Chapter 19 - Vittorio
The Vitale estate was under attack when we returned.
Not with bullets.
With betrayal.
Vittorio had arrived through the front gate using family credentials no one had revoked.
An old man in a black coat sat in Alessandro’s study as though he owned it.
Perhaps once he had believed he would.
Sofia stood beside the fireplace.
Two men guarded her.
Vittorio smiled when Alessandro entered with Leo.
“Nephew.”
Alessandro’s hand tightened around his gun.
“Let her go.”
Vittorio looked at me.
“Sofia’s little girl.”
“I wondered what became of you.”
“I became inconvenient.”
He laughed.
“You sound like her.”
Sofia’s face remained hard.
“You killed Lucia.”
“I preserved the family.”
“You killed Elena.”
“She was going to destroy everything Dominic built.”
Alessandro went completely still.
“You admit it.”
Vittorio shrugged.
“We are past pretending.”
Leo hid behind me.
I held his hand.
Vittorio looked at him.
“The boy should never have been involved.”
“You tried to kill him,” I said.
“Adrian became impatient.”
“Do not confuse my son’s enthusiasm with my instructions.”
Alessandro’s laugh was empty.
“Even now, you lie.”
Vittorio sighed.
“Your father was weak.”
“He believed family meant loyalty.”
“I believed family meant survival.”
“And Matteo?”
Vittorio’s eyes sharpened.
“He was Lucia’s favorite.”
“Dominic planned to divide the empire between you.”
“I corrected the mistake.”
“You kidnapped an eight-year-old child.”
“I ordered his removal.”
“Sofia complicated it.”
Sofia smiled faintly.
“My favorite accomplishment.”
Vittorio’s face twisted.
That was when I understood.
He feared her.
Not Alessandro.
Not Enzo.
Sofia.
Because she had the proof.
“The Green Eye,” Vittorio said.
“Give it to me.”
I touched the ring hanging around my neck.
We had retrieved the tiny metal key before coming back.
“No.”
He nodded toward one of his men.
The man pressed a gun against Sofia’s head.
“Mara,” she said.
Her voice was calm.
“Do not.”
I looked at Alessandro.
He looked at me.
Then at Leo.
Then Sofia winked.
Tiny movement.
Almost invisible.
I remembered being a child.
Her teaching me cards.
Never watch the hand they want you to watch.
I looked toward the bookshelf.
Enzo’s reflection appeared faintly in the glass cabinet behind Vittorio.
He was in position.
I pulled the ring off my neck.
Vittorio leaned forward.
I threw it.
Not toward him.
Toward the fireplace.
He turned instinctively.
Enzo fired.
The guard beside Sofia dropped his weapon.
Alessandro crossed the room in two strides.
Vittorio reached for a pistol.
Sofia struck his wrist with the iron fireplace poker.
He screamed.
I grabbed Leo and pulled him down.
Then it was over.
Vittorio lay on the carpet.
Alive.
Disarmed.
Humiliated.
Alessandro stood over him.
For one terrifying moment, I thought he would kill him.
Vittorio thought so too.
“Do it.”
Alessandro stared at the man who had destroyed his childhood, his mother, his wife, and almost his son.
Then he lowered the gun.
“No.”
Vittorio laughed.
“Weak.”
“No.”
Alessandro looked toward Leo.
“My son is watching.”
Police sirens approached beyond the gates.
Vittorio’s smile disappeared.
Alessandro had done something his uncle never expected.
He had turned over the ledger.
The recordings.
The financial evidence.
Everything.
May you like
Vittorio would not die a feared patriarch.
He would live long enough to watch his empire become evidence.
