Chapter 13 - Marcello’s Price
Salvatore stared at Marcello Vane.
The man who had guided him to Ravenna.
The man who supposedly protected Vittorio’s secrets.
The man who had stood beside him through every discovery.
Now Marcello held a gun.
Dante stood near the archive terminal.
Blood ran from a wound in his arm.
Apparently the earlier shot had struck him.
A security guard lay unconscious nearby.
Carlo raised his weapon.
Marcello immediately pointed his toward Salvatore.
“Lower it.”
Carlo did not.
Marcello’s hand shook.
“I will shoot him.”
Salvatore watched Marcello carefully.
“No, you won’t.”
Marcello looked pained.
“Don’t make me prove you wrong.”
Dante laughed.
“He absolutely will.”
Salvatore ignored Dante.
“Why?”
Marcello swallowed.
“Because Vittorio made me choose.”
“Between what?”
“My family and his.”
Salvatore frowned.
Marcello looked toward Dante.
“This was never supposed to become what Dante made it.”
Dante smiled.
“Everyone says that once they lose.”
Marcello’s jaw tightened.
Salvatore understood.
“You were helping him before Dad died.”
Marcello closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“Six years.”
Salvatore felt another betrayal settle.
“Why?”
Marcello looked toward the floor.
“My son.”
Salvatore remembered Marcello had one child.
Julian Vane.
A private-equity executive living overseas.
Or supposedly living overseas.
“What about him?”
“He gambled.”
Carlo frowned.
“Money?”
“Everything.”
Marcello’s voice became bitter.
“He borrowed from people he should never have approached.”
“Dante paid the debt.”
Dante answered proudly.
“Fourteen million.”
Salvatore looked toward Marcello.
“And you sold my father for fourteen million dollars?”
Marcello flinched.
“No.”
“What would you call it?”
“I gave Dante information.”
“About Ravenna?”
“Some.”
“About Isabella?”
Marcello looked toward her absent location.
“Yes.”
Salvatore’s anger grew.
“The men who found her office.”
Marcello did not answer.
“You told them.”
“Yes.”
“Did you know about Sofia?”
“No.”
“Did you know Dante had Dad?”
Marcello shook his head.
“Not until recently.”
Salvatore laughed without humor.
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I believed Vittorio died.”
“You authenticated documents.”
“I was manipulated too.”
Dante laughed.
“Stop begging, Marcello.”
Marcello pointed the gun toward him briefly.
Dante’s smile remained.
“That’s the problem with cowards.”
Dante looked at Salvatore.
“They want credit for feeling guilty.”
Marcello’s face twisted.
Carlo slowly adjusted position.
Salvatore noticed.
He kept Marcello talking.
“Why lead me to Ravenna if you were helping Dante?”
“Because I wanted out.”
“After six years?”
“After I learned Vittorio was alive.”
Salvatore became still.
“When did you learn?”
“Three weeks ago.”
“From whom?”
“Dr. Crane.”
Carlo looked up.
“Crane is alive?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know now.”
Dante interrupted.
“He knew too much.”
Marcello stared at him.
“What did you do?”
Dante smiled.
Marcello’s face changed.
“You said he left.”
“I lied.”
Salvatore watched Marcello absorb what that meant.
Dante had eliminated another loose end.
Marcello’s gun lowered slightly.
Carlo shifted again.
Dante noticed.
He pulled a second weapon from behind the terminal.
“Everybody stop.”
Carlo froze.
Dante pointed toward Salvatore.
“Come here.”
Salvatore did not move.
“Why?”
“The archive requires guardian verification.”
Vittorio had told the truth.
Dante needed Salvatore.
“What happens after I verify?”
“You sign transfer authority.”
“No.”
Dante smiled.
“Then your father dies.”
Salvatore stared at him.
“Dad isn’t down here.”
“No.”
Dante lifted a small remote.
“But the room upstairs has been locked electronically.”
Salvatore felt cold.
Dante pressed a button.
A screen turned on.
Vittorio and Emery appeared on camera.
The bedroom door was sealed.
A small warning indicator flashed.
FIRE SUPPRESSION SYSTEM ARMED.
Salvatore understood.
The system could remove oxygen from the room to suppress fire.
With people inside, it could suffocate them.
Dante smiled.
“Three minutes after I press this, the room fills with inert gas.”
Carlo’s face hardened.
“You kill a child, every law-enforcement agency in the country hunts you until you die.”
Dante shrugged.
“If Salvatore cooperates, nobody dies.”
Salvatore looked toward the screen.
Emery held Vittorio’s hand.
Neither knew exactly what was happening.
Salvatore stepped toward the terminal.
Carlo whispered.
“Don’t.”
Salvatore continued.
Dante smiled.
“Good brother.”
Salvatore looked at him.
“We’re not brothers.”
The smile disappeared.
Salvatore stood before the terminal.
A camera scanned his face.
GUARDIAN IDENTITY CONFIRMED.
A second prompt appeared.
ENTER HEIR AUTHORIZATION.
Dante frowned.
“What?”
Salvatore looked toward him.
“You still need Emery.”
Dante stared at the screen.
Vittorio had lied partially.
Salvatore was required.
But so was Emery.
Dante’s rage exploded.
He grabbed the remote.
“I’ll bring her down.”
Salvatore stepped between him and the stairs.
“No.”
Dante raised his weapon.
Marcello suddenly spoke.
“Dante.”
Everyone looked toward him.
Marcello’s gun was now pointed at Dante.
“Enough.”
Dante laughed.
“You think this repairs what you did?”
“No.”
Marcello’s voice shook.
“Nothing repairs what I did.”
He looked toward Salvatore.
“But I can stop adding to it.”
Dante pointed his weapon toward Marcello.
“You owe me.”
Marcello shook his head.
“I paid you more than enough.”
Dante’s finger tightened.
Two shots exploded almost simultaneously.
Marcello collapsed.
Dante stumbled.
Carlo fired once.
Dante’s weapon flew from his hand.
Salvatore lunged.
He drove Dante against the terminal.
Dante fought wildly.
Years of resentment poured into every movement.
Salvatore finally forced him to the floor.
Carlo kicked the weapon away.
Police stormed into the basement.
Dante was restrained.
Salvatore immediately ran upstairs.
The bedroom lock released.
Emery ran into his arms.
Vittorio followed slowly.
“What happened?”
Salvatore looked back toward the staircase.
“It’s over.”
Vittorio studied his face.
“No.”
Salvatore frowned.
Vittorio whispered.
“Dante never works without another exit.”
Below them, officers shouted.
Dante had begun laughing.
Carlo looked toward the archive screen.
A countdown had appeared.
DATA PURGE: 09:58.
Dante smiled from the floor.
“You didn’t think I came here to inherit it.”
Salvatore stared.
Dante continued.
“If I can’t be the DeLuca heir, there won’t be a DeLuca inheritance.”
The archive was preparing to destroy itself.
Everything Vittorio had preserved.
The proof of Emery’s ancestry.
The financial crimes.
Sofia’s evidence.
The trusts.
The history.
Ten minutes.
Vittorio looked toward Emery.
Then toward Salvatore.
“There is one way to stop it.”
“What?”
“The heir and guardian must authorize succession.”
Salvatore understood.
Emery had to enter the archive.
He hated the idea.
Vittorio touched his shoulder.
“Trust her.”
Salvatore looked toward his seven-year-old daughter.
For years he had protected her by making every decision.
Now saving the family’s truth required giving her one.
He knelt.
“Emery.”
She looked at him.
May you like
“I need your help.”
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