Chapter 10 - The Truth Diego Hid
Maria ran toward Vincent.
Then stopped when she saw his face.
Something was wrong.
He looked calm.
Too calm.
Rocco’s hands were bound behind him.
A bruise darkened one eye.
Antonio raised his weapon.
Vincent lifted a hand.
“He’s with me.”
Rocco laughed.
“Not voluntarily.”
Maria held up Diego’s note.
“My husband said not to trust you.”
Vincent looked at the paper.
“Reasonable advice.”
“Read the second line.”
He did.
His expression changed.
HE DOESN’T KNOW WHAT HIS FATHER MADE HIM DO.
Vincent folded the note carefully.
“I know now.”
Maria’s stomach tightened.
“What?”
Vincent looked toward Sofia.
“Not here.”
“No.”
Maria stepped closer.
“Everyone keeps deciding what I can handle. Not anymore.”
Vincent’s gaze stayed on hers.
Then he nodded.
“My father used me to sign the order that moved Lucia from the first clinic.”
Elena went still.
“What?”
Vincent looked at her.
“The night of the bombing, he told me a Moretti associate had survived and needed private transport. He gave me a location. I authorized a vehicle and security.”
Antonio’s expression changed.
“The black ambulance.”
Vincent nodded.
Elena began crying.
“That ambulance took Lucia away.”
Maria understood.
Carlo had manipulated Vincent into helping abduct his own child.
Vincent continued.
“I didn’t know she was inside.”
Maria looked at Diego’s note.
“That’s what my husband discovered.”
“Yes.”
Rocco spat blood onto the concrete floor.
“Carlo was good.”
Vincent turned toward him.
“You were better.”
Rocco smiled.
“I learned from him.”
Maria stared.
“You killed Diego.”
Rocco did not deny it.
Isabel stepped toward him.
“You murdered my brother-in-law.”
Rocco looked almost bored.
“He was warned.”
Maria moved before she thought.
Her palm struck his face.
The sound echoed.
Marco did not stop her.
Vincent almost smiled.
Rocco’s face reddened.
“You think Vincent is different?”
Maria looked at him.
“Yes.”
Rocco laughed.
“Then you’re more naive than your husband.”
Vincent grabbed Rocco’s collar.
“Enough.”
Rocco leaned closer.
“She should know who she’s marrying.”
Maria’s pulse jumped.
“We’re not—”
Sofia interrupted.
“Mama said maybe.”
Everyone looked at her.
Maria closed her eyes.
Vincent looked delighted for half a second.
Rocco scoffed.
“Perfect. A happy family built on graves.”
Vincent’s expression cooled.
“You’re going to tell me where Carlo took Mrs. Alvarez.”
“I don’t know.”
Vincent tightened his grip.
Rocco smiled.
“Kill me.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because death is easy.”
Vincent shoved him into a chair.
“You get to explain every account, every judge, every officer, every murder.”
Rocco’s smile faded slightly.
“To who?”
“Federal investigators.”
Antonio looked surprised.
So did Maria.
Rocco laughed.
“You’ll expose your own organization.”
Vincent’s answer came without hesitation.
“Yes.”
That silenced everyone.
Rocco stared.
“You’d destroy everything your family built.”
Vincent looked toward Sofia.
“My family built the wrong things.”
Maria’s chest tightened.
Vincent turned toward her.
“Give me the drive.”
She hesitated.
Diego had explicitly warned her.
Vincent saw it.
“You don’t have to.”
That surprised her.
“You’re not going to take it?”
“No.”
“You need it.”
“It belongs to you.”
Maria looked at the tiny device.
Four years of buried crimes.
Her husband’s death.
Lucia’s death.
Carlo’s empire.
She handed it to Vincent.
“I’m not giving this to the mafia boss.”
He waited.
“I’m giving it to the man who promised my daughter he would come back.”
Something changed in Vincent’s face.
He took it.
“Then I won’t waste it.”
Antonio connected the drive.
The files were more complete than the first set.
Bank transfers.
Audio recordings.
Security footage.
And one final folder.
ST. AGNES.
Inside was a floor plan.
A location circled beneath the old clinic.
Maria remembered Carlo’s demand.
Bring Vincent Moretti to St. Agnes.
Vincent studied the map.
“It’s a bunker.”
Antonio nodded.
“Built during the Cold War.”
Rocco’s face changed.
Vincent noticed.
“You know it.”
Rocco said nothing.
Vincent leaned forward.
“My father is there.”
Still nothing.
Maria stepped toward Rocco.
“He has my mother.”
Rocco looked at her.
For the first time, shame appeared.
Brief.
Real.
“I didn’t know he’d take her.”
Maria stared.
“You murdered my husband.”
“Yes.”
“You expect sympathy?”
“No.”
“Then help me.”
Rocco looked away.
Maria lowered her voice.
“My mother is seventy-one. She has nothing to do with you. My daughter is three. My husband is dead. Lucia was six.”
Rocco’s jaw tightened.
“How many women and children have to pay for men like you?”
He looked at Vincent.
Then at Maria.
Something broke.
“South entrance.”
Vincent leaned closer.
“What?”
“St. Agnes. South entrance behind the abandoned pharmacy. There’s a service tunnel.”
Antonio pulled up the map.
Rocco pointed.
“Here.”
Vincent looked at him.
“Why help?”
Rocco laughed bitterly.
“Carlo was supposed to protect the families.”
“You believed that?”
“For too long.”
Maria felt no forgiveness.
But she saw regret.
Vincent stood.
“We go now.”
Maria grabbed his arm.
“I’m coming.”
“No.”
She stared.
He sighed.
“Fine.”
Marco looked shocked.
“You’re giving up?”
Vincent shook his head.
“I’m adapting.”
Maria almost smiled.
Sofia pulled Vincent’s sleeve.
“I come too.”
“No,” every adult said at once.
Sofia crossed her arms.
“No fair.”
Maria crouched.
“You stay with Aunt Isabel.”
“But Grandma.”
“We’re bringing Grandma home.”
Sofia looked at Vincent.
“Promise?”
Vincent knelt.
“Yes.”
She pointed at him.
“You promised before.”
“I know.”
“You came back.”
“I did.”
“Do again.”
He swallowed.
“I will.”
Sofia kissed his cheek.
Vincent closed his eyes for one second.
Maria saw everything that kiss meant to him.
Lucia.
Loss.
Fear.
Another chance he was terrified to accept.
They left Sofia with Isabel and Daniel under guard.
Vincent, Maria, Antonio, Marco, and four trusted men drove toward St. Agnes.
The clinic had been abandoned for years.
Windows boarded.
Parking lot cracked.
Vincent found the pharmacy.
Behind it, a metal door.
Unlocked.
Rocco had told the truth.
They entered.
The tunnel smelled like dust and damp concrete.
Lights burned ahead.
Carlo was expecting them.
Maria heard her mother before she saw her.
“Maria!”
She ran.
Vincent caught her.
“Wait.”
A large room opened beyond the tunnel.
Carlo stood at the far end.
Maria’s mother sat beside him.
Unhurt.
Rocco’s remaining men lined the walls.
Ten.
Maybe twelve.
Carlo smiled.
“Welcome.”
Vincent stepped forward.
“Let her go.”
“Give me the drive.”
Vincent held it up.
Carlo smiled.
“Good boy.”
Maria’s mother shook her head.
“Don’t.”
Carlo put a hand on her shoulder.
Vincent’s eyes darkened.
“Touch her again.”
Carlo removed his hand.
“You always were dramatic.”
Vincent tossed the drive toward the center of the room.
It landed on the floor.
Carlo looked at it.
Then at Vincent.
“You expect me to walk over there?”
“No.”
Vincent smiled.
“I expect you to notice the blinking light.”
Carlo’s face changed.
The USB drive had a tiny transmitter attached.
Sirens sounded outside.
Real sirens.
Federal agents.
Carlo’s men turned.
Vincent raised his voice.
“It’s over.”
Carlo looked around.
Then laughed.
“No.”
He reached inside his jacket.
Maria saw the movement.
So did Vincent.
But Carlo did not pull a gun.
He pulled a detonator.
Antonio went pale.
“Bomb.”
Carlo smiled at his son.
“You wanted to bury the Moretti empire.”
His thumb hovered over the button.
May you like
“Then we’ll bury it together.”
And he pressed down.
