Chapter 19 - SALVATORE’S DAUGHTERThe Lake Forest mansion sat behind iron gates and forty acres of snow-covered land.
I arrived in a white dress.
Salvatore’s instructions had requested it.
Dante called the choice theatrical.
I called it useful.
White reflected blood, dirt, and hidden laser sights better than black.
A camera was embedded inside one button.
My earrings transmitted audio.
The trust-transfer documents inside my handbag were fake.
Dante, Rosa, Ruiz, and a tactical team waited beyond the estate.
My mother remained at Marello’s with Liam and Thomas.
That was the plan.
Plans involving my family rarely survived first contact with reality.
Salvatore greeted me in the mansion’s central hall.
Portraits of dead Morettis covered the walls.
None showed Sofia.
“You removed your daughter,” I said.
“She betrayed us.”
“She was murdered.”
“She was weak.”
I wanted to strike him.
Instead, I smiled.
“You wanted to discuss my inheritance.”
His eyes brightened.
I had learned that powerful men often mistook calm women for obedient ones.
Salvatore led me into a library.
Agent Ward sat inside.
So did Judge Halpern.
And my mother.
Two armed men stood behind her chair.
My chest tightened.
“Mom.”
“I’m all right,” she said.
A bruise marked her cheek.
She was not all right.
Salvatore poured himself a drink.
“Eleanor insisted on joining us.”
“You took her.”
“She walked through the restaurant tunnel voluntarily.”
I looked at her.
“Why?”
My mother’s eyes filled.
“Because he threatened Liam.”
Salvatore smiled.
“Maternal devotion. Predictable and useful.”
I placed the documents on the desk.
“Let her go.”
“Sign first.”
“You’ll kill us afterward.”
“If I wanted you dead, you would not be standing.”
“You wanted me alive because of the shares.”
“Correct.”
At least he was honest about ownership.
I opened the folder.
“The trust requires two signatures.”
His face changed.
“Whose?”
“Dante’s.”
“That can be corrected.”
“He also placed a death clause. If either of us dies under suspicious circumstances, all shares transfer to a federal victim-compensation fund.”
A lie.
But Salvatore did not know that.
His gaze sharpened.
“You have become clever.”
“I was always clever. Men kept mistaking hunger for stupidity.”
My mother almost smiled.
Salvatore approached.
“You could lead this family.”
“I don’t want your family.”
“You have my blood.”
“I also have my mother’s.”
His expression hardened.
“Eleanor made you sentimental.”
“She made me human.”
Salvatore struck me.
The room went silent.
Pain spread across my cheek.
For one second, I was back with Jake.
The shock.
The shame.
The belief that being hit meant I had lost.
Then I looked at my mother.
She was watching me.
Not helplessly.
Waiting.
I laughed.
Salvatore stared.
“That’s all?”
His face darkened.
I continued.
“Jake hit harder.”
He raised his hand again.
The library windows shattered.
Dante’s team entered.
Salvatore grabbed my mother.
Ward drew her gun, but instead of aiming at us, she shot one of Salvatore’s guards.
Judge Halpern dropped beneath the table.
Chaos filled the room.
I pulled my mother toward the floor.
Dante crossed the library.
Salvatore escaped through a hidden door behind the fireplace.
Dante followed.
I handed my mother to Rosa and ran after them.
The passage opened into an underground chapel.
Salvatore stood before an altar.
Dante aimed at him.
“This ends here.”
Salvatore looked at his son.
“You could have ruled the entire city.”
“I don’t want a city that kneels.”
“Then you are not my son.”
Dante’s expression remained calm.
“That is the first gift you have ever given me.”
Salvatore reached inside his coat.
I saw the weapon.
Dante did too.
Both fired.
Salvatore’s bullet struck Dante’s chest.
Dante’s bullet struck Salvatore’s shoulder.
They fell at the same time.
I reached Dante first.
Blood spread across his shirt.
“Stay with me.”
His eyes struggled to focus.
“Emma.”
“I’m here.”
“Behind you.”
I turned.
Salvatore stood again, his gun aimed at my head.
My mother appeared in the doorway.
She held Ward’s pistol.
“Eleanor,” Salvatore said.
Her hands shook.
“You should have died twenty-two years ago.”
“No,” she answered. “You should have.”
She fired.
The bullet struck his leg.
Salvatore collapsed.
Police flooded the chapel.
Dante remained conscious until paramedics arrived.
As they lifted him, he caught my wrist.
“Did you sign?”
Despite the blood, I laughed.
“No.”
“Good.”
His eyes closed.
At the hospital, surgeons removed the bullet.
It had missed his heart by less than an inch.
Salvatore survived and was placed under federal guard.
For the first time, every living Moretti sat beneath the authority of the law.
But Salvatore still had one weapon left.
Before his arrest became public, he released thousands of files from the Continuity Council.
Judges.
Police chiefs.
Corporate executives.
Federal officials.
The corruption spread far beyond Chicago.
Markets fell.
Investigations opened.
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People began destroying evidence.
And someone placed a bomb beneath Liam’s car.
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