Chapter 5 - A Traitor Behind the Door
The letter changed the air between us. Dante read the final sentence once, then again.
"My mother could be wrong," I said.
"She could," he agreed. "But we have to take it seriously."
Gabriel met his gaze without flinching. "If you think I'm compromised, take my weapon."
Dante shook his head. "Not without evidence."
I expected a mafia boss to demand loyalty at gunpoint. Instead he ordered an independent review of security records and told Gabriel he could step away while it happened.
"I'm staying," Gabriel said. "Until we find whoever betrayed Luca."
The encrypted drive required a passphrase. Elena arranged for a forensic examiner to make a verified copy before anyone attempted access. My mother's letter mentioned a childhood lullaby, but I couldn't remember its name.
I remembered her voice, though. She sang while making pancakes, while folding laundry, while thunderstorms rattled the windows. One line always ended with a promise: I'll find you when the morning comes.
"Morning comes," I murmured.
The examiner entered the phrase. The drive opened.
It contained shipping manifests, campaign payments, and an audio file labeled FIRE NIGHT. Dante stared at the filename. I watched his hands tighten until the knuckles turned white.
"You don't have to listen," I said.
"Yes," he answered. "I do."
A crackling voice filled the room. Sloane's voice. Then another man said, "Luca won't be a problem after tonight."
Dante stopped breathing.
"Who is that?" I asked.
"My uncle," he said. "Salvatore Valenti."
The room seemed to shrink. Salvatore had raised Dante after his father's death. He sat on the board of every major Valenti company. He was the man who called Dante son.
"He told me Luca died because Mercer betrayed us," Dante said.
"And you believed him."
"I wanted someone to blame."
The admission was almost a whisper.
We sent the files to Elena's secure evidence team. Before midnight, a message arrived from an unknown sender: THE DRIVE ISN'T ENOUGH. ASK WHAT HAPPENED TO THE GIRL AT THE HOSPITAL.
"What girl?" I asked.
Dante's phone rang. Salvatore.
He answered on speaker. "Uncle."
"I hear you've taken in a stray," Salvatore said warmly. "Be careful. Some women bring disaster through the front door."
"What do you want?"
"Dinner tomorrow. Family only."
"I'm busy."
"Then perhaps your little redhead would prefer a visit from her mother."
I gripped the edge of the desk.
"Where is Evelyn?" Dante asked.
Salvatore chuckled. "Ask your new friend why her father kept a second daughter hidden."
The call ended.
I looked at Dante. "I don't have a sister."
He didn't answer quickly enough.
"Dante?"
"There was a baby listed on a hospital intake record," he said. "The night your mother disappeared. I thought the record was false."
I remembered Cameron calling me an only child, as if it were a fact he needed me to believe.
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The woman who raised me had lied about her death. My father had been hidden alive. Now someone claimed I had a sister.
And the worst part was that the lies were beginning to sound like pieces of the same truth.
