Chapter 4 - THE DEAD MAN WHO WASN’T DEAD
Adrian did not believe Bianca.
Not immediately.
Men like Gabriel Morelli had a habit of becoming immortal after death.
Their names became warnings.
Stories.
Excuses.
Whenever somebody needed to frighten a younger man, they resurrected the older monsters.
“Gabriel is dead.”
Bianca shook her head.
“I met him.”
“When?”
“Eight months ago.”
Lorenzo slammed a hand against the table.
“Shut up.”
Matteo moved instantly.
He pushed Lorenzo back into his chair.
Rosie started crying.
That sound changed Adrian faster than any threat.
He turned.
Clara held her daughter against her chest.
“This is over.”
She was trembling.
“I’m taking her out.”
Adrian nodded.
“Matteo.”
Matteo looked at him.
“Have Elena escort them to the east guesthouse. Nobody gets near them without my approval.”
Clara’s face hardened.
“I’m not staying here.”
“For tonight.”
“No.”
“Clara.”
She stepped closer.
“You keep saying my daughter is safe while people are shouting about dead mafia uncles ten feet away.”
Adrian had no response good enough.
Clara continued.
“She is three.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
That landed.
Adrian looked at Rosie.
Her little face was buried against Clara’s neck.
Pink crayon still somehow clutched in her fist.
He lowered his voice.
“You’re right.”
Clara looked surprised.
“I’ll have a car take you somewhere you choose.”
“No guards inside.”
“Agreed.”
“One outside.”
“Two.”
“One.”
“Two.”
Clara glared.
Adrian almost smiled.
“Please.”
She exhaled.
“Fine.”
As Clara left, Rosie lifted her head.
“Sir?”
Adrian turned.
She pointed at Bianca.
“Don’t let her take your desk.”
Then she was gone.
Bianca looked as if the sentence had struck her.
Adrian sat again.
“Now.”
He looked at her.
“Gabriel.”
Bianca began talking.
Gabriel had contacted Lorenzo first.
Not her.
Lorenzo denied it until Adrian placed the receiver records on the table.
Then denial became silence.
Gabriel had spent years outside the country, building relationships through legitimate businesses and illegal ones.
He blamed Adrian’s father for destroying his life.
After Adrian took control, Gabriel waited.
Not because he feared Adrian.
Because he wanted Adrian successful.
“A rich kingdom is worth more than ruins,” Bianca whispered.
Adrian looked at Lorenzo.
“And you?”
His cousin stared back.
“You inherited everything.”
“So this is jealousy.”
“No.”
Lorenzo laughed bitterly.
“It’s history.”
“My father raised you.”
“Your father used my father.”
“Your father stole from him.”
“According to the story your father told.”
Adrian remained still.
Lorenzo leaned forward.
“You became king because your last name was Morelli and your father had the right brother.”
“King?”
Adrian almost smiled.
“You sound fourteen.”
“I spent twenty years standing two steps behind you.”
“And apparently another eight months on Bianca.”
Bianca flinched.
Lorenzo stood.
Matteo’s hand touched his shoulder.
He sat again.
Adrian turned to Bianca.
“Why did you help?”
Her eyes filled.
“Gabriel knew things about my brother.”
“Which brother?”
“Marco.”
Adrian knew Marco DeLuca.
Thirty-one.
Charming.
Careless.
Constantly borrowing money.
“What things?”
“He owed people.”
“How much?”
“Enough.”
“Gabriel paid it?”
“Yes.”
“In exchange for you.”
Bianca looked ashamed.
“At first he wanted schedules.”
“Then?”
“Conversations.”
“Then devices.”
“Yes.”
“You could have told me.”
She looked at him.
“Could I?”
“Yes.”
“You would have killed Lorenzo.”
Lorenzo laughed softly.
Adrian ignored him.
“And Gabriel?”
“I didn’t know where he was.”
“You were marrying me.”
“I know.”
“No.”
His voice sharpened.
“You were standing in front of priests and florists while recording the man you intended to marry.”
Bianca started crying.
“I did love you.”
Adrian looked at her.
“Maybe you did.”
That surprised her.
“But love without loyalty is just appetite.”
She closed her eyes.
Matteo looked toward the door.
“We need to move.”
Adrian knew.
If Gabriel was alive, the recording devices were not the end.
They were preparation.
“What does he want?”
Bianca shook her head.
“To break your alliances.”
“How?”
“I don’t know everything.”
“What do you know?”
“Your wedding.”
Adrian went still.
“What about it?”
“Gabriel wanted it to happen.”
Bianca’s voice trembled.
“He told Lorenzo the wedding was perfect because everyone loyal to you would be in one building.”
Matteo swore.
Adrian’s eyes became cold.
“For what?”
“I don’t know.”
“Bianca.”
“I swear.”
“Bomb?”
“No.”
“Gunmen?”
“I don’t know.”
Lorenzo finally spoke.
“He wanted arrests.”
Everyone turned.
Lorenzo looked at Adrian.
“Not bodies.”
“Explain.”
“Federal evidence.”
Adrian’s jaw tightened.
“The recordings?”
“Partly.”
Lorenzo continued.
“Financial documents. Photographs. Conversations. Enough to bring down half the people attending.”
“And you were going to hand them over?”
“Not directly.”
“To Caruso?”
“Gabriel.”
“And Gabriel?”
Lorenzo shrugged.
“He has people.”
Adrian stared.
Something didn’t fit.
Gabriel hated the Morellis.
But delivering Adrian’s organization to law enforcement would not give Gabriel control.
It would burn the structure entirely.
Unless control was not the point.
“What is Gabriel really after?”
Lorenzo looked away.
Adrian saw it.
“You know.”
“No.”
“Lorenzo.”
His cousin’s jaw tightened.
“You.”
Silence.
Adrian waited.
Lorenzo continued:
“He wants you disgraced.”
“That’s childish.”
“He wants you alive when it happens.”
Adrian frowned.
“Why?”
“Because he says your father did the same thing to him.”
The past again.
Always the past.
Adrian stood.
“Where is Gabriel?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then you’re useless.”
He looked at Matteo.
“Separate them.”
Bianca stood.
“Adrian.”
He stopped at the door.
“There’s something else.”
He turned.
Bianca wiped her face.
“Gabriel asked about Clara.”
The room changed.
Adrian’s voice dropped.
“What about her?”
“Her husband.”
Clara had been widowed two years earlier.
Daniel Bennett.
An electrician.
Killed in an industrial accident.
“What does Daniel have to do with Gabriel?”
Bianca stared at him.
“I thought you knew.”
“Knew what?”
Her answer came quietly.
“Daniel Bennett didn’t die in an accident.”
Adrian stopped breathing.
Bianca continued.
May you like
“He died because he saw something inside one of your warehouses.”
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