Chapter 13 - The Last Jar On My TableThe Honey Stall Had Been A Vault All Along
We returned to Riverside Farmers Market before sunrise.
The same hour Dante first appeared six weeks earlier.
Same cold.
Same fog.
Same wooden table.
Except now I understood.
My father's honey stall had never been just a business.
It had been a safe place.
The jars were records.
The wax seals were messages.
The table itself was the vault.
Dante turned it over.
Nothing.
He removed the legs.
Nothing.
I remembered my father's hands.
How he always tapped the center of the table three times before closing.
I tapped.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
A hidden panel clicked.
Dante stared.
A thin compartment opened.
Inside was a single envelope.
My name.
ELENA RUSSO.
I opened it.
Inside was a letter from my father.
My darling daughter,
If you are reading this, then the people I feared have finally found you.
There is no safe place left.
So I will tell you everything.
I was born Edward Russo.
Salvatore was my twin.
When we were young, we made one promise.
Neither of us would ever abandon the other.
He broke that promise first.
I left.
He stayed.
I built a family.
He built an empire.
When he came for you, I fought.
Not because I wanted revenge.
Because I wanted you to have a life where nobody knew your name.
I failed.
But I left proof.
Not proof that Salvatore is guilty.
Proof that he is not the only monster.
I stopped reading.
Dante noticed.
"What?"
I handed him the letter.
He read.
His face darkened.
I continued.
There is someone closer to you than Salvatore.
Someone who has been beside you for years.
Someone who ordered Sofia's death.
Someone who knew about Elena before anyone else.
I looked at Dante.
"Who?"
He was silent.
The letter continued.
Do not trust the man who tells you he is loyal.
Especially if he has been loyal for too long.
I thought of Marco.
Dante shook his head.
"No."
"Why?"
"Because Marco was ten when Sofia died."
I stared at the final line.
The handwriting became shaky.
The name begins with V.
Dante dropped the letter.
"Vincent."
"Who?"
"My consigliere."
I recognized the name.
Vincent Hale.
The man who had attended every funeral.
Every meeting.
Every wedding.
Every family gathering.
The man Dante trusted with his life.
A black car stopped at the market entrance.
Vincent stepped out.
He smiled.
"Dante."
Dante raised his gun.
Vincent didn't react.
"So you found it."
"What did you do?"
Vincent smiled.
"Your wife was going to expose everything."
"You killed her."
"No."
"Then who?"
Vincent looked at me.
"Your father."
My stomach dropped.
"What?"
"He ordered the shooting."
Dante shook his head.
"You're lying."
Vincent laughed.
"You still believe everyone is innocent except yourself."
He raised a phone.
A video appeared.
My father.
Alive.
Years earlier.
Talking to Vincent.
"Kill Sofia if she refuses."
My blood ran cold.
Dante stared.
"No."
Vincent lowered the phone.
"Your father ordered Sofia's death."
I looked at the letter.
Something didn't fit.
"The footage."
Vincent smiled.
"What about it?"
"My father wrote the letter."
"Yes."
"But he said he was protecting Sofia."
Vincent's expression changed.
I stepped forward.
"The video is edited."
Silence.
Dante looked at the phone.
Vincent's smile faded.
I pointed.
"The shadow behind my father."
Dante looked.
"There are two."
Marco pulled out his gun.
Vincent stepped backward.
Then six men appeared behind us.
Vincent smiled again.
"You should have stayed home."
May you like
He raised his hand.
And the market exploded into gunfire.
