Chapter 13
Luca looked toward Alessandra.
“What recording?”
She did not answer immediately.
Ethan did.
His smile returned.
“Oh.”
He seemed almost delighted.
“You never told him?”
Alessandra’s eyes hardened.
“Don’t.”
Ethan laughed.
“Why not?”
He looked toward Luca.
“You’re finally hearing your own greatest hits.”
Vanessa folded her arms.
The siblings had found one last place to hide.
Luca’s past.
Ethan continued.
“The night after Alessandra came to the garage, we sent her a voice message.”
Luca’s face changed.
“My voice.”
“Yes.”
“From where?”
“Your study.”
Silence.
Vanessa looked toward Alessandra.
“You listened to it repeatedly, didn’t you?”
Her tone was cruel.
“Poor thing.”
Alessandra stared.
Vanessa smiled.
“Tell him.”
Luca’s voice became low.
“What did it say?”
Alessandra looked at him.
Then answered.
Your voice said:
“If she ever comes back with a baby, I don’t want it anywhere near my house until I know whose it is.”
Luca closed his eyes.
He remembered saying it.
Not to Alessandra.
To Ethan.
One drunken night.
One ugly sentence.
Vanessa had isolated it.
Sent it to Alessandra after the pregnancy was known.
Luca opened his eyes.
“I said that.”
“Yes.”
“But not after I knew.”
Alessandra’s voice remained calm.
“I didn’t know that.”
He nodded.
No defense.
“You shouldn’t have said it at all.”
Silence.
Luca looked down.
“You’re right.”
Ethan rolled his eyes.
“This is getting nauseating.”
He stepped toward Alessandra.
“You became a boss.”
“Congratulations.”
“But stop pretending every bad thing that happened to you was some grand conspiracy.”
His voice sharpened.
“Luca said those words.”
“He threw you away.”
“He believed you were useless.”
“We simply made sure you heard it.”
Alessandra watched him.
Then smiled faintly.
Ethan frowned.
“What?”
“You still think that’s your shield.”
His eyes narrowed.
“That Luca was cruel too.”
“He was.”
The room shifted.
Luca absorbed it.
Alessandra continued.
“But his guilt doesn’t reduce yours.”
Ethan’s smile vanished.
“You threatened my unborn child.”
“You sent men.”
“You used his words.”
“And tonight you invited me here hoping my arrival would expose which capos might leave Luca.”
Her voice lowered.
“You wanted a war.”
Ethan lifted his chin.
“I wanted options.”
There.
Honest.
He continued.
“Luca was getting soft.”
Vanessa looked at him.
“What?”
Ethan ignored her.
“He wanted out of half the old operations.”
“He wanted clean money.”
“Restaurants.”
“Hotels.”
“Real estate.”
He laughed.
“I wasn’t going to spend my life carrying trays for a billionaire who forgot what built him.”
Luca’s eyes hardened.
“You were planning against me.”
Ethan smiled.
“You were planning retirement.”
“I was planning survival.”
“Same thing to weak men.”
The capos shifted.
Ethan looked around.
“Half of you know I’m right.”
Nobody answered.
That silence frightened him more than opposition.
Vanessa turned toward her brother.
“You told me this was about protecting Luca.”
Ethan laughed.
“Oh, Vanessa.”
His contempt turned on her.
“You really believed that?”
Her face hardened.
“I helped you because you said Alessandra would pull him back into the old Vescari network.”
“I said whatever kept you useful.”
That landed.
Her lips parted.
Ethan continued.
“You wanted Luca.”
“I wanted his position stable until I could build around him.”
“You got your ring.”
“I got access.”
Silence.
For the first time, Vanessa understood she had not been Ethan’s partner.
She had been another lever.
Alessandra watched her.
No sympathy.
Not yet.
Then Luca asked:
“What were you going to do if the captains stood behind Alessandra?”
Ethan smiled.
“Exactly what happened.”
He looked around the room.
“Now I know who they are.”
A few capos moved their hands subtly toward their jackets.
Alessandra raised one finger.
They stopped.
Ethan noticed.
His confidence wavered.
Then Luca’s restaurant manager entered.
His face tense.
“Mr. Moretti.”
Luca looked over.
“There are men outside.”
“How many?”
“Twelve.”
“Whose?”
The manager looked toward Ethan.
“Cole.”
Ethan’s smile returned completely.
May you like
He had come to the restaurant expecting this confrontation.
And he had brought enough men to make sure he controlled how it ended.
