Chapter 7 - THE MAN WHO HAD BEEN LOYAL TOO LONG
Carlo survived.
Barely.
He was found in a parking garage outside LaGuardia after being shot twice.
One bullet missed his lung by inches.
The other shattered his shoulder.
He regained consciousness twelve hours later.
Roman spoke to him by secure video.
No intimidation.
No threats.
Just one question.
“Why did you hide my father from me?”
Carlo closed his eyes.
“Because he ordered me to.”
“That answer used to be enough.”
“I know.”
“It isn’t anymore.”
Carlo nodded.
“No.”
Roman looked older somehow.
“Was Teresa involved in the shooting?”
“I don’t know.”
“Who do you trust?”
Carlo gave a weak laugh.
“Not many people.”
“Try.”
Carlo named one.
Federal prosecutor Miriam Shaw.
Vittorio’s secret contact for years.
She had helped hide him after the false funeral.
More importantly, she held his final recordings.
Roman went still.
“Why didn’t she give them to me?”
“She tried.”
“When?”
“Three times.”
Roman stared.
“Who blocked her?”
Carlo swallowed.
“Teresa.”
There it was.
Roman felt something inside him fracture.
Teresa had claimed Carlo held Vittorio’s recordings.
Lie.
She had been controlling information.
Again.
Carlo continued.
“Teresa hated the trust.”
“Why?”
“She believed Elena stole the future from the family by giving choices to children who didn’t exist yet.”
Norah sat nearby listening.
Carlo’s voice softened.
“She said the Moretti name should never belong to people who could walk away from it.”
Roman looked at Grace.
That sentence told him everything about Teresa.
Then Carlo revealed something else.
Matteo and Teresa were not enemies.
They had worked together for years.
Matteo handled hidden money.
Teresa controlled foundation records.
Vittorio discovered both.
He planned to expose them before cancer killed him.
The twins’ existence accelerated everything.
“So who arranged the flight?” Roman asked.
Carlo hesitated.
“Vittorio.”
Roman froze.
“What?”
“He prepared contingencies before he died.”
“A dead man put me on Flight 409?”
“Through Shaw.”
Miriam Shaw arranged Daniel Mercer’s ticket.
She leaked the Denver crisis just enough to push Roman toward commercial travel.
Why?
Because Vittorio believed Roman would never listen to a letter.
But he might listen to Norah.
Roman looked away.
Manipulation.
Again.
Even from his father.
Norah saw the hurt.
Carlo said:
“Vittorio knew you needed to see what your life had cost.”
Roman whispered:
“He could have told me.”
“He tried.”
“No.”
Roman’s voice hardened.
“He arranged me.”
Carlo went quiet.
Then:
“You’re right.”
That answer mattered.
Roman ended the call.
Norah sat beside him.
“You okay?”
“No.”
“Good.”
He looked at her.
She smiled faintly.
“You’re allowed to be not okay.”
Roman leaned back.
Then Miriam Shaw called.
She had Vittorio’s final video.
Roman almost refused.
Norah squeezed his hand.
“Watch.”
He did.
Vittorio appeared.
Thin.
Sick.
Alive.
“Roman.”
Roman stopped breathing.
His father looked into the camera.
“I taught you the wrong definition of strength.”
Then:
“If Norah left you, do not chase her.”
Roman closed his eyes.
“If she comes back, do not keep her.”
Norah started crying.
“Build a life she can leave freely.”
Vittorio swallowed.
“And if she chooses to stay, then maybe you became better than me.”
Roman looked at Norah.
She looked back.
Then Vittorio said one final thing:
“Teresa will try to take one of the children.”
May you like
Roman went cold.
“She already chose which one.”
