Chapter 5 - The Woman Behind the Empire
Dante moved first.
He took the phone from Ruby.
“Who are you?”
The call ended.
Dante stared at the screen.
Thomas struggled to stand.
Evelyn helped him.
Ruby looked at her husband.
“You told me your mother died.”
Dante’s face remained hard.
“She did.”
“Apparently everyone in our families has a flexible definition of death.”
Dante looked toward the basement door.
“Stay here.”
Ruby almost laughed.
“You still haven’t learned.”
He turned.
“Ruby.”
“I’m coming.”
Evelyn stood.
“So am I.”
Thomas shook his head.
“Evie.”
“You were tied to a chair. You don’t get a vote.”
Despite everything, Thomas almost smiled.
Dante led the way upstairs.
His men spread through the house.
No one had seen another person enter.
That meant either the caller was lying—
Or someone had been inside before they arrived.
They searched the ground floor.
Nothing.
Kitchen.
Empty.
Library.
Empty.
Drawing room.
Empty.
Then Ruby noticed something.
The old music room door was closed.
It had been open earlier.
She touched Dante’s arm.
He followed her gaze.
Two guards moved into position.
Dante reached for the handle.
A woman’s voice spoke from inside.
“You always were impatient.”
Dante froze.
His face lost color.
Ruby had never seen that happen.
The door opened.
An elegant woman in her seventies sat beside the piano.
White hair.
Black dress.
Pearls.
A cane rested against her chair.
She looked at Dante.
“Hello, son.”
Dante did not breathe.
Ruby stared at him.
Then at the woman.
“Bianca Moretti,” Evelyn whispered.
Bianca looked toward her.
“And Evelyn Gallagher.”
The two women stared at each other across twelve stolen years.
Dante stepped into the room.
“You died in Milan.”
Bianca tilted her head.
“That was the story.”
“You let me bury you.”
“Yes.”
His voice became dangerous.
“Why?”
“To keep you alive.”
Dante laughed once.
Ruby recognized the sound.
It was the same bitter laugh she had made in the study.
Bianca noticed Ruby.
“So this is your wife.”
Ruby felt Dante tense.
“Do not involve her.”
Bianca smiled faintly.
“You sound like your father.”
Dante’s expression darkened.
“Do not say that again.”
Bianca’s smile vanished.
“Good.”
Evelyn entered.
“Did you order my death?”
Bianca looked at her.
“No.”
“Did you know Salvatore did?”
“Yes.”
Ruby heard Dante inhale.
Bianca continued.
“I learned after the attack.”
“And you did nothing?” Evelyn asked.
“I hid you.”
Evelyn stopped.
“What?”
Bianca pointed to her.
“The man who pulled you from the warehouse after you were shot worked for me.”
Evelyn’s face changed.
“You?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Salvatore had become a monster.”
Dante stared at his mother.
“And you stayed with him.”
“I survived him.”
“That is not the same thing.”
“No.”
Bianca’s voice softened.
“And you learned that from Ruby.”
Ruby looked at Dante.
He looked away.
Bianca leaned on her cane and stood.
“The contract was never Salvatore’s idea.”
Dante went still.
“What?”
“The Gallagher acquisition.”
Ruby’s stomach twisted.
Bianca looked at her.
“It was mine.”
Dante stepped between them.
“Enough.”
Ruby touched his shoulder.
“No.”
She faced Bianca.
“Why?”
“Because Gallagher Shipping controls three ports the Morettis need.”
“That’s it?”
“No.”
Bianca walked toward the piano.
“There is a trust attached to your mother’s original shares.”
Evelyn frowned.
“What trust?”
Bianca looked at her.
“One created by your father.”
Thomas entered behind them.
His face hardened.
“My father created no trust.”
Bianca smiled.
“You never found it.”
Thomas stopped.
Bianca looked at Ruby.
“The trust activates when the eldest Gallagher daughter marries.”
Ruby’s blood ran cold.
“What does it control?”
“Thirty-one percent of Gallagher Shipping.”
Thomas swore.
Ruby stared at Dante.
“Did you know?”
“No.”
Bianca answered first.
“He did not.”
Dante looked at his mother.
“Then why was it in my acquisition model?”
“Because I put it there.”
Silence.
Dante’s face became lethal.
“You manipulated me.”
Bianca did not flinch.
“I gave you an opportunity.”
“You used my marriage.”
“I expected you to use hers.”
Ruby felt sick.
Bianca continued.
“But you complicated things.”
“How?”
“You loved her.”
Dante’s gaze snapped toward Ruby.
Ruby looked away.
Bianca smiled sadly.
“Your father would have called it weakness.”
“Then my father was a fool.”
Bianca’s expression softened.
“Perhaps.”
Evelyn stepped forward.
“What does Serrano want?”
“The ledger.”
“We know that.”
“No,” Bianca said. “You know he wants a ledger. You do not know why.”
Thomas looked at her.
“Because it exposes the Morettis.”
Bianca shook her head.
“It exposes everyone.”
She looked at Dante.
“Judges. Governors. Union chiefs. Customs officers. Police commissioners.”
“And?” Dante asked.
“Names inside the federal government.”
Ruby stared.
Bianca lowered her voice.
“One name matters more than the rest.”
“Who?”
Bianca looked at Thomas.
“Your brother.”
Ruby turned.
“My uncle James?”
Thomas went pale.
Evelyn whispered, “No.”
James Gallagher had been a federal prosecutor for twenty-two years.
He had spoken at Ruby’s wedding.
He had kissed her forehead.
He had told her he was proud.
Bianca nodded.
“James Gallagher was Salvatore’s informant.”
Thomas staggered backward.
“No.”
“He kept investigations away from Moretti ports.”
“No.”
“He helped cover Evelyn’s attempted murder.”
Evelyn looked ill.
Ruby stared at her father.
Thomas shook his head.
“My brother would never—”
Bianca removed something from her handbag.
A small flash drive.
“He would.”
She handed it to Dante.
“Every payment.”
Dante took it.
Bianca’s eyes remained on Thomas.
“Your brother has spent twelve years waiting for Evelyn to surface.”
Ruby felt a chill.
“Why?”
“Because she is the last person alive who can identify the accounts.”
Ruby looked at her mother.
“So Serrano isn’t the main threat.”
Bianca shook her head.
“No.”
“Then who is?”
A gunshot exploded outside.
One of Dante’s guards fell past the doorway.
Chaos erupted.
Dante pulled Ruby behind him.
More shots.
Glass shattered.
Someone screamed.
Thomas grabbed Evelyn.
Bianca did not move.
Dante shouted into his radio.
“West entrance!”
Static.
No response.
Then footsteps came from the hallway.
Slow.
Calm.
A man appeared in the doorway.
Gray suit.
Silver hair.
Familiar face.
Ruby stared.
Her entire childhood knew that smile.
“Uncle James.”
James Gallagher looked at her.
May you like
“Hello, sweetheart.”
Then he raised a gun and pointed it at Evelyn.
