Chapter 7 - THE UNCLE WHO WAS SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD
Nobody reached for a weapon.
That was what frightened Sienna most.
Dominic Valente walked into the basement with four men behind him.
Nico’s security held position.
Marco looked ready to move.
Nico lifted one hand.
Everyone froze.
Hierarchy.
Silence.
Power.
Dominic smiled.
“You look like Antonio.”
Nico’s face showed nothing.
“You look alive.”
Dominic gave a small laugh.
“Your father was always dramatic.”
Mara stepped backward.
Dominic noticed.
His smile faded.
“Mara.”
She stared at him.
“I was five.”
“I know.”
“You killed Rebecca.”
Dominic’s face changed.
Regret.
Real or practiced, Sienna could not tell.
“I caused her death.”
“That is a careful sentence.”
Dominic looked at Sienna.
“You must be her daughter.”
“Don’t.”
His eyebrows rose.
“Don’t what?”
“Look at me like you knew my mother.”
“I did.”
“Then you should know better than to expect manners.”
Something almost approving crossed his face.
Nico stepped between them.
“You followed Sienna.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To find Peter.”
Peter gave a bitter laugh.
“You knew where I was twice.”
“And you moved.”
“You threatened my daughter.”
“I watched her.”
Sienna pointed.
“Again, those words are cousins.”
Dominic looked almost amused.
Nico was not.
“You sent men into Vesper.”
“No.”
Everyone went still.
Nico’s voice dropped.
“Explain.”
“I had eyes on the restaurant. I did not send armed men inside.”
Marco looked at Peter.
Peter shook his head.
Dominic continued.
“The men who came for Elliot were not mine.”
Sienna frowned.
“Then whose?”
Dominic looked at Mara.
“Ask your brother.”
Mara’s face changed.
“Elliot?”
“No.”
Dominic sighed.
“Not Elliot.”
He looked toward Nico.
“Marco.”
Silence.
Sienna turned.
Marco’s face went completely still.
Nico did not move.
“Marco.”
The single word carried more weight than shouting.
Marco slowly lowered his weapon.
Sienna’s stomach dropped.
“No.”
Dominic smiled sadly.
“There it is.”
Nico looked at the man who had stood beside him for twelve years.
“Tell me he’s lying.”
Marco met his eyes.
“I can’t.”
Sienna stopped breathing.
The betrayal was not Luca.
Not Tessa.
Not Peter.
Marco.
The man who found her shoe.
The man who joked with her.
The man who had guarded Nico.
“Why?” Nico asked.
Marco’s face tightened.
“My father died at the docks.”
Nico said nothing.
“Antonio ordered the strike broken. My father was one of the men caught between union crews and Valente soldiers.”
Sienna understood.
Old damage.
Inherited loyalty.
Inherited anger.
Marco continued.
“I spent years believing your father built everything by crushing everyone beneath him.”
“He did.”
Marco blinked.
Nico’s admission surprised him.
“So I started moving records.”
“To who?”
“Federal investigators at first.”
Dominic laughed.
“That lasted six months.”
Marco looked at him.
“Then I found out the investigators were compromised.”
“So you came to me,” Dominic said.
“Yes.”
Sienna stared.
“You were working with Dominic?”
“Not for him.”
Dominic smiled.
“He likes distinctions.”
Marco’s jaw tightened.
“I wanted the old books exposed.”
“By getting people shot?”
“No.”
He looked at Sienna.
“I did not send those men.”
“Then why did Dominic say ask you?”
“Because I know who did.”
Nico’s eyes narrowed.
“Who?”
Marco took a breath.
“Luca.”
Nobody moved.
Sienna laughed once.
“You people rotate betrayal like dinner specials.”
Nico ignored her.
“Why Luca?”
Marco looked at him.
“Because Lucia’s letters would expose what he did seventeen years ago.”
Peter’s face changed.
“What?”
Tessa whispered, “No.”
Dominic looked almost pleased.
Finally someone else was carrying the weight.
Nico’s voice became cold.
“What did Luca do?”
Marco answered.
“He gave Dominic Rebecca’s location.”
Sienna’s entire body went rigid.
“No.”
Peter stepped forward.
“Luca didn’t know where Rebecca was.”
“Yes, he did.”
“How?”
“Antonio told him to move her after the Northstar fight.”
Dominic’s face became unreadable.
Marco continued.
“Luca thought Rebecca was planning to take half the company and destroy the Valentes.”
Sienna’s voice shook.
“So he told Dominic.”
“Yes.”
Peter looked devastated.
“Why would he?”
“Family loyalty.”
The ugliest motive of all.
Not greed.
Not hatred.
Protection aimed in the wrong direction.
Nico looked toward the stairs.
“Where is Luca now?”
Marco answered.
“Vesper.”
Sienna’s stomach dropped.
“The records.”
Marco nodded.
“He’s going for the tube.”
Nico moved instantly.
Dominic said, “Nicholas.”
Nico stopped.
“If Luca gets those documents, he won’t destroy them.”
“How do you know?”
“Because he doesn’t want the truth gone.”
Dominic looked at Sienna.
“He wants control of who receives it.”
“Why?”
“To protect Nico.”
Nico stared.
Dominic smiled bitterly.
“That family disease again.”
They drove back to Vesper.
This time Sienna sat beside Nico.
No jokes.
No arguments.
Halfway there she said, “You knew Marco loved you.”
Nico looked out the window.
“Yes.”
“Do you still?”
A long pause.
“Yes.”
“That makes it worse.”
“Yes.”
She understood.
When they reached Vesper, the restaurant was dark.
No staff.
No customers.
The wine cellar door stood open.
They found Luca kneeling beside a section of exposed brick.
A metal tube lay on the floor.
He did not run.
He looked at Nico.
“You found Dominic.”
“Yes.”
Luca closed his eyes.
“I’m sorry.”
Nico’s voice was quiet.
“For which part?”
Luca looked toward Sienna.
“For telling him where your mother was.”
Sienna stopped.
Peter stepped in behind her.
His face broke.
“You.”
Luca nodded.
“I thought Rebecca was stealing from Antonio.”
“She was trying to leave.”
“I know that now.”
“You told Dominic.”
“Yes.”
Peter’s hands shook.
Nico moved slightly between them.
Not protecting Luca.
Preventing history from repeating itself.
Peter noticed.
He lowered his hands.
Luca picked up the tube.
“I came here to give you this.”
“Then why alone?”
“Because I was afraid you’d destroy the family when you learned what was inside.”
Nico stared.
“You still don’t understand.”
“No.”
Luca’s voice broke.
“I understand too well.”
He handed him the tube.
Inside were the original ownership records.
Rebecca Hale Brooks.
Lucia Valente.
Eleanor Crane.
Signatures.
Shares.
Trust instructions.
And one final letter.
Addressed to NICO AND SIENNA.
Sienna unfolded it.
Lucia and Rebecca had written it together.
If you are reading this, then the adults failed to finish what we started.
Do not inherit our fear.
Do not inherit our silence.
Northstar is not a throne.
It is a choice.
Use it to build something clean, or close it.
But do not let the men who came before you decide what family means.
Sienna looked at Nico.
His eyes were wet.
Barely.
Enough.
Then Luca spoke.
“There’s one thing the letter doesn’t say.”
Nico looked at him.
“What?”
Luca stared at Peter.
“Rebecca didn’t die immediately after the fall.”
Peter froze.
“What?”
“She was conscious.”
Sienna’s knees weakened.
Luca reached into his coat.
He removed an old silver watch.
Rebecca’s.
Sienna recognized it from childhood.
Her mother wore it every day.
Luca placed it in her palm.
“She gave me this.”
Sienna could barely speak.
“Why?”
“Because she wanted you to know her last decision.”
“What decision?”
Luca looked at her.
“She forgave Peter.”
Peter’s face collapsed.
Sienna stared at the watch.
May you like
Then Luca said the words that opened the final wound.
“But she did not forgive Antonio.”
