Chapter 14 - THE SINS OF FATHERS
Lorenzo read the ledger until sunrise.
His father had ordered killings.
Some were enemies.
Some were informants.
Two were civilians.
One was a sixteen-year-old boy who had witnessed a port execution.
Lorenzo closed the book.
He wanted to deny it.
Instead, he remembered Vittorio's favorite sentence.
Family survives because someone else pays.
As a child, Lorenzo had thought it meant sacrifice.
Now he understood the darker meaning.
Elena sat across from him.
“Salvatore was dangerous.”
“So was Vittorio.”
“Yes.”
“And Matteo?”
Elena looked away.
“My husband believed he was better than them.”
“Was he?”
“No.”
Isabella stood by the window.
“All of you built a world where children inherited wars.”
Elena lowered her eyes.
“Yes.”
“And Lucia almost died for it.”
“Yes.”
Isabella turned.
“Then it ends with us.”
Lorenzo looked at her.
She placed the ledger on the table.
“We release it.”
Antonio stiffened.
“If this becomes public, governments fall.”
“Good.”
“Judges.”
“Good.”
“People connected to Lorenzo.”
Isabella looked at him.
“Especially them.”
Lorenzo remained silent.
The empire his father left him depended partly on secrets inside those pages.
Exposing them could destroy his businesses.
His political protection.
His organization.
Perhaps his freedom.
Isabella waited.
Lorenzo finally pushed the ledger toward her.
“Do it.”
Antonio stared.
“Boss.”
Lorenzo looked at him.
“My daughter will not grow up wondering which coffin was built because her father wanted to keep power.”
Antonio slowly nodded.
Elena looked surprised.
“You would burn your own empire?”
Lorenzo looked at Isabella.
“For them?”
“Yes.”
Before the files could be released, alarms sounded downstairs.
Antonio checked his phone.
“Security breach.”
Lorenzo stood.
“Bellini?”
“No.”
“Federal agents.”
Dozens of black vehicles surrounded the foundation.
Elena smiled without humor.
“I wondered how long it would take.”
Lorenzo looked at her.
“You called them?”
“No.”
Someone else had.
The elevator doors opened.
Agents entered.
Their leader raised a warrant.
“Lorenzo DeLuca.”
“You're under arrest for conspiracy, racketeering, obstruction, and murder.”
Isabella stepped between them.
“He hasn't done anything here.”
The agent looked at her.
“Isabella Conti?”
She froze.
“We also have a warrant for you.”
“For what?”
The agent held up a photograph.
It showed Isabella standing over a dead man.
Blood on her clothes.
A gun in her hand.
Date stamped six weeks after the crash.
Lorenzo stared at her.
Isabella stared at the photograph.
“I've never seen that man.”
Elena whispered.
“Salvatore.”
But Lorenzo knew immediately.
Salvatore was in custody.
He couldn't have delivered the photograph.
Someone else had activated a final trap.
Someone who had access to everything.
May you like
And only one man came to mind.
Marco Bellini had just awakened in the hospital.
