Chapter 5 - The Enemy at My Table
The meeting took place in an abandoned shipping office at Pier 19.
Police wanted to raid it.
I wanted to know who walked through the door first.
Hannah remained at the mansion with Leo and Dr. Warren.
Before I left, she stopped me.
“Come back.”
I looked at her.
“Is that an order?”
“Yes.”
“You’re getting comfortable.”
“Leo needs his father.”
The words stayed with me.
At the pier, Marco and I watched from a warehouse across the street.
Victor Salerno arrived first.
Then two men from Dalton Construction.
Then a black sedan appeared.
Dean tensed beside me.
“No.”
A man stepped out.
My uncle.
Vincent Rossi.
My father’s younger brother.
The man who had taught me to drive.
The man who had introduced me to Sophia.
The man who kissed Leo’s forehead after he was born.
Dean whispered, “Son of a…”
I said nothing.
We listened through the microphone planted by police.
Vincent’s voice came clearly.
“The baby should already be dead.”
Salerno answered.
“Your nurse failed.”
“Then you hired an idiot.”
“And your kidnapper?”
“Another failure.”
My hand tightened around the edge of the table.
Vincent continued.
“Adrian was supposed to die in that explosion.”
Salerno laughed.
“Instead you killed his wife.”
“An unfortunate complication.”
Dean looked at me.
I couldn’t move.
Sophia had been reduced to a complication.
Vincent said, “Without Adrian and the child, control transfers through the family trust.”
There it was.
Not honor.
Not revenge.
Money.
Power.
The oldest reasons men murdered family.
Marco whispered, “We have enough.”
I shook my head.
“Not yet.”
Vincent continued.
“The maid is becoming a problem.”
My head lifted.
“What maid?” Salerno asked.
“The Collins woman. She kept the baby alive.”
“What do you want done?”
Vincent’s answer came without hesitation.
“Remove her.”
I was already moving.
Marco followed.
“Adrian!”
Police tactical units closed in from both sides.
Vincent heard them.
He ran.
Salerno drew a gun.
Shots erupted.
Dean tackled me behind a concrete barrier.
“You trying to die?”
“My uncle threatened Hannah.”
“Then stay alive long enough to stop him.”
Salerno was arrested.
Two Dalton men surrendered.
Vincent escaped through the rear loading dock.
I called the mansion.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Then Marco’s phone rang.
He listened.
His face changed.
“Security breach at the house.”
We drove faster than I had driven since the night Sophia died.
When we reached the mansion, the front gate had been rammed.
Two guards were wounded.
I ran upstairs.
The nursery was empty.
“Hannah!”
No answer.
Then I heard Leo crying downstairs.
I followed the sound into Sophia’s winter garden.
Hannah stood near the fountain with Leo against her shoulder.
Vincent stood behind her.
Gun against her head.
“Stop there, Adrian.”
I stopped.
“Give me the baby.”
Vincent smiled.
“You always were sentimental.”
“Take me instead.”
“That's exactly what I wanted two months ago.”
Hannah looked at me.
Her face was pale, but her voice remained steady.
“Don’t give him what he wants.”
Vincent pressed the gun harder against her.
“Quiet.”
Leo began crying.
Vincent flinched.
Hannah immediately rocked him.
“It’s okay.”
“Shut that child up.”
“He’s scared.”
“I said shut him up!”
I saw something in Vincent’s face.
Panic.
He wasn’t in control anymore.
I lowered my weapon toward the floor.
“Vincent.”
“What?”
“You won.”
He stared at me.
I continued.
“Sophia is dead. My organization is fractured. Police have Salerno. You exposed everything.”
“Put the gun down.”
I slowly placed it on the marble.
Hannah understood what I was doing.
Keep him talking.
“Why Sophia?” I asked.
“She wasn't supposed to be in the car.”
“She was my wife.”
“She changed the route.”
My eyes narrowed.
“What?”
Vincent laughed.
“She discovered money missing from the Rossi Foundation. She was going to confront you after the gala.”
Sophia had known.
That was why she had insisted we leave early.
Vincent continued.
“She became dangerous.”
“So you killed her.”
“I tried to kill you both.”
Hannah’s eyes filled with anger.
“You murdered a pregnant woman for money?”
Vincent turned toward her.
“Don’t judge things you don’t understand.”
“I understand perfectly.”
Her voice hardened.
“You’re a coward.”
His gun shifted away from her head.
That was enough.
Hannah dropped.
I lunged.
The gun fired.
Glass shattered above us.
I hit Vincent hard.
We crashed into the fountain.
Marco and my guards rushed in.
Seconds later, Vincent was on the floor in handcuffs.
I turned.
“Hannah?”
She was sitting against the wall.
Leo was screaming.
But alive.
I dropped beside them.
“Are you hurt?”
She shook her head.
“You?”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re bleeding.”
I looked at my arm.
The bullet had grazed me.
Nothing important.
Hannah touched my face.
“Adrian.”
“What?”
“You came back.”
I looked at her.
Then at my son.
“I told you I would.”
She smiled through tears.
“No.”
“I told you to.”
May you like
Despite everything, I laughed.
And for the first time since Sophia died, the sound didn’t feel like betrayal.
