Chapter 7: The Last Betrayal of the DeLorenzo Family
At 11:38 p.m., Gabriel stood inside the port authority command center.
Federal investigators had been notified.
The container terminal was being secured.
And Anthony’s team was coordinating with authorities to locate Dominic DeLorenzo.
Madison had been returned to medical care.
Jenna and her son were safe.
Victor Sloane was in custody.
But Dominic was still missing.
Gabriel stared at the shipping manifest.
Container 914.
Registered under the name of his mother’s foundation.
The signature authorizing the shipment was dated six months earlier.
And it belonged to Gabriel himself.
Except Gabriel had never signed it.
“Forgery,” Anthony said.
Gabriel shook his head.
“More than that.”
He enlarged the digital document.
The authorization contained a secondary approval code.
One that had been retired twelve years earlier.
The same year Matteo died.
Anthony leaned forward.
“How is that possible?”
Gabriel remembered something his father had told him before his death.
Your mother kept records nobody else was allowed to see.
He had assumed his father meant financial documents.
Now he wasn’t so sure.
At 11:51, authorities opened container 914.
Inside were several locked steel cases.
No industrial equipment.
No medical supplies.
Just documents, encrypted drives, and boxes containing old financial ledgers.
An investigator opened the first case.
Inside was a photograph of Matteo DeLorenzo.
Beneath it lay a handwritten letter.
Addressed to Gabriel.
The handwriting belonged to his mother.
Gabriel opened the envelope.
His hands began to shake.
My dearest Gabriel,
If you are reading this, then the truth has finally found its way home.
Your brother discovered that Dominic was using our family businesses for illegal transfers. Matteo wanted to expose him.
I tried to protect him.
I failed.
But before Matteo died, he gave me copies of everything.
I hid them where Dominic would never think to look.
Under my own name.
Gabriel stopped reading.
His eyes burned.
He continued.
If Dominic ever discovers these records, he will destroy them.
Promise me that when the time comes, you will choose what is right over what is easy.
And promise me something else.
Do not let the darkness that took your brother take you too.
Gabriel lowered the letter.
For twelve years, he had believed his mother died without knowing the truth.
Now he understood.
She had known.
She had spent her final months trying to preserve evidence.
And somehow, Dominic had eventually discovered the hidden shipment.
Anthony approached.
“Boss, we found him.”
Gabriel looked up.
“Where?”
“At the old family estate in Westchester.”
Gabriel folded the letter.
“Then that’s where we’re going.”
An hour later, Gabriel entered the mansion where he had grown up.
The lights were on.
The front door stood open.
Dominic waited in the library.
A glass of whiskey rested beside him.
He looked older than he had that morning.
“Gabriel.”
Gabriel stopped in the doorway.
“It’s over.”
Dominic smiled bitterly.
“Nothing is ever over in this family.”
“The records are with federal investigators. Victor is cooperating. Raymond has been arrested.”
Dominic’s smile disappeared.
Gabriel placed his mother’s letter on the desk.
“She knew.”
Dominic stared at the envelope.
His face changed.
“Where did you get that?”
“Container 914.”
Dominic sank into his chair.
For the first time, he seemed truly defeated.
“Your mother was always too clever.”
Gabriel’s voice shook.
“She trusted you.”
Dominic looked toward the fireplace.
“So did your father.”
“And Matteo.”
Silence.
Gabriel stepped closer.
“You destroyed this family to protect yourself.”
Dominic’s eyes filled with tears.
“I built this family.”
“No.”
Gabriel looked around the library.
“You used it.”
Outside, police vehicles approached the mansion.
Dominic heard the engines.
He looked at Gabriel.
“You’re handing your own blood to the authorities?”
Gabriel answered without hesitation.
“I’m handing over the man who killed my brother.”
Dominic’s expression collapsed.
He lowered his head.
And for the first time in Gabriel’s life, his uncle had nothing left to say.
As officers entered the library, Gabriel turned away.
He had imagined this moment for twelve years without knowing it.
He had imagined rage.
Revenge.
Satisfaction.
Instead, he felt only grief.
Then his phone rang.
Dr. Marquez.
Gabriel answered immediately.
“Doctor?”
Her voice was urgent.
“Mr. DeLorenzo, you need to come to the hospital.”
Gabriel’s heart stopped.
“Is Madison all right?”
There was a pause.
“She’s conscious. But her condition has changed, and we need to discuss the results of her latest scans.”
Gabriel closed his eyes.
After everything they had survived, he had begun to believe the worst was behind them.
Now he wasn’t sure.