The Dead Man

The Dead Man
Isabella's POV

The gun fired.

I threw myself to the ground as the bullet flew over my head. Tony grabbed my hand and pulled me behind a parked car just as another shot rang out.

"Stay down!" David yelled from his car window, but he wasn't shooting at us anymore. He was shooting at someone else.

That's when I saw Marcus running toward us from across the street. My bodyguard. My protector. The man who was supposed to be dead from the warehouse explosion three weeks ago.

"Isabella!" Marcus called out, firing his own gun at David's car. "Get away from here now!"

"Marcus?" I couldn't believe my eyes. "How are you alive?"

David's car tires screamed as he tried to drive away, but Marcus kept shooting until the back window shattered. The black car crashed into a fire hydrant with a loud bang.

Tony was pulling me up from the ground when Marcus reached us. His face was covered in sweat and his clothes were torn, but he was definitely alive.

"How are you alive?" I asked again, my voice shaking. "I saw the warehouse blow up. I saw the flames."

Marcus looked around nervously, like he expected more danger to come from anywhere. "Because I was never really working for your father. I was protecting you from him."

My heart stopped. "What do you mean?"

"Your father didn't hire me to keep you safe," Marcus said quickly. "Someone else did. Someone who knew he would try to hurt you."

Tony stepped closer, his hand on his gun. "Who hired you?"

Marcus looked at Tony with strange eyes. Like he was seeing a ghost. "Your mother hired me, Tony. Maria Moretti hired me to protect Isabella."

The world went quiet around me. Even the city sounds seemed to stop. Tony's face went completely white.

"That's impossible," Tony whispered. "My mother is dead. She died ten years ago."

"No," Marcus said, shaking his head. "She didn't."

I felt like I was falling even though I was standing still. "Marcus, what are you talking about?"

"Maria Moretti is alive," Marcus said. "She's been hiding for ten years, waiting for the right time to come back. And that time is now."

Tony made a sound like someone had punched him in the stomach. "You're lying."

"I can prove it," Marcus said. He pulled out his phone and showed us a picture.

It was a woman with Tony's dark eyes and strong jaw. She was older than in the photos I had seen, with gray in her hair, but it was definitely the same person. She was sitting in what looked like a hotel room, holding today's newspaper.

"She's alive," Marcus said again. "And she's been watching over both of you this whole time."

My legs felt weak. I grabbed Tony's arm to keep from falling. "But why would she hide? Why would she let everyone think she was dead?"

"Because someone tried to kill her," Marcus explained. "The car bomb that was supposed to kill Tony's father? It was meant for her instead. She barely escaped, but she had to disappear to stay alive."

"Who?" Tony's voice was rough with emotion. "Who tried to kill her?"

Marcus looked around again, then pulled us into the doorway of a closed store. "The same person who's been controlling this war from the beginning. The same person who wanted your families to destroy each other."

"Tell us who," I demanded.

"Senator Morrison."

My blood turned to ice. "Morrison? But that doesn't make sense. He wasn't even involved with our families ten years ago."

"Yes, he was," Marcus said. "He was a young lawyer then, working for both your fathers on different deals. He saw how much money and power your families had, and he wanted it all for himself."

Tony was shaking his head like he couldn't believe what he was hearing. "So he tried to kill my mother?"

"He tried to kill her because she found out about his plan," Marcus said. "Maria discovered that Morrison was stealing money from both families and using it to build his own criminal network. She was going to expose him."

"But the bomb killed her," Tony said desperately. "We had a funeral. We buried her."

"You buried someone else," Marcus said gently. "Maria switched places with another woman at the last minute. She's been living under a fake name ever since, gathering evidence to bring Morrison down."

I thought about everything that had happened. Morrison's TV confession. His escape from prison. The way he kept finding us no matter where we hid.

"Where is she now?" I asked.

Marcus checked his phone. "Safe. But not for long. Morrison knows she's alive now, and he's coming for her."

"How does he know?" Tony asked.

"Because of what happened on TV," Marcus explained. "When Morrison confessed to his crimes, he also confessed to trying to kill Maria Moretti. But he said he succeeded. When the news reported that, Maria knew she had to come out of hiding to set the record straight."

Tony grabbed Marcus by the shirt. "Where is my mother?"

"I can take you to her," Marcus said. "But we have to go now. Morrison's people are already looking for her."

That's when we heard the sirens. Police cars were coming from both directions, their lights flashing red and blue.

"Did you call them?" Tony asked Marcus.

"No," Marcus said, looking worried. "Someone else did."

We ran toward Tony's car, but more police cars blocked our path. We were trapped between two groups of cops, with nowhere to go.

"This way!" Marcus yelled, pulling us toward an alley.

But as we reached the alley entrance, someone stepped out of the shadows to block our way.

It was a tall man in a expensive suit. His hair was silver and his eyes were cold like ice.

I had never seen him before, but somehow I knew exactly who he was.

"Hello, children," the man said with a cruel smile. "I've been looking for you."

"Who are you?" I asked, even though I was afraid to hear the answer.

"I'm the person who's been pulling all the strings," he said. "The person who hired David to spy on you. The person who told Morrison where to find you. The person who's been planning this game for twenty years."

Tony stepped in front of me protectively. "What do you want?"

"I want what I've always wanted," the man said. "Complete control over both your families' empires. And now that Morrison has failed me, I'm going to take it myself."

Marcus raised his gun, but the man just laughed.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Marcus," he said. "Not if you want Maria Moretti to stay alive."

My heart stopped. "You have Tony's mother?"

"I have lots of people," the man said. "Including someone very special to both of you."

He pulled out his phone and showed us a video. It was Sofia, Tony's sister, tied to a chair in a dark room. But she wasn't alone.

Next to her was another woman with gray hair and Tony's eyes.

Maria Moretti. Tony's mother. Alive, but captured.

"You have twenty-four hours," the man said. "Bring me the evidence Isabella collected about Morrison's crimes, and sign over control of both your families' businesses to me. If you don't, both women die."

"Who are you?" I screamed.

The man smiled again, and this time it was the most evil expression I had ever seen.

"I'm your grandfather, Isabella," he said. "Vincent Russo's father. The man everyone thought was dead for thirty years."

The world spun around me. My father's father. My grandfather. The original Don Russo, who was supposed to have died before I was born.

"Surprise, granddaughter," he said. "Welcome to the family business."