Chapter 6 - The Name My Mother Hid
I left Dante that night.
Not because I believed Matteo.
Because I no longer knew what to believe.
Dante didn't stop me.
He gave me a secure apartment.
I refused.
He put guards outside my old building.
I screamed at him over the phone.
He removed the visible guards.
The invisible ones remained.
I knew because Dante had learned nothing about subtlety.
For three days, I read my mother's letter until the folds nearly tore.
Michael Bellini.
My father.
A name I had never known.
Matteo requested a meeting.
Dante told me not to go.
Naturally, I went.
Public restaurant.
Daylight.
Police station two blocks away.
Matteo sat alone.
“You look like Michael around the eyes.”
I hated how quickly I wanted to believe him.
“What happened?”
He poured water.
“Our families controlled the waterfront together.”
“Caruso and Bellini.”
“Yes.”
“My brother wanted out.”
I nearly laughed.
“Apparently everyone wants out eventually.”
“Michael had a reason.”
“My mother.”
“You.”
That stopped me.
“He learned she was pregnant?”
“Yes.”
“He wanted to leave?”
“Yes.”
“What did Dante's father do?”
“Refused.”
Matteo looked toward the window.
“Michael threatened to expose everything.”
My heart pounded.
“And?”
“Three days later, he disappeared.”
“No body?”
Matteo looked at me.
“There was one.”
I swallowed.
“Who killed him?”
“Antonio Caruso ordered it.”
“And Dante?”
“He was eight years old.”
Relief hit so quickly I hated myself for feeling it.
“Then why did you tell me to ask who pulled the trigger?”
Matteo's mouth tightened.
“Because Dante knows who did.”
“Who?”
“His mother.”
My blood went cold.
“Elena?”
“Yes.”
I left immediately.
I went straight to Dante's townhouse.
He opened the door himself.
He looked terrible.
Unshaven.
No suit.
No controlled Mafia Boss mask.
“Clare.”
“Did your mother kill my father?”
Silence.
That was answer enough.
My eyes filled.
“You knew.”
“Not when we met.”
“When?”
“Yesterday.”
“You found out yesterday?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“I asked her.”
“And?”
“She admitted it.”
I stepped inside.
“Why?”
“Antonio ordered it.”
“You're defending her?”
“No.”
Dante's voice cracked.
“No.”
He looked more broken than angry.
“My mother was twenty-eight. My father had already killed two of her relatives. He told her if she refused, he would kill Daniel.”
“Who is Daniel?”
“My younger brother.”
Another secret.
“Where is he?”
“California. He left years ago.”
Dante leaned against the table.
“She chose her child.”
“And killed my father.”
“Yes.”
I slapped him.
The sound shocked both of us.
Dante didn't move.
My hand burned.
I covered my mouth.
“I'm sorry.”
“Don't.”
His voice was quiet.
“You have the right to hate us.”
“I don't hate you.”
That was the problem.
Tears came.
“I wish I did.”
Dante closed his eyes.
I wanted him to hold me.
I also wanted never to see him again.
“How am I supposed to love you after this?”
His eyes opened.
“You love me?”
I laughed through tears.
“That's what you heard?”
“It is difficult to ignore.”
“Dante.”
He stepped closer but didn't touch me.
“You don't have to decide anything.”
“For once, that's a good answer.”
A knock sounded.
Luca entered.
“Boss.”
He stopped when he saw me.
“What?”
Dante asked.
Luca handed him a tablet.
Security footage.
Elena leaving her house.
Then another angle.
A black van.
Men grabbing her.
My anger froze.
“Matteo.”
Dante nodded.
I shook my head.
“He was with me.”
“Doesn't mean he didn't order it.”
A video call appeared.
Dante answered.
Matteo filled the screen.
Behind him sat Elena.
Hands tied.
Bruised but alive.
Matteo smiled.
“Family reunion.”
Dante's face became lethal.
“Release her.”
“No.”
“What do you want?”
“The waterfront.”
“You could have asked.”
“I did.”
“No.”
Matteo's smile faded.
“I also want Elena to confess publicly to murdering Michael.”
I stared.
Dante did too.
Elena shouted from behind him.
“Don't!”
Matteo turned.
“My niece deserves the truth.”
I stepped toward the phone.
“Matteo.”
His expression softened.
“Clare.”
“Let her go.”
“She killed your father.”
“I know.”
“You should want justice.”
“Justice isn't kidnapping an old woman.”
Elena looked offended.
“Old?”
Despite everything, Dante almost laughed.
Matteo stared at me.
“I spent twenty-four years waiting for this.”
“Then you're not doing it for me.”
His face changed.
“You're doing it because revenge became the only thing you knew how to love.”
Silence.
Dante looked at me.
Matteo's eyes hardened.
“Pier nineteen. Midnight.”
The call ended.
Dante immediately started giving orders.
Guns.
Cars.
Teams.
I grabbed his arm.
“No.”
He looked at me.
“This is exactly what he expects.”
“My mother is there.”
“And if you arrive with twenty armed men, someone dies.”
“Clare—”
“You said you wanted to change.”
He stared.
“Then prove it when it's hardest.”
His jaw worked.
Finally he called Luca.
“Contact federal organized-crime task force.”
Luca blinked.
“Boss?”
“You heard me.”
“And our files?”
Dante looked at me.
“Everything.”
I realized what he meant.
Evidence.
Records.
Crimes.
His father's organization.
Possibly his own.
“You could go to prison.”
“Yes.”
“Dante—”
He touched my face.
“For once, I am going to end something without burying anyone.”
At midnight, we went to Pier nineteen.
Not with an army.
May you like
With federal agents waiting in darkness around the warehouse.
And for the first time in generations, a Caruso walked into a family war carrying no gun.
