Chapter 4 - The Mafia Boss Had Waited Fourteen Years to Kill the Man Who Destroyed Her Family—But Elena Made Him Choose Justice InsteadMarco chose the abandoned Vieri warehouse near the Hudson.
Of course he did.
Men like Marco loved symbolism.
Elena wore a wire beneath her blouse.
The red ledger she carried was a copy.
Federal agents surrounded the area.
Adrien remained in the command vehicle.
He hated every second.
Elena entered alone.
Danny and Sal sat near the center.
Marco stood behind them.
“You came.”
“You knew I would.”
He smiled.
“You have your father's stubbornness.”
“You knew him?”
“I was sixteen.”
“My father?”
“Annoying man.”
Elena's hands tightened.
Marco continued:
“He believed rules mattered.”
“Apparently you still find that funny.”
“I find people who believe rules protect them funny.”
Elena looked at Danny.
“Release them.”
“Book.”
“Confession.”
Marco laughed.
“You're negotiating?”
“Yes.”
“With me?”
“Yes.”
“You really are Enzo's daughter.”
“Then you know I won't stop.”
Something shifted in Marco's face.
He remembered Enzo.
That was useful.
Elena pressed.
“My father didn't die from heart failure.”
Marco said nothing.
“Your father ordered it.”
Silence.
“Dr. Lasko altered his medication.”
Marco's eyes narrowed.
“You've been busy.”
“Am I wrong?”
“No.”
The word came casually.
In the command vehicle, every agent heard it.
Elena's heartbeat thundered.
“Did you know?”
“Yes.”
“Before he died?”
“Yes.”
“Did you help?”
Marco smiled.
“I delivered the envelope.”
Adrien stood abruptly.
An agent grabbed his arm.
“Stay.”
On the warehouse floor, Elena forced herself not to react.
“What envelope?”
“Cash.”
“For Lasko.”
“Your father ordered my father's murder?”
“Your father was going to destroy everything.”
“He was going to expose theft.”
“Same thing.”
“No.”
Elena stepped forward.
“He was going to expose you.”
Marco's smile disappeared.
“You people always call accountability destruction.”
Marco reached for the ledger.
Elena pulled it back.
“Release Danny and Sal.”
Marco nodded.
One of his men untied them.
Agents were ready.
But Marco suddenly looked toward Elena's blouse.
The wire had shifted.
His expression changed.
“You.”
He grabbed her.
Everything exploded.
Agents entered.
Danny dropped.
Sal crawled behind a crate.
Marco dragged Elena backward.
A weapon appeared in his hand.
Then Adrien entered.
He wasn't supposed to.
Elena saw him.
So did Marco.
Marco laughed.
“There he is.”
Adrien's face was terrifyingly calm.
“Let her go.”
“Like you let my father go?”
Adrien stopped.
Marco pressed the weapon closer to Elena.
“You remember him?”
“Yes.”
“You remember what you did?”
“Yes.”
“You murdered my father.”
“Yes.”
Elena closed her eyes.
Marco laughed.
“Now we're honest.”
Adrien said:
“I've spent fourteen years wishing I'd done something different.”
Marco's smile widened.
“Liar.”
“No.”
Adrien looked at Elena.
“I wish I'd made him testify.”
Marco's smile faded.
“I wish I'd exposed every person he paid.”
“I wish I'd helped return every dollar.”
“I wish I'd given Enzo Maronei's daughter the truth instead of another corpse.”
Elena looked at him.
Adrien continued:
“Killing your father was easy.”
“Living with what it failed to fix was harder.”
Marco shoved Elena aside.
Then raised the weapon toward Adrien.
A federal marksman fired.
Marco's weapon dropped.
He fell.
Alive.
Agents swarmed.
Adrien could have reached him.
Could have finished what he'd started fourteen years earlier.
Instead, he went to Elena.
Stopped one step away.
“May I?”
She nodded.
He held her.
Her body began shaking.
“Danny?”
“Safe.”
“Sal?”
“Safe.”
“You?”
Adrien smiled against her hair.
“Currently being yelled at by twelve federal agents.”
She laughed.
Then cried.
Marco survived.
That mattered to Elena.
He went to trial.
That mattered more.
He was convicted of conspiracy, kidnapping, labor racketeering, witness intimidation, financial crimes and involvement in Enzo Maronei's murder.
Dr. Lasko pleaded guilty.
Gino received a reduced sentence after cooperation.
Thousands of workers received restitution.
Enzo Maronei's name was publicly cleared.
But justice did not stop at Marco.
Adrien kept his promise.
He pleaded guilty too.
The judge considered his voluntary disclosure, cooperation and role in dismantling the Vieri operation.
Thirty months.
Elena sat behind him during sentencing.
Adrien did not ask her to.
When court adjourned, he approached.
“So.”
“So.”
“Thirty months.”
“Yes.”
“You don't have to visit.”
“I know.”
“You don't have to wait.”
“I know.”
He smiled.
“Now you're doing it.”
Elena almost laughed.
Adrien's expression softened.
“I mean it.”
“I know.”
“I don't want prison turning our relationship into a promise you didn't freely make.”
Elena looked at him.
“Adrien.”
“Yes?”
“Shut up.”
He did.
She kissed him.
Then whispered:
“I won't promise to wait.”
“Good.”
“But I will promise something.”
“What?”
“When you come home, if we still want the same thing, we'll find out what it is.”
Adrien nodded.
“Fair.”
She touched his face.
“And while you're gone, I'm going to work.”
He smiled.
“I'd be shocked if you didn't.”
Adrien surrendered two weeks later.
Elena did work.
She became an investigator specializing in wage theft and labor fraud.
The recovered Moretti trust money—every dollar—went into the Enzo Maronei Worker Defense Fund.
Sal joined its board.
Danny finished college and went to law school.
Elena moved into a better apartment.
Bought furniture.
Learned to cook three meals her father used to make.
She went on dates.
Two.
Neither became serious.
Adrien wrote letters.
Never possessive.
Never asking whether she was seeing anyone.
Mostly stories.
Books he was reading.
Things he regretted.
Questions he was learning to ask himself.
Elena visited occasionally.
Not weekly.
Not according to a romantic schedule.
When she wanted to.
Twenty-four months later, Adrien received early release for cooperation and good conduct.
He did not tell Elena the exact hour.
She had made him promise not to turn his release into an obligation.
He walked out expecting Abel's nephew to collect him.
Instead, Elena stood beside an old blue sedan.
Adrien stopped.
She smiled.
“I changed my mind.”
“About what?”
“Being here.”
He approached.
“You're sure?”
“Yes.”
“What happens now?”
Elena opened the passenger door.
“Coffee.”
He smiled.
“Coffee.”
“And then?”
“We'll see.”
He climbed in.
May you like
She drove.
For the first time in Adrien Moretti's adult life, he let someone else decide the route.
