Chapter 7 - The TraitorThe flight back to New York felt like the silence before an execution.
Lorenzo barely spoke.
Anna sat beside him.
Teresa’s photograph remained open on the table.
“Who knew she would be alone?”
Anna asked.
Lorenzo looked up.
“House staff.”
“Security.”
“Yes.”
“Leo?”
“Yes.”
“Your family?”
A pause.
“Yes.”
Anna leaned back.
“So Gabriel has someone close.”
“He always has.”
Antonio sat across from them.
“That is how he survives.”
Lorenzo’s gaze sharpened.
“You knew.”
“I suspected.”
“Who?”
“Your cousin.”
Lorenzo froze.
“Matteo?”
Antonio nodded.
Lorenzo stood so quickly the glass on the table fell.
“No.”
“Sebastiano discovered payments to Carlo Moretti before his death. After Carlo died, the same accounts transferred to Matteo.”
Lorenzo stared at him.
“Matteo was thirteen.”
“His mother controlled the accounts.”
Lorenzo turned away.
Anna knew Matteo only from the files she had seen.
Lorenzo’s cousin.
Raised alongside him.
Currently responsible for Moretti shipping operations.
Another brother in everything except bloodline proximity.
“Call him.”
Anna said.
Lorenzo looked at her.
“If he’s innocent, nothing changes.”
“And if he isn’t?”
“We lie.”
Lorenzo’s expression became interested.
Anna continued.
“Tell him the ledger never left Switzerland.”
Antonio understood first.
“And watch what Gabriel does.”
Exactly twenty-three minutes after Lorenzo called Matteo, Gabriel’s men attacked the Zurich bank.
Leo confirmed it through their contacts.
The ledger was already over the Atlantic.
Matteo had betrayed them.
Lorenzo stared at the confirmation.
Then deleted the message.
No reaction.
Anna touched his arm.
He pulled away.
Not harshly.
Automatically.
She understood.
Lorenzo could handle enemies.
Betrayal was different.
The jet landed at Teterboro shortly after midnight.
Matteo was waiting at the Moretti estate.
He stood in Lorenzo’s study.
Thirty-one years old.
Handsome.
Dark-haired.
He smiled when Anna entered.
“So this is the famous concierge.”
Anna looked at Lorenzo.
He gave nothing away.
“Anna, my cousin Matteo.”
She extended her hand.
Matteo kissed her knuckles.
Lorenzo’s expression chilled.
Interesting.
Matteo noticed.
Even more interesting.
“I hear you’ve caused quite a week.”
Matteo said.
“I have a talent.”
“So does Lorenzo.”
He smiled.
“For finding trouble.”
Lorenzo poured whiskey.
“Zurich was compromised.”
Matteo’s eyes widened.
“The ledger?”
“Still in the vault.”
Perfect performance.
Almost.
Anna watched his left hand.
One finger tapped against his thigh.
Once.
Twice.
Relief.
He believed the lie.
“We go back tomorrow.”
Lorenzo said.
Matteo nodded.
“I’ll arrange security.”
“Do that.”
Matteo left.
The door closed.
Lorenzo put down the whiskey.
“I’m going to kill him.”
“No.”
Anna said.
He looked at her.
Antonio looked surprised.
Leo looked suicidal.
Anna continued.
“Not yet.”
“Anna.”
“He can lead us to Gabriel.”
Lorenzo approached.
“He gave Teresa to him.”
“And killing him now doesn’t bring her back.”
His jaw flexed.
Anna stood her ground.
“Use him.”
Lorenzo stared at her for several seconds.
Then a slow smile appeared.
“Perhaps you do belong with wolves.”
“Don’t sound so proud.”
“I’m extremely proud.”
They constructed the trap before dawn.
Matteo believed Lorenzo would return to Zurich.
Instead, a Moretti jet departed empty.
Within an hour, Matteo left the estate.
Leo followed electronically.
Not physically.
Anna suggested placing a tracker inside Matteo’s encrypted satellite phone.
“He’ll scan his car.”
She explained.
“He won’t scan something he believes is secure.”
Lorenzo looked impressed.
“Hotel guests taught you that?”
“Cheating husbands.”
“Remind me never to cheat on you.”
The room became silent.
Anna slowly turned.
“On me?”
Lorenzo realized what he had said.
For once, the great Lorenzo Moretti had no immediate response.
Leo looked down.
Antonio looked delighted.
Anna raised an eyebrow.
“We’re discussing that later.”
“Yes.”
Lorenzo cleared his throat.
“Later.”
Matteo traveled into Manhattan.
Then south.
Battery Park.
A private marina.
A boat.
“He’s going to Ellis Island.”
Anna said.
Lorenzo looked at the map.
“Gabriel moved the meeting.”
“Or never intended to wait.”
They mobilized.
Anna put on a bulletproof vest.
Lorenzo saw her.
“No.”
She continued fastening it.
“We already had this argument.”
“You’re not going onto the island.”
“My mother is there.”
“Anna.”
“Lorenzo.”
They stared.
Leo walked between them.
“Children.”
Both turned on him.
He lifted his hands.
“I withdraw the comment.”
The approach to Ellis Island took place from the New Jersey side.
No lights.
Two boats.
Moretti men.
Anna sat beside Lorenzo.
The Statue of Liberty rose against the night sky.
Beautiful.
Strange.
A monument to freedom beside a woman willingly entering a criminal war.
Lorenzo touched her hand.
“You stay with Leo.”
“I know.”
“If shooting begins—”
“I stay down.”
“If we separate—”
“I go to the extraction point.”
“If Gabriel takes you—”
“Lorenzo.”
He stopped.
Anna looked at him.
“I know.”
His thumb brushed her cheek.
“I should have left you at the hotel.”
“Probably.”
“You would have been safer.”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“Gabriel was already looking for me.”
Lorenzo knew it was true.
Anna leaned closer.
“And I would still think you were a bloated peacock.”
He smiled faintly.
“Tragedy.”
The boats reached shore.
They entered through a maintenance area.
Matteo’s signal remained inside the abandoned hospital complex.
The corridors were dark.
Anna stayed behind Leo.
Lorenzo moved ahead.
Then a voice echoed.
“Cousin.”
Matteo stepped into the corridor.
Gun in hand.
Lorenzo stopped.
“Where is Teresa?”
Matteo laughed.
“Always straight to business.”
“Where?”
“Alive.”
“And Elena?”
“Alive.”
Anna’s pulse jumped.
Matteo noticed her.
“You brought her.”
“Yes.”
Gabriel’s voice came from behind them.
“He did.”
Lights activated.
Armed men appeared on the upper walkway.
Moretti soldiers raised weapons.
Gabriel Vale emerged.
Elegant.
Calm.
He looked directly at Lorenzo.
“You have Sebastiano’s eyes.”
Lorenzo aimed at him.
“And you have thirty seconds to release the women.”
Gabriel smiled.
“You were always impatient.”
“You knew me?”
“I held you the day you were born.”
Something flashed through Lorenzo’s expression.
Gabriel looked at Anna.
“And you.”
He seemed almost affectionate.
“Antonio’s little bird.”
Anna’s skin crawled.
“Where is my mother?”
Gabriel gestured.
A door opened.
Elena and Teresa were pushed forward.
Alive.
Anna almost moved.
Leo stopped her.
Gabriel held up a hand.
“The ledger.”
Lorenzo removed it from beneath his coat.
Matteo stared.
“You said it was in Zurich.”
Lorenzo looked at him.
“Yes.”
Matteo understood.
His face changed.
“You knew.”
“For the last six hours.”
Lorenzo’s voice was cold.
“You betrayed my father.”
“No.”
Matteo shook his head.
“My mother did.”
“And you continued.”
“I survived.”
“By selling my family.”
“Your family?”
Matteo laughed bitterly.
“You inherited everything.”
“Because your father tried to kill me.”
“Because Gabriel told him you would kill us first!”
There it was.
The cycle.
Gabriel had poisoned them for decades.
Lorenzo’s gun shifted toward him.
Gabriel remained calm.
“The ledger.”
Anna looked at her mother.
Elena subtly moved one hand.
Two fingers.
Then three.
A childhood signal.
Anna remembered.
Three behind.
Two left.
Elena was telling them where Gabriel’s hidden men stood.
Anna touched Leo’s sleeve.
She whispered the positions.
Leo passed them through the radio.
Lorenzo kept Gabriel talking.
“You killed my parents.”
“Your father became sentimental.”
Gabriel sighed.
“He thought power could exist without control.”
“And my mother?”
“Collateral.”
Lorenzo’s face became empty.
Anna knew that expression.
Someone was about to die.
Gabriel reached toward Elena.
“Ledger.”
Lorenzo threw it.
Gabriel caught it.
At the same instant, Anna shouted.
“Now!”
The lights died.
Gunfire erupted.
Anna dropped.
Leo fired toward the upper walkway.
Moretti men moved from both sides.
Elena pulled Teresa behind a column.
Lorenzo went directly for Gabriel.
Matteo intercepted him.
The cousins collided.
Anna crawled toward her mother.
A Black Cross gunman appeared.
He aimed.
Anna froze.
A shot sounded.
The man fell.
Antonio stood in the doorway behind him.
“Move!”
Anna reached Elena.
They embraced for only a second.
Then Anna pulled her toward the exit.
Behind them, Lorenzo and Matteo fought.
No guns now.
Hands.
Blood.
Years of betrayal.
Matteo struck Lorenzo.
Lorenzo answered with brutal force.
Gabriel disappeared through a side corridor carrying the ledger.
“Lorenzo!”
Anna shouted.
He looked.
She pointed.
“Gabriel!”
Lorenzo abandoned Matteo and ran.
Anna followed before anyone could stop her.
The corridor opened onto the waterfront.
Gabriel was boarding a speedboat.
Lorenzo fired.
The bullet struck the engine housing.
Gabriel returned fire.
Lorenzo pushed Anna behind a concrete barrier.
“You were supposed to stay with Leo.”
“I got lost.”
“You followed me.”
“Same thing.”
Gabriel’s boat started.
Lorenzo aimed again.
Anna saw something he did not.
Matteo.
Behind them.
Gun raised.
Pointed at Lorenzo.
“Lorenzo!”
She moved.
The gun fired.
Pain exploded through Anna’s side.
She fell.
Lorenzo caught her before she hit the ground.
For one second, his face became unrecognizable.
Not anger.
Terror.
“Anna.”
She tried to breathe.
It hurt.
Matteo stood frozen.
He had not intended to shoot her.
Lorenzo lowered Anna gently.
Then turned.
Matteo raised his weapon.
Too late.
Lorenzo fired once.
Matteo fell.
The speedboat disappeared into the darkness.
Gabriel escaped.
Lorenzo did not even look after him.
He dropped beside Anna.
His hands pressed against her side.
Blood spread between his fingers.
“No.”
His voice broke.
“Anna, look at me.”
She opened her eyes.
“You look terrible.”
“Stay awake.”
“That was a joke.”
“I know.”
“You still didn’t laugh.”
“Anna.”
His forehead pressed against hers.
For the first time since she met him, Lorenzo Moretti was shaking.
“Stay with me, little bird.”
May you like
Anna tried to smile.
Then darkness took her.
