Chapter 10 - The Last War Beneath the Cathedral
San Vittore was not truly a cathedral.
It was an old private church outside Milan, built in the nineteenth century by Alessandro’s great-great-grandfather and expanded by men who apparently believed humility required marble statues larger than houses.
By the time we arrived, rain had turned the road black.
The church stood alone behind iron gates.
No lights.
No priests.
No tourists.
Only stone angels staring down at a gathering of armored cars.
Alessandro checked his weapon.
I looked at it.
“You said we were giving evidence to Sofia.”
“We are.”
“That looks less like evidence.”
“It is for the men who may object to the transfer.”
I sighed.
“Of course.”
He almost smiled.
Almost.
Emma was safe at Don Ricci’s guarded estate with Rosa.
I had argued about coming.
Alessandro had argued louder.
I won because the second key had been hidden for me.
Noah had trusted me to finish this.
I was not staying behind.
Sofia Bellini, injured but very much alive, directed government teams from the hospital.
Her officers were positioned two kilometers away.
The plan was simple.
Which meant it was guaranteed to become complicated.
Find the original ledger.
Record Carlo and Dario if possible.
Get out.
Then let the government move.
The eleven families remained outside.
No one wanted gunfire inside a church containing half a century of Moretti dead.
Apparently even gangsters had boundaries.
Alessandro and I entered through the side chapel.
Our footsteps echoed.
“Where do kings pray?” I whispered.
He looked toward the altar.
“My grandfather had a private kneeler.”
We found it near the family crypt.
Dark walnut.
Gold cross.
A brass plate engraved with the Moretti crest.
The tiny key fit into a hole beneath the armrest.
Click.
A hidden compartment opened.
Empty.
My heart dropped.
“No.”
Alessandro searched it.
Then removed a folded page.
One sentence.
YOU ARE ALWAYS ONE PRAYER BEHIND.
Carlo’s handwriting.
Alessandro closed his eyes.
“He knew.”
“How?”
“Because Noah must have hidden the ledger before Carlo killed him the second time.”
“Then Carlo searched Noah.”
“And found the first clue.”
“But not the rabbit.”
“No.”
A voice echoed behind us.
“You finally understand.”
Carlo stood at the entrance to the crypt.
His injured arm was strapped against his chest.
Dario stood beside him.
Six men surrounded them.
Dario held a leather ledger.
The original.
“Congratulations,” he said.
“You found the grave.”
Alessandro stepped in front of me.
Dario smiled.
“How touching.”
Carlo looked at me.
“You should have left Milan when your husband told you.”
“You should have died before touching my child.”
His smile vanished.
I had discovered something about fear.
After a certain point, it has nowhere else to go.
It burns away.
What remains is anger.
Dario opened the ledger.
“Do you know what this contains?”
“Yes.”
“Enough names to destroy judges, businessmen, police officers, unions, families.”
“And you.”
He laughed.
“Especially me.”
Alessandro’s voice remained calm.
“So why bring it here?”
“Because you’re going to make a trade.”
“For what?”
“Your future.”
Dario looked at me.
“Kill Elena Bennett.”
Silence.
I did not move.
Neither did Alessandro.
Dario continued.
“The government has already been given copies of questionable origin. Without the original, half of it becomes contestable.”
“And if Elena dies?”
“Carlo and I disappear. Vivian recants. The families restore the old balance.”
Alessandro laughed.
Actually laughed.
It was the first time I had heard the sound.
Dario frowned.
“What is amusing?”
“You still think this is about preserving my empire.”
Carlo looked at him sharply.
Alessandro removed his pistol.
Then placed it on the floor.
Dario smiled.
“Good.”
Alessandro kicked it away.
“Two years ago, Marco asked me to destroy the part of our organization that required men like you.”
Carlo’s face tightened.
“I called him weak.”
Alessandro looked around the crypt.
“I was wrong.”
Dario’s smile vanished.
“What are you saying?”
“I gave Bellini everything.”
Carlo stared.
“Everything?”
“Everything.”
“You idiot.”
“Maybe.”
Alessandro stepped closer to me.
“But tonight is not about saving the Moretti criminal empire.”
He looked at Dario.
“It is about burying it.”
Dario raised his pistol.
A red light blinked on my coat button.
Carlo saw it.
His face changed.
“Recording.”
I smiled.
“Noah taught me something.”
Dario lunged.
Everything exploded.
Carlo grabbed the ledger.
Dario fired toward Alessandro.
Alessandro shoved me behind a stone pillar.
A bullet struck marble.
Government officers poured through the chapel doors.
Dario’s men fired.
The crypt filled with noise.
I crawled behind a sarcophagus.
Carlo ran toward the rear passage with the ledger.
I saw him.
So did Alessandro.
“Carlo!”
He chased him.
I did the stupidest thing of my life.
I followed.
The passage opened into the old bell tower.
Carlo climbed the stairs.
Alessandro was behind him.
I struggled upward.
By the time I reached the top, Carlo stood beneath the enormous bronze bell.
Rain blew through open arches.
The ledger was tucked beneath his arm.
Alessandro aimed his gun.
“Stop.”
Carlo laughed.
“You really would destroy your father’s world for a maid and her child?”
Alessandro’s face became still.
“No.”
He lowered his weapon slightly.
“I’m destroying it because my brother was right.”
Carlo’s eyes shifted toward me.
“Women always make men sentimental.”
I stepped forward.
“No. Consequences do.”
His face twisted.
“You think your husband was a hero?”
“I think he was afraid.”
That surprised him.
“So am I.”
I looked at Alessandro.
“So is he.”
Then back at Carlo.
“The difference is what people do while they’re afraid.”
Police footsteps thundered below.
Carlo looked toward the arch.
No escape.
He lifted the ledger over the edge.
“Come closer and it burns.”
In his injured hand was a lighter.
Alessandro stopped.
Carlo flicked it.
Flame.
“Everything Noah died for.”
I stared at the book.
Then smiled.
Carlo frowned.
“You think that is funny?”
“No.”
I reached inside my coat.
Pulled out a flash drive.
“Noah made copies.”
Carlo froze.
“You’re holding paper.”
His face collapsed.
“The evidence is already with Sofia.”
Alessandro looked at me.
Even he had not known.
I shrugged.
“I learned not to tell mafia bosses everything.”
For one perfect second, Carlo Moretti looked completely defeated.
Then rage replaced it.
He threw the ledger aside.
Pulled a second pistol from his ankle.
Aimed at me.
Alessandro moved.
The gun fired.
Pain exploded through the tower.
Alessandro crashed into me.
We hit the stone floor.
I screamed.
Carlo raised the gun again.
Government officers reached the stairs.
Shots.
Carlo fell.
His pistol slid away.
I looked down.
Blood covered my hands.
Not mine.
“Alessandro.”
He was lying against me.
Blood spread beneath his jacket.
“No.”
His eyes opened.
“Elena.”
“Don’t.”
I pressed my hands against the wound.
“Don’t you dare.”
He tried to breathe.
It sounded wrong.
“Emma…”
“She’s safe.”
“Good.”
“Stop talking.”
He almost smiled.
“You order me around a great deal for a housekeeper.”
I started sobbing.
“You are never allowed to call me that again.”
“I didn’t.”
“Shut up.”
Medical officers rushed forward.
They pulled me away.
“No!”
“We need space!”
They cut his shirt.
Blood.
Too much blood.
Someone shouted for oxygen.
Someone else called for evacuation.
Alessandro’s eyes found mine as they lifted him.
“Bring me home,” I whispered.
The same words I had said before my arrest.
His lips moved.
I couldn’t hear.
“What?”
He tried again.
“Cross…”
His breathing failed.
The medic shouted.
Alessandro’s eyes closed.
May you like
The monitor attached to his chest screamed one long, unbroken tone.
And the man all of Milan feared died in my arms.
