Chapter 12 - THE WAR HIS FATHER LEFT BEHIND
DeLuca’s murder triggered panic across the old network.
Someone was cleaning house.
Dante assumed it was Matteo.
Then Matteo woke in the hospital under federal guard.
He laughed when accused.
“You still don’t understand.”
“Then explain.”
Matteo looked at Emma.
“The trafficking network wasn’t controlled by one family.”
He named another.
The Caruso organization.
A rival empire Dante believed had been destroyed ten years earlier.
Instead, they had been silent partners.
When Dante began dismantling the network, the Carusos lost millions.
Now they wanted him dead.
Their leader:
Isabella Caruso.
Sixty-two.
Elegant.
Political connections.
And Lucia’s childhood friend.
Lucia went completely still when told.
Bella?
Emma translated.
Dante nodded.
Lucia sat down.
Another betrayal.
Isabella had been present at Lucia’s wedding.
At Dante’s baptism.
At Vittorio’s funeral.
“She knew everything,” Lucia signed.
Then:
She also knew ASL.
Dante stared.
Another person who had been listening.
Lucia’s silence had never truly been private.
That made Emma furious in a way bullets did not.
Isabella contacted Dante directly.
A dinner invitation.
No weapons.
No guards.
One guest allowed.
Dante chose Emma.
She looked at him.
“Why me?”
“Because if she signs something, I don’t want to miss it.”
That answer mattered.
Not protection.
Trust.
They met in a private club in Midtown.
Isabella Caruso looked like someone’s elegant grandmother.
Pearls.
White hair.
Cold eyes.
She greeted Emma.
“The waitress.”
Emma smiled.
“The trafficker.”
Dante almost choked on his water.
Isabella’s expression hardened.
“You have courage.”
“I have rent.”
“Had.”
Emma looked at Dante.
He said:
“I did not pay her rent.”
“Good answer.”
Isabella explained her terms.
Dante would restore shipping access.
Return frozen accounts.
Stop cooperating with prosecutors.
In exchange, the Carusos would disappear.
“No,” Dante said.
Isabella sighed.
“Then Lucia dies.”
Dante’s body changed.
Emma saw the threat hit.
Isabella smiled.
“And the little deaf sister.”
Emma’s blood froze.
Dante stayed silent.
Then Emma signed beneath the table where Isabella could see.
You are watching us.
Isabella’s eyes flicked down.
Mistake.
Emma continued signing:
Which means Lily is not where your men think she is.
Isabella’s face changed.
Dante understood enough to realize Emma was bluffing.
He followed.
“Correct.”
Isabella looked between them.
“What did she say?”
Dante smiled.
“You should have learned sign language.”
Emma almost laughed.
Isabella had.
They knew that.
But they were forcing her to reveal it.
Her eyes narrowed.
Then she signed:
Cute.
Proof.
Dante leaned back.
“Thank you.”
Federal agents listening through Emma’s hidden transmitter now had confirmation that Isabella understood and participated in conversations tied to threats.
Not enough alone.
But useful.
Then Isabella smiled.
“You think you trapped me?”
She signed one final sentence.
Emma read it.
Her stomach dropped.
Your mother is already gone.
Dante stood.
He called the house.
No answer.
May you like
Lucia’s security detail was down.
And her bedroom was empty.
