Chapter 13
Dante disappeared the next morning.
His house was empty.
His phones dead.
His accounts frozen too late.
Enzo was gone too.
That hurt less than it should have.
The garage camera failure had already told me loyalty had cracks.
Tony found Enzo’s burner phone hidden behind a panel in the guardhouse.
Messages from Dante.
Maintenance orders.
Gate codes.
Leo’s schedule.
My son’s nap times.
My rage went silent again.
Dangerous silent.
Tony stood across from me.
“I failed you.”
“Yes.”
He lowered his head.
“I won’t ask forgiveness.”
“Good.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“Find Enzo. Alive.”
Tony looked surprised.
“Alive?”
“I need testimony more than I need bodies.”
It was a sentence the old Carmine would never have said.
Maybe fatherhood was changing me.
Maybe Leo’s little hand in mine had dragged me out of the grave I kept calling power.
Two days later, Enzo was found at a motel in Jersey.
He tried to run.
Tony caught him.
Police took custody.
Enzo confessed quickly.
Dante had planned one final move.
Kidnap Leo.
Stage my violent response.
Trigger my arrest.
Challenge custody through a distant Bellucci relative.
The final attempt was planned for Sofia’s memorial mass.
My blood chilled.
Only family knew about the private mass.
That meant Dante still had someone close.
We canceled the mass publicly.
Privately, we set a trap.
The chapel was wired.
Police hid in the trees.
Federal agents watched the road.
I stood alone by Sofia’s memorial with an empty stroller beside me.
Dante always loved symbols.
He would not resist.
At 9:03 p.m., he entered through the cemetery gate.
Gun in hand.
Smile in place.
“You always were sentimental.”
I turned.
“And you always mistook patience for stupidity.”
He pointed the gun at me.
“Where is the boy?”
“Safe.”
“No one is safe with you.”
I laughed softly.
“You killed my wife and accuse me of danger?”
His eyes hardened.
“Sofia chose a stranger’s blood over ours.”
“She chose a child over your greed.”
Dante stepped closer.
“You don’t even know what he is.”
I heard the agents moving behind him.
May you like
I smiled.
“He is my son.”
