Chapter 527: The Woman Behind the War
Chapter 527: The Woman Behind the War
Chapter 527: The Woman Behind the War
Dante stared at the doorway long after Luca disappeared.
Rain swept through the open entrance, carrying the cold air into the warehouse.
Isabella still held Elena's letter.
Her fingers were trembling.
“She’s alive,” she whispered.
Dante turned toward her.
“We're going to find her.”
“You heard him.”
“I did.”
“My mother is alive.”
“I know.”
Isabella looked at him.
“Then why does it feel like I'm losing her all over again?”
Dante stepped closer.
“Because everything you believed about her is changing.”
She looked down at the letter.
“And everything I believed about you is changing too.”
Dante went still.
She immediately regretted saying it.
“Isabella—”
“I don't mean that I think you're lying.”
“But you don't know if you can trust me.”
She shook her head.
“I don't know if I can trust anyone.”
Dante nodded slowly.
“That I understand.”
He reached for her hand.
This time, she didn't pull away.
“I won't ask you to trust me because I'm a Moretti,” he said. “Trust me because of what I've done for you.”
Her eyes met his.
“You could have left me.”
“I wouldn't.”
“Even after what Luca said?”
Dante's jaw tightened.
“I don't know what Luca wants. I don't know what my father did. I don't know what Salvatore did. But I know one thing.”
“What?”
“I know what I feel when I'm with you.”
Isabella's expression softened.
“And what is that?”
“Like you're the only person in this entire city I don't have to lie to.”
For a moment, the war outside disappeared.
Then Victor approached.
“We need to move.”
Dante released Isabella's hand.
“Where?”
“Voss has a safe location.”
Dante looked at Voss.
“Where?”
“Underneath the old Moretti social club.”
Dante frowned.
“That building was abandoned.”
“That's what everyone thinks.”
Marco grabbed the ledger.
“We can't stay here.”
Voss nodded.
“Agreed.”
They left through the rear entrance.
A black sedan waited beside the alley.
Dante opened the back door for Isabella.
She hesitated.
“What?”
She looked toward the dark streets.
“Luca said I have one night.”
Dante's expression hardened.
“He was trying to pressure you.”
“What if he wasn't?”
“Then we'll find your mother before sunrise.”
They climbed inside.
Voss sat in the front.
Marco drove.
Dante remained beside Isabella.
Neither spoke during the first several blocks.
Finally, Isabella looked at him.
“Tell me about your uncle.”
Dante stared out the window.
“Salvatore raised me after my father died.”
“Did you love him?”
“Yes.”
The answer came immediately.
Then Dante's voice became quieter.
“At least I thought I did.”
Isabella placed her hand over his.
“You don't have to defend him.”
“I'm not.”
“You're grieving.”
Dante looked at her.
“I don't know if I'm grieving my father, my family, or the man I thought my uncle was.”
“You don't have to figure it out tonight.”
He squeezed her hand.
“I might have to.”
The car stopped beneath an abandoned building.
Voss opened a concealed door beneath a stairwell.
A narrow elevator waited behind it.
They descended several floors.
When the doors opened, Isabella stared.
The hidden room was enormous.
Weapons lined one wall.
Computers covered another.
Maps of Chicago filled the center.
At the far end stood a long table covered with photographs.
Dante walked toward it.
There were pictures of politicians, police commanders, judges, businessmen, and gang leaders.
Blackwater's entire network.
Isabella stepped beside him.
“Your father built all this?”
“No.”
Dante looked at Voss.
“You said someone else created Blackwater.”
Voss nodded.
“Your father inherited it.”
“From whom?”
Voss didn't answer.
Isabella noticed a photograph near the bottom of the table.
It showed Elena.
She picked it up.
The date was twenty-seven years earlier.
Her mother stood beside Antonio Moretti.
And beside them stood another man.
Isabella recognized him.
She had seen his face before.
In an old family portrait.
Her father.
She turned pale.
“Dante.”
He looked at the picture.
“That's your father.”
“My father knew Antonio.”
Voss nodded.
“They were partners.”
“No.”
Isabella shook her head.
“My father hated the Morettis.”
“Publicly.”
She stared at Voss.
“Why?”
“Because your father was the man Blackwater blamed for its crimes.”
Dante's eyes narrowed.
“What?”
Voss pointed to the photograph.
“Antonio wanted out. Your father wanted control. Elena discovered what they were doing and tried to expose both of them.”
Isabella felt sick.
“My father wasn't protecting our family.”
“No.”
“He was protecting Blackwater.”
Voss nodded.
Dante picked up another photograph.
It showed Antonio and Isabella's father arguing outside a restaurant.
Behind them stood Salvatore.
And a teenage Luca.
Dante stared at it.
“Luca witnessed everything.”
“Yes.”
“And Elena?”
“She helped Antonio disappear.”
Dante's eyes widened.
“My father disappeared?”
Voss nodded.
“Officially, he died.”
“Then who was buried?”
Voss looked at him.
“A man who looked enough like him to fool everyone.”
Dante stared at the photograph.
“That explains the replacement.”
“Yes.”
Isabella's breathing quickened.
“Then where is Antonio?”
Voss remained silent.
Dante turned toward him.
“Where is my father?”
“I don't know.”
“You're lying.”
“I haven't seen him in twenty years.”
Isabella stepped forward.
“But my mother knows.”
“Yes.”
“And Salvatore knows.”
“Yes.”
Dante slammed his hand onto the table.
“Then we're going after Salvatore.”
Voss shook his head.
“Not yet.”
Dante's eyes flashed.
“Why?”
“Because Salvatore expects you to come.”
“He can expect me.”
“He has Elena.”
That stopped Isabella cold.
Voss continued.
“Your mother isn't simply a hostage. She's leverage.”
“Leverage for what?”
Voss looked at Dante.
“For you.”
Dante frowned.
“Why me?”
“Because Blackwater is collapsing.”
Voss pointed toward the ledger.
“Adrian is desperate. Salvatore is exposed. The police contacts are vulnerable. The politicians are frightened.”
He paused.
“And the person who controls the Moretti family controls what remains.”
Dante understood.
“They want me to take over.”
“No.”
Voss's voice became grim.
“They want you to become Blackwater's new boss.”
Isabella looked at Dante.
“You wouldn't.”
Dante met her eyes.
“Never.”
Voss nodded.
“That's why you're dangerous.”
Suddenly, every light in the room went out.
The computers died.
The room plunged into darkness.
A red emergency light flickered on.
Marco drew his weapon.
“We have company.”
A metallic click echoed behind them.
Then another.
Dante pulled Isabella against the wall.
“Stay behind me.”
A voice came through the darkness.
“You always were your father's favorite.”
Dante froze.
He knew the voice.
“Salvatore.”
The lights came back.
Salvatore Moretti stood at the far end of the room.
He wore a black suit and held a pistol loosely at his side.
Two armed men stood behind him.
And between them was Elena.
Alive.
Older.
Bruised.
But alive.
Isabella's breath caught.
“Mom.”
Elena looked at her daughter.
Tears filled her eyes.
“Isabella.”
Dante stepped forward.
“Let her go.”
Salvatore smiled.
“You still think this is about her?”
Dante raised his gun.
“It ends tonight.”
Salvatore laughed.
“No, Dante.”
He looked at the ledger.
“It begins tonight.”
Then Elena suddenly screamed.
“Dante, don't trust—”
A gunshot thundered through the room.
Elena collapsed.
Isabella screamed.
Dante lunged forward.
And Salvatore smiled.