Chapter 6 - Uncle James
Ruby stepped in front of her mother.
“Move,” James said.
“No.”
His expression changed slightly.
“Ruby.”
“You’re pointing a gun at my mother.”
“Your mother should have stayed dead.”
Thomas lunged.
James shifted the weapon toward him.
“Don’t.”
Thomas stopped.
Dante stood several feet away.
Unarmed.
His pistol had fallen during the first burst of gunfire.
Two attackers covered the doors.
James looked at him.
“The famous Dante Moretti.”
Dante’s voice was calm.
“You hired Serrano.”
James smiled.
“I hired everyone.”
“Why attack my home?”
“To make Ruby run here.”
Ruby stared.
“You knew I found the contract?”
James nodded.
“I made sure you did.”
Dante’s eyes sharpened.
“The driver.”
“My man.”
Ruby remembered the folder.
She had found it because the locked desk drawer was slightly open.
Dante never left things unlocked.
Not accidentally.
Someone wanted her to discover it.
James looked pleased.
“Marriage is such a useful weakness.”
Dante’s expression hardened.
James nodded toward the contract case.
“You brought the original.”
Dante said nothing.
“I knew you would.”
James smiled at Ruby.
“He does love you.”
Ruby’s chest tightened.
“Don’t.”
“Does that bother you?”
“You don’t get to speak about my marriage.”
“I arranged half of it.”
Dante took one step.
The attackers raised their weapons.
James smiled.
“Careful.”
Dante stopped.
James looked at Bianca.
“And you. I wondered how long before you crawled back.”
Bianca raised her chin.
“You were always a coward.”
James laughed.
“Says the woman who disappeared for a decade.”
“I disappeared to preserve evidence.”
“No. You disappeared because Salvatore frightened you.”
Bianca’s jaw tightened.
Ruby noticed.
James was enjoying this.
He wanted everyone angry.
Distracted.
Dante saw it too.
“What do you want?”
“The ledger.”
Thomas shook his head.
“You’ll never get it.”
James pointed the gun toward Ruby.
“Then she dies.”
Thomas froze.
Dante’s face became terrifyingly blank.
James noticed.
“Ah.”
He smiled.
“There it is.”
“What?”
“The look Salvatore used to get.”
Dante’s voice dropped.
“You have five seconds to stop pointing that gun at my wife.”
James laughed.
“Or?”
Dante said nothing.
James studied him.
Then, for the first time, uncertainty flickered.
Because Dante did not threaten casually.
He promised.
Ruby looked around.
Window.
Piano.
Broken glass.
One guard unconscious near the hall.
Dante’s gun three yards away.
Too far.
James stepped toward Thomas.
“Where is the ledger?”
Thomas looked at Ruby.
Ruby understood instantly.
He was about to lie.
“It burned,” Thomas said.
James shot him.
Ruby screamed.
Thomas collapsed.
Evelyn dropped beside him.
“Thomas!”
Blood spread across his shoulder.
Not fatal.
Maybe.
James looked almost bored.
“Next one goes through the heart.”
Ruby stared at him.
“You’re insane.”
“No.”
James turned toward her.
“I’m tired.”
He lowered the weapon slightly.
“For thirty years, I cleaned up rich men’s mistakes. Salvatore. Moretti. Senators. Commissioners.”
“You profited.”
“Yes.”
“Then don’t pretend you were trapped.”
His face hardened.
Dante looked at Ruby.
A tiny movement.
His eyes went toward the piano.
Ruby followed.
The polished lid reflected the room.
Behind James—
One of Dante’s guards was moving.
Slowly.
Ruby needed James looking at her.
She stepped forward.
“Take me.”
Dante’s gaze snapped toward her.
“No.”
James raised an eyebrow.
Ruby continued.
“You want leverage against my father. My mother. Dante.”
She spread her hands.
“I’m better leverage alive.”
James smiled.
“Smart girl.”
“Ruby,” Dante warned.
She ignored him.
“Let everyone else leave.”
James laughed.
“Absolutely not.”
“Then you’re not as smart as you think.”
His smile vanished.
Ruby took another step.
“You need the ledger. If you kill all of us, you never find it.”
“You know where it is?”
“No.”
He raised the gun.
“But I know who does.”
James paused.
Ruby looked at Bianca.
Everyone did.
Bianca stared at Ruby.
Then understood.
James turned fully toward Bianca.
Exactly what Ruby needed.
The guard behind him rose.
Dante moved.
Everything happened at once.
The guard tackled one attacker.
Dante grabbed the other.
Ruby pulled her mother down.
James fired.
The bullet struck the piano.
Bianca swung her cane into his wrist.
The gun fell.
Ruby kicked it away.
Dante slammed the attacker into the wall.
James lunged for Ruby.
She struck him with the heavy contract case.
He staggered.
Dante reached him.
One punch.
James fell.
Moretti guards flooded the room.
Within seconds, James was on the floor with his hands restrained behind him.
Ruby ran to Thomas.
“Dad.”
“I’m fine.”
“You were shot.”
“Shoulder.”
Evelyn pressed fabric against the wound.
Dante came over.
Blood marked his cheek.
Not his.
“Ambulance is coming.”
Ruby looked toward James.
He was laughing.
Dante turned.
“What is funny?”
James lifted his head.
“You still think this was about the ledger.”
Dante crouched.
“What is it about?”
James smiled through blood.
“Succession.”
Bianca went still.
Dante noticed.
“What does he mean?”
James looked at Ruby.
“Ask your mother-in-law what happens if Dante breaks the acquisition agreement.”
Ruby stared at Bianca.
Bianca’s face had changed.
“Nothing,” she said.
James laughed.
“Liar.”
Dante stood.
“Mother.”
Bianca looked at him.
“The agreement is tied to the Moretti council.”
“How?”
She hesitated.
“If the Gallagher acquisition fails, your authority can be challenged.”
Dante’s expression darkened.
“By whom?”
Bianca said nothing.
James answered.
“Anyone with Moretti blood.”
Dante went still.
Ruby looked between them.
“What does that mean?”
James smiled.
“It means Dante has a brother.”
The room fell silent.
Dante stared at his mother.
May you like
Bianca’s eyes filled.
And somewhere beneath the mansion, a locked door slammed shut.
