Chapter 8 - THE MAN MY FATHER TRUSTED LAST
Salvatore refused to explain.
He didn’t need to.
Dad’s flash drive still contained one encrypted folder.
The password was my birthday.
Inside was a video.
My father sat at our old kitchen table.
The clock behind him showed 1:14 A.M.
He looked exhausted.
“Liv, I hope you never see this.”
I started crying before he said another word.
Dante sat beside me.
Eli was asleep upstairs under federal protection.
Orion was in surgery.
Dad continued.
“Salvatore started the leak. But he isn’t the man I’m most afraid of.”
Dante leaned forward.
“Matteo trusted somebody else.”
A photograph appeared.
Dante’s adviser.
Anthony Greco.
The man who had taken over logistics after Matteo died.
The man currently coordinating security around Dante’s townhouse.
Dante stood.
“No.”
Dad explained that Anthony discovered Matteo and Michael were investigating Salvatore.
Instead of helping, he sold the information to rivals.
Matteo was ambushed.
Then someone tampered with Dad’s truck.
Anthony profited from both deaths.
“Where is Greco?” Dante demanded.
A guard called his phone.
Nothing.
Then the security alarm screamed.
Upstairs.
Eli’s room.
We ran.
The guard outside was unconscious.
The bed was empty.
My heart stopped.
Then we heard a small electronic alarm.
Downstairs.
Service corridor.
Dante reached it first.
Anthony stood near the exit.
One arm around Eli.
A gun pressed against the boy’s side.
“Back up.”
Dante stopped instantly.
I had never seen fear like that on him.
Anthony smiled.
“Look at you.”
“What do you want?”
“The files.”
“They’re already with federal investigators.”
Anthony’s expression cracked.
Eli looked at me.
His eyes moved downward.
His hand was inside his pocket.
The red training ball.
Orion’s.
I barely understood.
But enough.
“Eli,” I said softly, “remember what Uncle Michael taught you.”
Anthony frowned.
“What?”
Eli dropped the ball.
It rolled across the marble.
Anthony glanced down.
Half a second.
Eli bit his hand and ducked.
Dante moved.
The gun fired into the ceiling.
Guards tackled Anthony.
Eli ran directly into Dante.
This time he didn’t stop.
Dante caught him and held him with both arms.
Anthony lay restrained on the floor.
Then he looked at me.
“You still don’t know why Michael kept you away from the Morettis.”
I stared.
“What are you talking about?”
May you like
His smile widened.
“Because Olivia Marshall isn’t the name you were born with.”
