Chapter 14 - Gianni’s Return
Gianni Morello walked into a police station in Milwaukee at 6:40 that evening.
He asked for federal protection.
By midnight, he was sitting across from Naomi Carter.
Leo watched from behind one-way glass.
Gianni looked older than he had three days earlier.
Smaller.
Terrified.
Naomi placed Sofia’s recording on the table.
Gianni closed his eyes.
“You recognize your voice?”
“Yes.”
“Did you participate in the bombing that killed Sofia Rossi?”
Gianni’s face twisted.
“I helped arrange access to the vehicle.”
Leo’s hand tightened.
Mateo stepped between Leo and the door.
“Don’t.”
“I’m not doing anything.”
“That sentence has frightened me for fifteen years.”
Inside the interview room, Naomi continued.
“Who ordered the bombing?”
“Sterling Kensington.”
“Was Leo Rossi the target?”
“Originally.”
“Originally?”
Gianni looked toward the mirrored glass.
“Sofia discovered Sterling’s laundering network.”
Leo stopped breathing.
“She threatened to expose him.”
“So the target changed?”
Gianni nodded.
“I told Sterling Sofia would be driving that morning.”
Naomi leaned forward.
“You knowingly allowed the bomb to detonate?”
Gianni started crying.
Leo had never seen him cry.
Not at funerals.
Not after shootings.
Not even when his own brother died.
“I told myself she might take another car.”
Naomi’s voice became hard.
“But she didn’t.”
“No.”
“Why did you betray the Rossi family?”
Gianni stared at the table.
“Money.”
Leo looked away.
There it was.
No grand revenge.
No secret ideology.
No old family wound.
Money.
Five million dollars had bought Sofia’s death.
Naomi continued.
“And Victoria?”
“Sterling brought her into it later.”
“Why?”
“He wanted her married to Leo.”
“To gain access?”
“Yes.”
“To what?”
“Rossi shipping.”
“And Lily?”
Gianni hesitated.
Naomi’s eyes hardened.
“Lily Rossi.”
Gianni swallowed.
“Victoria became obsessed with Sofia’s shares.”
“What shares?”
“Sofia owned twenty-two percent of Rossi International through a trust.”
Leo frowned.
He knew the trust.
Those shares belonged to Lily.
Gianni continued.
“If Leo married Victoria and Lily died before twenty-one, control reverted temporarily to Leo’s marital estate.”
Naomi understood.
“So Victoria would potentially gain access.”
“Yes.”
Leo stepped toward the door.
Mateo blocked him.
“Leo.”
“She planned my daughter’s death.”
“Listen.”
Inside, Gianni continued.
“Sterling never told her to kill Lily.”
Naomi raised an eyebrow.
“But?”
“Victoria decided Lily was an obstacle.”
The room became colder.
“When Lily saw Victoria searching the office, Victoria panicked.”
“Why the cellar?”
“She knew Lily’s inhaler was upstairs.”
Naomi’s expression changed.
“You’re saying she deliberately created an asthma emergency.”
Gianni nodded.
Leo closed his eyes.
Mateo put a hand on his shoulder.
For once, Leo did not pull away.
Naomi asked the final question.
“Where is Sterling Kensington now?”
Gianni looked toward the mirror.
“He knows you have Bluebird.”
May you like
A pause.
“And he is coming to Chicago.”
