Chapter 8 - The Traitor at Moretti’s Table
I walked outside.
Not elegantly.
Not calmly.
I needed air before I threw something at a seventy-year-old cook.
Callum followed but stayed ten feet away.
Smart.
“You knew?”
“No.”
“Everyone says that.”
“I know.”
I laughed bitterly.
“So Brendan was your brother.”
“Yes.”
“My mother had an affair with Salvatore.”
“Apparently.”
“And you employed me for fourteen months.”
He flinched.
“I did not know.”
“I believe you.”
That surprised both of us.
Because Callum looked devastated.
Not defensive.
The difference mattered.
Teresa eventually told us everything.
Kathleen Keane met Salvatore Moretti while working at the estate.
They had an affair during a separation between Salvatore and Lucia.
Kathleen became pregnant.
Salvatore offered support.
She refused involvement with the family.
But when Brendan turned eighteen, he sought Salvatore out.
Secretly.
Salvatore gave him work.
That explained access.
The kitchen.
Dominic.
Raven.
Brendan discovered trafficking because he had been moving through family channels most drivers never saw.
“Did Salvatore know about me?” I asked.
Teresa nodded.
“He knew Kathleen later had a daughter with Sean Keane.”
My father.
“So I’m not…”
“No.”
Thank God.
Some dramas did not need that twist.
Callum almost smiled at my visible relief.
I glared.
“Not funny.”
“A little.”
Teresa said Salvatore tried to protect Brendan quietly.
When Raven emerged, Brendan went to him.
That was how Salvatore learned.
Then Salvatore was killed before fixing it.
“So Brendan blamed himself,” I whispered.
“Yes.”
That sounded exactly like him.
Then another question.
“Who knew all of this?”
“Me. Lucia. Salvatore. Dominic.”
“Finn?”
“No.”
“Enzo?”
“Likely.”
“And whoever leaked Ruby.”
We searched legal access again.
The breach originated from a device inside the estate.
Kitchen network.
Teresa looked offended.
“I do not hack.”
No one accused her.
But another person used the kitchen constantly.
Teresa’s nephew.
Anthony Gallo.
Estate accountant.
Quiet.
Polite.
Thirty-nine.
He managed household vendors and legal invoice routing.
He had access to systems nobody noticed.
Because accountants were invisible in a different uniform.
Callum summoned him.
Anthony never arrived.
His apartment was empty.
Then Finn found the connection.
Anthony’s father had been Dominic Moretti.
Illegitimate son.
Hidden.
Again.
This family desperately needed hobbies.
Anthony had grown up believing Salvatore abandoned Dominic after Raven.
He blamed Callum.
But more importantly, Anthony believed Brendan stole evidence that should have belonged to Dominic’s heirs.
Ruby’s testimony threatened to make Brendan look heroic and Dominic complicit.
Anthony wanted the story rewritten.
He contacted Frank.
Leaked files.
Paid reporters.
Not for money.
For legacy.
“Men will destroy cities over which dead father gets remembered correctly,” I said.
Callum looked at me.
“You are becoming very judgmental.”
“I learned from experts.”
Anthony sent a message.
To me.
If you want Brendan’s final recording, come alone.
Of course.
Everyone loved kidnapping-adjacent invitations.
I showed Callum immediately.
Progress.
“No,” he said.
Regression.
I stared.
He sighed.
“May we discuss alternatives?”
“Excellent recovery.”
Anthony named a public place.
Old South Station locker corridor.
No isolated warehouse.
No guns requested.
FBI could monitor.
We went.
I approached the locker alone while agents watched.
Inside was a phone.
Video file.
Brendan appeared.
Alive.
Thin.
Terrified.
My heart broke.
“Maeve.”
He smiled weakly.
“If you’re seeing this, I’ve officially messed up worse than usual.”
I covered my mouth.
He explained Raven.
Dominic.
Frank.
Enzo.
Then:
“Dominic tried to shut it down. He wasn’t clean, but he tried. Finn covered it too long because he thought protecting the family mattered more than the people getting hurt.”
Then Brendan said something unexpected.
“Callum doesn’t know.”
I looked toward the surveillance van.
“He was a kid when most of this started. If anybody tries telling you he ordered it, they’re lying.”
Tears ran down my face.
Then:
“Salvatore found out because of me.”
Brendan’s voice broke.
“I thought he’d fix it.”
He looked away.
“He died instead.”
Pause.
“I ran because I knew Enzo would come for you.”
Me.
“I borrowed money under my name and yours. Some real. Some fake. I made myself look like a gambling idiot because idiots don’t look like witnesses.”
I laughed through tears.
“That part wasn’t difficult.”
Brendan smiled from years ago, as if hearing me.
Then:
“Maeve, I’m sorry.”
I closed my eyes.
“For everything.”
He had recorded the video hours before his death.
He knew he might not survive.
“I love you. I know I made that expensive.”
The screen went dark.
I stood alone in the station with commuters moving around me.
My brother was still dead.
Truth did not change that.
But the final thing between us was no longer an argument about five thousand dollars.
It was him saying he loved me.
That was something.
Then Anthony spoke behind me.
“I thought you deserved that.”
I turned.
He stood ten feet away.
No weapon visible.
Agents moved closer but waited.
“Why leak Ruby?”
“Because Brendan made Dominic look like a monster.”
“He helped build Raven.”
“He tried to stop it.”
“So did Brendan.”
Anthony’s jaw tightened.
“My father died for that.”
“So did mine.”
He blinked.
“Brother,” I corrected.
Then I stepped closer.
“You are doing exactly what killed them.”
“What?”
“Protecting a dead man’s reputation instead of living people.”
Anthony looked toward the locker.
His anger cracked.
I continued.
“Ruby is seventeen.”
Silence.
“You exposed her because you wanted strangers to think better of Dominic.”
His eyes filled.
“Was it worth it?”
No answer.
Federal agents approached.
Anthony did not run.
He handed them his phone.
Then said,
“There’s one more thing.”
Callum entered.
Anthony looked at him.
“Frank lied about Salvatore’s death.”
Callum stopped.
“Enzo ordered it.”
“We know.”
“No.”
Anthony shook his head.
“Enzo supplied the drug.”
“Who administered it?”
Silence.
Anthony looked past Callum.
Toward Finn.
May you like
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Finn’s face went white.
And suddenly the oldest friendship in Callum’s life reached its final test.
