.
“I prepared for betrayal.”
A pause.
“Because I knew one day someone would try.”
Matio stared at him.
“You think this is over?”
Lorenzo’s voice dropped.
“No.”
He looked at Naomi.
May you like
“It’s just finished for you.”
---
