Chapter 6 - The Mafia Boss Finally Told Me Why He Was Watching Apex
Leo’s cousin was named Adrian Marchetti.
Thirty-six.
Former military.
Head of logistics security for the Marchetti port operations.
Missing for eleven months.
The same amount of time since Ben’s accident.
I sat at the opposite end of Leo’s dining table while he placed photographs between us.
Adrian smiling beside a boat.
Adrian wearing a security jacket.
Adrian standing next to Leo at what looked like a family wedding.
“He disappeared six days after your brother’s crash.”
“Police?”
“We reported him missing.”
“As Leo Marchetti, legitimate concerned cousin?”
His mouth tightened.
“Yes.”
“And unofficially?”
“I searched every place I thought an enemy might keep him.”
“Did you find anything?”
“His phone.”
“Where?”
“Inside an abandoned car near the river.”
The screen had been destroyed.
SIM removed.
No body.
No reliable sightings.
Then, four months later, illegal shipments began moving through Marchetti terminals.
“You think Adrian was involved.”
“I didn’t want to.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
“Yes.”
Leo leaned back.
“I thought he might be working with Rinaldi.”
The rival family.
“But the video shows he was there the night Ben crashed.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't police know?”
“The second vehicle left before officers arrived.”
“Convenient.”
His eyes met mine.
“I deserve that.”
I hated how often he refused to defend himself.
It made anger harder.
“You said you were watching Avery Cole.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Adrian called him seventeen times during the month before he vanished.”
I stared at the phone logs.
“So your investigation began with your cousin.”
“Yes.”
“Not illegal shipments.”
“They were connected.”
“And me?”
“Unexpected.”
I believed that.
I didn't know whether believing him was smart.
“What was Adrian doing on that road?”
“I don't know.”
“Could he have helped cause Ben’s crash?”
“Yes.”
The answer hurt.
Leo saw it.
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t.”
“I am.”
“Your apologies don’t make his hand work.”
“No.”
We sat in silence.
Then Leo said something I didn’t expect.
“If Adrian hurt your brother, I will help prove it.”
“Even if it destroys your family?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
His expression became cold.
“Because family loyalty does not mean protecting people from consequences.”
That was the first time I saw the line Leo Marchetti refused to cross.
Not violence.
Not legality.
Consent and betrayal.
People imagined mafia loyalty as unconditional.
Leo’s was not.
“If he betrayed us and harmed an innocent man, then he chose his side.”
I looked at the photographs.
“Why are you like this?”
He almost smiled.
“That's a broad question.”
“You noticed Gregory touching me before I told you anything.”
“Yes.”
“You never asked me why I kept going back.”
“No.”
“Why?”
Leo looked toward the windows.
“My mother worked for my father before they married.”
That sentence alone carried weight.
“He was twenty years older. Wealthy. Powerful. She was nineteen.”
I stayed quiet.
“He called it love.”
Leo’s jaw tightened.
“She called it love too for years because everyone around her taught her that gratitude and love were the same thing.”
“What happened?”
“She left him.”
“That’s allowed in your family?”
A humorless smile.
“Not easily.”
“How old were you?”
“Fourteen.”
Leo helped her disappear for six months.
His father eventually agreed to a legal separation because public exposure threatened business relationships.
“My mother taught me one thing I never forgot.”
“What?”
“If someone cannot safely say no to you, you do not have their yes.”
The room became still.
I thought about Gregory.
About promotions.
Paychecks.
Ben’s therapy.
Then I thought about Leo asking before touching my elbow after that first night.
“Is that why you reacted?”
“To Gregory?”
“Yes.”
“No.”
His eyes met mine.
“I reacted because he was hurting you.”
Something moved beneath my ribs.
I looked away first.
My phone buzzed.
Federal investigators had traced the threatening messages.
The sender used an internal Apex server.
Avery Cole had left the country.
Officially for medical treatment.
Unofficially, nobody knew where he was.
Then another message arrived.
This one from Ben.
Call me. I remembered the other car.
I called immediately.
“What happened?”
Ben sounded breathless.
“Adrian.”
“You know his name?”
“The agents showed me photos.”
My stomach tightened.
“What did you remember?”
“He didn't hit me.”
I gripped the phone.
“What?”
“The Marchetti car.”
Ben swallowed.
“He was trying to stop Gregory.”
I looked at Leo.
“How?”
“Gregory’s truck came up behind me. Then the other car pulled beside it.”
Ben’s voice trembled.
“I think Adrian was trying to force him away from me.”
Leo stood slowly.
“Then why did you crash?”
“I swerved because both cars came close.”
A pause.
“And afterward…”
“What?”
“I remember somebody opening my door.”
My heartbeat accelerated.
“Who?”
“Adrian.”
Leo’s face changed.
Ben continued.
“He told me, ‘Stay awake. Ambulance is coming.’”
I closed my eyes.
“He called 911?”
“The agents checked.”
Ben's breathing shook.
“The emergency call came from a burner phone.”
Leo whispered something in Italian.
I looked at him.
If Adrian had tried to save Ben, why disappear?
The answer arrived thirty minutes later.
Federal agents recovered enhanced audio from the truck camera.
After Ben’s car left frame, Adrian’s voice came through an open connection.
He shouted at Gregory:
“You weren't supposed to touch the kid!”
Gregory answered:
“He saw too much.”
Then Adrian said five words.
Words that changed Leo’s investigation entirely.
“I’m telling Leo everything.”
Adrian vanished six days later.
He hadn’t betrayed the Marchetti family.
May you like
He had discovered something.
And someone made sure he never reached Leo.
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