Chapter 10 - THE LAST PROMISE OF A DEAD FATHER
Roman read his father's note three times.
Elizabeth watched him from across the dinner table.
For eleven years, he had imagined the accident as one sudden act of betrayal.
Now the message suggested something more complicated.
His uncle had made a choice.
And Roman's father had known it.
“What does this mean?” Roman asked.
Elizabeth folded her hands.
“Your father learned about the financial fraud before the accident. He intended to expose it.”
Roman nodded.
“We found the payments.”
“But that wasn't the only reason Anthony was involved.”
She looked toward Teresa.
“Anthony believed Hartwell was holding something over him.”
Teresa lowered her eyes.
“His debts?”
Elizabeth shook her head.
“His son.”
Roman frowned.
“Anthony didn't have a son.”
“Not one the family knew about.”
The room became quiet.
Elizabeth explained that Anthony had supported a young woman and her child privately for years.
The boy had been born long before Anthony married.
When Hartwell learned about the relationship, he began using it to control Anthony.
“He threatened to expose the boy's mother and destroy the support Anthony had arranged for them,” Elizabeth said.
Roman looked troubled.
“Why would that matter enough to murder his own brother?”
“Because Anthony was ashamed. And because Hartwell convinced him there was no other way to protect them.”
Teresa wiped her eyes.
“I knew he had someone in his life before he married. I never knew about the child.”
Roman looked at the watch.
“My father knew?”
“He found out shortly before the accident.”
Elizabeth paused.
“He offered to help Anthony settle the debts and protect the boy's inheritance.”
Roman closed his eyes.
“And Anthony still betrayed him.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because he'd already signed the work order. By the time your father offered to help, Anthony was afraid of what Hartwell would do if he backed out.”
Roman leaned against the table.
“He could have told the police.”
“He could have,” Elizabeth said.
There was no excuse in her voice.
Only grief.
“Your father knew Anthony had been compromised,” she continued. “He tried to persuade him to testify.”
Roman examined the note again.
“Then why did Dad write that Anthony chose to save Hartwell?”
Elizabeth looked toward the watch.
“Because Anthony had one final opportunity to stop the accident.”
Roman went still.
She explained that Anthony had discovered Hartwell's plan before the Mercedes left the garage.
The original intention had been to disable the vehicle temporarily, creating an emergency that would pressure Roman's father into signing over control of the maintenance contracts.
But the modification was far more dangerous than Anthony had expected.
“He knew your father could be killed,” Elizabeth said.
Roman stared.
“And he did nothing.”
“He tried to warn him too late.”
Roman shook his head.
“He didn't try hard enough.”
Elizabeth nodded.
“No. He didn't.”
For a long time, nobody spoke.
Then Roman placed the watch on the table.
“I don't want Anthony's story to become another excuse for what happened.”
“It shouldn't,” Elizabeth said.
“But his son didn't cause any of this.”
Roman looked up.
Elizabeth continued.
“Your father wanted the boy protected. Even after everything.”
Roman studied her.
“Do you know where he is?”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
Elizabeth hesitated.
“His name is Samuel Reed. He's twenty-four now. He works at a boatyard in Atlantic City.”
Roman stared.
He had a cousin he'd never met.
A young man who had spent his entire life outside the family while the Bellandis mourned their dead.
“Does he know?” Roman asked.
“That Anthony was his father? Yes.”
“Does he know what Anthony did?”
“No.”
Roman looked toward the photograph of his father on the mantel.
Then he made a decision.
“I want to meet him.”
Elizabeth smiled sadly.
“Your father would have wanted that.”
The following afternoon, Roman traveled to Atlantic City.
I accompanied him because he asked me to help organize the family records he intended to share with Samuel.
We found Samuel at a small boat repair shop near the marina.
He had dark hair, grease-stained hands, and Anthony's unmistakable eyes.
Roman introduced himself.
Samuel stared.
“You're Roman Bellandi?”
“Yes.”
Samuel looked toward the black vehicle parked outside.
Then he laughed nervously.
“I figured this day might come.”
Roman frowned.
“You knew about me?”
“My father used to talk about you.”
Roman felt something tighten inside his chest.
“What did he say?”
Samuel wiped his hands on a rag.
“That you were the son he wished he'd raised.”
Roman didn't know how to answer.
Samuel reached beneath the workbench.
He removed an old leather wallet.
Inside was a photograph of Anthony with a little boy.
And behind it, a folded letter.
Samuel handed it over.
“He told me to give this to you if you ever came.”
Roman unfolded the paper.
May you like
The first sentence made his blood run cold.
ROMAN, YOUR FATHER WAS NOT THE ONLY PERSON HARTWELL PLANNED TO KILL THAT NIGHT.
