Chapter 11 - THE RED DOCK
Terminal Four had been abandoned for six years.
My father once used it for private cargo.
Salvatore used it for things I had never bothered to ask about.
That ignorance now disgusted me.
The old warehouses stood beside black water.
Three rusting cargo boats rested against the dock.
All painted red.
Mateo’s red boats.
He had been there before.
The realization nearly stopped my heart.
Alessia sat beside me in the car.
“You ready?”
“No.”
“Good.”
I looked at her.
She shrugged.
“Only stupid people are calm when children are involved.”
That sounded like something Valentina would have liked.
We exited the car.
No visible federal agents.
Greene had agreed—angrily—to keep them two miles out until my signal.
I carried one drive.
Fake.
Lorenzo had created it.
The real evidence already existed on federal servers.
Salvatore couldn’t erase anything now.
But he didn’t know that.
We entered Warehouse Two.
Lights flicked on.
Elena stood in the center.
Hands tied.
Leo against her chest in a carrier.
Mateo beside her.
My son saw me.
“Daddy!”
He tried to run.
A guard caught his shoulder.
I almost fired.
Alessia grabbed my wrist.
“Not yet.”
Salvatore stepped from behind a shipping container.
His face was bruised from captivity.
His suit wrinkled.
Still elegant.
Still dangerous.
“You came.”
“Let them go.”
“Drive?”
I held it up.
“Children first.”
He smiled.
“You negotiate exactly like your father.”
“Don’t insult me.”
“Vittorio would have loved this.”
Alessia stepped forward.
“Our father didn’t love anyone.”
Salvatore looked at her.
“Hello, niece.”
“Uncle.”
Mateo stared between us.
Too many adults.
Too much tension.
I hated that he was seeing any of it.
“Elena,” I said softly.
Her eyes met mine.
“Are they hurt?”
“No.”
“Leo?”
“Fine.”
“Mateo?”
She nodded.
I breathed again.
Salvatore moved closer.
“Give me the drive.”
“Release them.”
“Luca.”
“No.”
His expression hardened.
“You have always mistaken stubbornness for strength.”
“And you mistake survival for victory.”
Alessia smiled slightly.
Salvatore ignored her.
“You’re dismantling everything your father built.”
“Yes.”
“You’d destroy a hundred years of power for two children?”
I stared at him.
“Without blinking.”
Something in his face changed.
He genuinely didn’t understand.
That was the difference between us.
He loved family as a concept.
A bloodline.
A crest.
A source of power.
I loved two boys with dark curls.
One who hid crackers under pillows.
One who slept with a wooden ring in his fist.
That made me more dangerous than Salvatore would ever understand.
He extended his hand.
“The drive.”
I tossed it across the floor.
A guard picked it up.
Inserted it into a laptop.
Lorenzo had built a convincing copy.
Files appeared.
Salvatore relaxed.
“Good.”
“Now them.”
He nodded.
The guard released Mateo.
My son ran.
I dropped to one knee.
He hit me so hard I nearly fell backward.
I wrapped both arms around him.
“Daddy.”
“I got you.”
“Bad man.”
“I know.”
I kissed his hair.
“Go to Aunt Alessia.”
He clung tighter.
“No.”
“Mateo.”
“No leave.”
My chest hurt.
“I’m coming too.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
Alessia took his hand.
Elena approached carrying Leo.
Then Salvatore spoke.
“Not her.”
The guard grabbed Elena.
Everything stopped.
I turned.
“What?”
“Children go.”
Salvatore smiled.
“Elena stays.”
“Why?”
“She knows too much.”
My voice went deadly calm.
“So do I.”
“Yes. But killing you creates inconvenience.”
His eyes moved to Elena.
“Killing a maid creates paperwork.”
Something inside me snapped.
I aimed.
Three guards aimed back.
Leo cried.
Elena closed her eyes.
“Luca, don’t.”
I couldn’t risk it.
Not with Leo against her chest.
Salvatore walked toward her.
“You should have destroyed the embryo.”
Elena glared at him.
“Valentina trusted me.”
“Valentina was sentimental.”
“She was brave.”
“She was stupid.”
I fired.
The bullet struck the floor beside Salvatore’s shoe.
Everyone froze.
“Say her name like that again.”
Salvatore smiled.
“There’s the old Luca.”
“No.”
I lowered the gun slightly.
“The old Luca would have shot you through Elena.”
His smile disappeared.
“I’m learning.”
Behind me, Mateo whispered, “Daddy?”
That single word anchored me.
Salvatore noticed.
“So this is what you’ve become.”
“Yes.”
“Weak.”
“No.”
I looked at my son.
“This is what strong feels like.”
Alessia slowly moved Mateo behind a steel column.
Salvatore nodded toward his guard.
The man pulled Elena backward.
Leo screamed now.
My patience ended.
I tapped twice against my thigh.
Signal.
Outside, power died.
Darkness.
Federal tactical teams hit the warehouse from three sides.
Dominic ignored my order and came with them.
Of course he did.
Gunfire exploded.
I moved toward Elena.
A muzzle flash.
I fired.
The guard dropped.
Elena fell to her knees protecting Leo.
I reached them.
“Go!”
She ran toward Alessia.
Salvatore disappeared behind the containers.
I followed.
“Luca!” Dominic shouted.
I ignored him.
I found Salvatore near the dock doors.
He fired.
The bullet hit my side.
Pain exploded.
I fell against a crate.
Salvatore approached.
Gun raised.
“You see?”
He was breathing hard.
“Children make you careless.”
Blood soaked my shirt.
I pressed a hand against the wound.
Behind him, black water moved beyond the open dock.
“You’re right.”
He smiled.
Then I looked past him.
“Dominic.”
Salvatore turned.
Dominic hit him from the side.
The gun flew.
Both men crashed to the floor.
I forced myself upright.
Salvatore grabbed a knife.
Dominic blocked the first strike.
Salvatore slashed his arm.
I moved.
Pain tore through my side.
Salvatore turned toward me.
We collided.
Years of history exploded in fists.
He hit my wound.
I nearly blacked out.
I drove him against the railing.
He laughed.
“You think prison ends this?”
I hit him again.
“My father built this family.”
Another punch.
“Your mother protected it.”
Another.
“Valentina died because she challenged it.”
I grabbed him by the collar.
“And that’s why it ends.”
Salvatore spit blood.
“You don’t have the courage.”
I pushed him against the railing.
The black water waited below.
All I had to do was let go.
One movement.
One murder.
Everyone would understand.
Maybe even applaud.
Then a voice behind me said, “Daddy.”
Mateo.
I turned.
He stood thirty feet away holding Alessia’s hand.
Watching.
My son.
Fear in his eyes.
Salvatore laughed softly.
“Do it.”
I looked at my uncle.
Then at Mateo.
I remembered the psychologist.
Trauma cannot be solved with force.
I released Salvatore.
He blinked.
Dominic immediately forced him to the ground.
Federal agents rushed forward.
Handcuffs closed around Salvatore’s wrists.
He stared at me in disbelief.
“You’re letting them take me?”
“Yes.”
“You became soft.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
I looked at Mateo.
“I became his father.”
Then my legs gave out.
Elena screamed my name.
I hit the floor.
The last thing I saw before darkness came was Mateo running toward me.
May you like
And the last thing I heard was my son shouting the promise I had taught him.
“Daddy comes back!”
