My Stepbrother's Dirty Little Secret novel Chapter 540

Chapter 540

Vincenzo nodded, “Questions lead to records, records lead to money. Money leads to people and people lead to us.”

Adriano’s smile disappeared.

I gave him a sharp nod, “If there are hazardous materials stored there, blowing it up could contaminate the surrounding water, there are fishing routes nearby. We don’t know what gets released, who gets hurt, what survives the explosion,” I tapped ash into a tray, “The smartest move is not destroying it.”

Luca frowned, “Then what?”

“We open it.”

I looked at the image of the island and at the millions disappearing into the ocean every year.

Then I looked back at my brothers.

“If Torricelli is pouring that much money into a hole in the middle of nowhere, there are only two possibilities, either he’s hiding something or he’s building something.”

I switched screens. A photograph appeared. Leone Caruso, and my jaw tightened immediately. I pointed toward the photograph projected across the wall.

“But this problem gets solved first. He has Ciro. And the bastard just made the biggest mistake of his life. He walked into that restaurant. Sat within breathing distance of our family. He knew exactly who was there. He knew we’d recognize him.”

I glanced around the room.

“That wasn’t courage. It was a challenge,” my eyes moved across the intelligence report beside Leone’s profile, ” And he only has one reason for taking that kind of risk. That’s Gianna. Everything he’s doing comes back to her.”

Adriano leaned forward in his chair, “What do we actually have on him?”

I smiled and took another drag from my cigarette, “A lot,” smoke drifted toward the ceiling, “He knows we’re watching him. He knows we’ve identified him. He knows we’re digging into his operation. And instead of disappearing, instead of changing his routines, instead of running, he walked directly into the same room as the people he’s provoking.”

Leone’s entire life laid out across the wall, then I enlarged another image.

Ciro.

Vincenzo straightened slightly.

Blood mattered, but it wasn’t the only thing that mattered.

Sometimes family was built through years instead of birth. Through loyalty. Through showing up when nobody asked you to. Through taking punishment, accepting it, and staying anyway.

Ciro had done exactly that.

I had sent him to the docks after his mistake. Most men would’ve become bitter. Some would’ve run. Others would’ve started looking for a way out.

Ciro had done none of those things. He worked. He kept his head down. He proved himself every single day without complaining once. He took what was coming to him and then earned his way back.

1/3

+15 Borns

That counted for something.

It counted for a lot.

And after everything he’d done for this family, after everything he’d endured to prove where his loyalty belonged, I wasn’t prepared to write him off as a loss.

Not even close.

“If we move against Leone now,” I said, “we risk losing Ciro. Leone knows he’s valuable. He knows Ciro is leverage. The second he feels real pressure, Ciro becomes a liability.”

Luca nodded slowly, “So we get him out first.”

“Exactly,” I pointed toward the map, “We somehow recover Ciro before things escalate.”

Luca folded his arms, “And then what about Torricelli? If we touch Leone, we’re not just touching some independent operator. He’s Torricelli’s underboss. Which means every move we make sends a message. And if that message is wrong?” Luca asked, “We end up with Philadelphia knocking on our door.”

Then Vincenzo continued, “And not just Philadelphia.”

I already knew where he was going.

Costello.

New York.

Cosa Nostra.

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