Chapter 11 - The Traitor Unmasked
The boardroom erupted into chaos.
Carmine Rossi and the other captains sprang from their seats, pushing their chairs back against the wood-paneled walls.
“Matteo, you traitorous bastard!” Rossi roared, his face turning purple with rage.
“You broke the sacred oath of the Commission!”
Matteo didn't look at Rossi.
He twisted the silver handle of his cane, drawing a six-inch surgical steel blade from the shaft with a terrifying hiss.
“The Commission is dead!” Matteo snarled.
“This city belonged to the Corvallis family thirty years ago, and it belongs to them now!”
He lunged across the corner of the table, aiming the blade directly at Luca’s throat.
Luca moved with blinding, explosive speed.
He caught Matteo’s wrist mid-air, twisting the joint with a sickening crack.
The steel blade clattered harmlessly onto the mahogany table.
Luca slammed Matteo’s face down onto the wood, pinning him with one massive hand against the back of his neck.
“You murdered my mother for money,” Luca whispered into his uncle’s ear, the hatred in his voice vibrating through the entire room.
“And you spent thirty years sitting at my father’s dinner table pretending to be his brother.”
Matteo groveled against the wood, blood trickling from his broken nose.
“Kill me then, Luca!” Matteo hissed through broken teeth.
“Do it! Become the butcher everyone knows you are!”
Luca looked up from Matteo’s bleeding face.
He looked at Carmine Rossi and the assembled captains.
Then, his gaze drifted to me.
He remembered the words on the cassette tape:
“Do not seek revenge in blood, my son... live with honor.”
Luca slowly pulled his hand away from Matteo’s neck.
He stood up tall, straightening the lapels of his leather jacket.
“No,” Luca said clearly.
“I won't kill you, Matteo.”
He looked toward the double doors.
Two agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, flanked by four federal marshals, stepped into the boardroom with badges raised.
Daniel had let them in through the private service corridor two minutes ago.
Special Agent Miller stepped forward, pulling a pair of steel handcuffs from his belt.
“Matteo Moretti, you are under arrest for conspiracy to commit murder, racketeering, and thirty years of federal tax evasion.”
Matteo stared at the badges in utter, disbelieving horror.
“Federal marshals? Luca, you brought the feds to the family council? You broke the code!”
Luca leaned down until his eyes were an inch from his uncle’s trembling face.
“You stopped being family the night my mother stopped breathing,” Luca said coldly.
The marshals yanked Matteo to his feet, securing his hands behind his back and dragging him out of the boardroom into the cold light of justice.
Carmine Rossi walked up to Luca, his eyes filled with profound respect.
“You showed restraint tonight, Luca.”
“Your mother would have been proud of the man you are.”
Luca picked up the Star of Genoa from the walnut table.
The blue fire blazed in his palm.
He turned toward me, his dark eyes softening into something resembling peace.
“Emma,” he said.
May you like
“Yes, Mr. Moretti?”
“Let's go home.”
