Chapter 9 - THE MAN INSIDE THE WALLS
Dante did not sweep the house with panic.
That would tell the traitor they were discovered.
Instead, he returned to the estate at sunrise and ate breakfast with his children.
Leo had a bruise near his cheek.
Mia had grass scratches on one knee.
Dante noticed both.
“Does it hurt?”
Mia shook her head.
Leo asked:
“Is Uncle Javier coming back?”
Dante paused.
“Not today.”
“Is he bad?”
There it was.
The question children asked when adults wanted simple categories.
Dante looked at his son.
“He did something bad.”
“Same thing?”
“What?”
“As being bad?”
Dante considered.
“No.”
Leo nodded.
“Did you ever do something bad?”
Dante could have protected himself.
Instead:
“Yes.”
Mia looked up.
“A lot?”
Dante almost smiled.
“Yes.”
Leo studied him.
“Did Grandpa Enzo make you?”
The question cut deeper.
“No.”
“But he taught you.”
“Yes.”
“So whose fault?”
Dante looked at him.
“Mine.”
Simple.
No inherited excuse.
No family mythology.
Leo accepted it.
Children often handled truth better than adults feared.
That frightened Dante because it exposed how often adults lied for themselves.
Later, Anthony quietly reduced staff movement.
Nobody fired.
Nobody accused.
They watched.
One guard had altered camera logs.
A cook had accepted cash from an unknown messenger.
A gardener had left a service gate open twice.
None necessarily worked for Nico.
Families created many small weaknesses without conspiracy.
Then Clara arrived.
Alone.
Dante frowned.
“Where is Javier?”
“He left last night.”
“To where?”
“He didn’t say.”
Dante’s eyes hardened.
Clara held up a hand.
“Before you decide he betrayed us, listen.”
She placed something on the desk.
A black envelope.
Inside was a photograph of Javier as a child.
Fourteen years old.
Standing beside Matteo.
Date:
Three months after the warehouse fire.
Javier had no memory of it.
Clara said:
“He found this inside his car.”
Dante stared.
“If genuine, Teresa let him see his father.”
“Yes.”
“And erased it?”
“Or he forgot.”
“Why?”
Clara looked disturbed.
“The back.”
Dante turned it.
JAVIER CHOSE DANTE ONCE.
HE WILL CHOOSE AGAIN.
Dante stared.
“What does that mean?”
“I don’t know.”
“Where did Javier go?”
“He said he needed to remember.”
Dangerous.
Memory made men chase places without backup.
Dante called.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Anthony entered.
“We found the traitor.”
Dante looked up.
“Who?”
Anthony’s face was hard.
“Your driver.”
Samuel Reed.
Forty-eight.
With Dante sixteen years.
Not blood.
Trusted.
Dante felt almost relieved.
Betrayal from employees was simpler.
“Proof?”
Anthony placed a phone on the desk.
Messages.
No names.
Instructions.
Camera blind spots.
Gate timing.
Leo’s school schedule.
Dante stopped.
“How long?”
“At least eight months.”
“Where is Samuel?”
“Gone.”
“Family?”
“Wife says he left before dawn.”
Dante looked at Leo’s school schedule.
His anger became precise.
“Find him.”
Anthony nodded.
Then Clara’s phone rang.
Javier.
She answered immediately.
“Where are you?”
Silence.
Her face changed.
“Javier?”
A male voice came through speaker.
Not Javier.
Older.
Calm.
“Dante.”
Everyone froze.
Dante took the phone.
“Nico.”
A soft laugh.
“At last.”
“Where is Javier?”
“With family.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning exactly what Enzo taught us.”
Dante’s eyes hardened.
“You want my name?”
Nico went silent.
Dante continued:
“You want me to call you Romano.”
Another pause.
“Matteo always underestimated you.”
“Did you kill him?”
Silence.
“Nico.”
“No.”
The answer came quietly.
“I loved Matteo.”
Dante stared.
That complicated everything.
“Then where is he?”
“Closer than you think.”
“Javier.”
“He came to me willingly.”
Clara whispered, “No.”
Nico heard.
“Clara. You deserve a better husband.”
She stepped forward.
“Give him the phone.”
Nico laughed.
“He’s remembering.”
Then to Dante:
“Bring Leo to the old Romano house tonight.”
Dante’s face became stone.
“No.”
“You knew I would ask.”
“Yes.”
“Then you know why.”
“No.”
“I want him to hear the truth from men who survived Enzo.”
“He is ten.”
“So were we when they started teaching us.”
“That ends.”
“With you?”
“Yes.”
Nico’s voice cooled.
“You don’t get to decide when history ends.”
Dante looked toward Leo playing outside through the glass.
“No.”
He spoke slowly.
“But I get to decide whether my son becomes your battlefield.”
The call ended.
Clara looked at him.
“What now?”
Dante stared at the dead phone.
“We go.”
“You just said—”
“I go.”
“Leo?”
“No.”
Anthony understood.
“Nico expects him.”
“He can be disappointed.”
Dante picked up Matteo’s burned ring.
“Men like Nico build plans around believing everyone is still afraid of disappointing the past.”
May you like
He closed his fist.
“I’m done.”
