Chapter 13 - THE GRAVE
We arrived at the cemetery after dark.
Rain poured across the headstones.
Peter had chosen the location for a reason.
Elena.
Everything always came back to Elena.
Police surrounded the cemetery from a distance.
Dominic insisted on going in.
So did I.
“You don’t need to be here,” he said.
“You’ve said that before.”
“And you ignored me before.”
“Correct.”
He looked tired.
“Why do I even try?”
“Control issues.”
We reached Elena’s grave.
The soil had been disturbed.
Dominic stopped.
Something broke across his face.
“They dug her up.”
Not the coffin.
The ground beside it.
A hidden compartment beneath the monument.
Peter stood ten feet away.
Gun in hand.
A metal case at his feet.
“You always were slow, Dominic.”
Marco raised his weapon.
Peter pointed his gun at me.
“Drop it.”
Marco didn’t move.
Peter smiled.
“You really want to test my aim?”
Dominic lifted one hand.
“Marco.”
The weapon lowered.
Peter looked pleased.
“What’s in the case?” Dominic asked.
“Insurance.”
“Money?”
“Records.”
“Copies?”
“All Elena’s originals.”
Dominic frowned.
“We already have the drives.”
Peter laughed.
“You think Elena trusted digital storage?”
He kicked the case.
“Names. Signatures. Original contracts.”
I understood.
Enough evidence to send powerful people to prison.
Enough evidence to give Peter leverage.
“You killed Elena for this,” Dominic said.
Peter didn’t answer.
That was an answer.
Dominic stepped closer.
“How?”
“Brake line.”
My stomach turned.
Dominic’s face went dead.
“You cut her brakes.”
“I paid someone.”
“You watched me bury her.”
“Yes.”
“You stood beside Ethan.”
Peter’s voice hardened.
“I did what had to be done.”
Dominic lunged.
Peter raised the gun.
I screamed.
Marco fired first.
Peter’s gun flew from his hand.
He fell behind the monument.
Dominic charged him anyway.
The two men hit the ground.
Peter punched Dominic directly in his healing wound.
Dominic collapsed.
I grabbed Peter’s gun.
He saw me.
Ran.
I pointed it at him.
My hands shook violently.
“Stop!”
Peter froze.
Rain streamed down his face.
“You won’t shoot me.”
I hated that he sounded sure.
“You’re right.”
His smile returned.
Then I added, “But Marco will.”
Marco stepped behind him.
Weapon raised.
Peter surrendered.
Police flooded the cemetery.
Handcuffs.
Flashlights.
Shouting.
Dominic sat against Elena’s headstone holding his side.
I dropped beside him.
“You’re bleeding.”
“Again?”
“This is becoming a habit.”
He laughed weakly.
I pressed my coat against the wound.
Peter was led past us.
He stopped.
Looked at Dominic.
“You think this ends with me?”
Dominic stared at him.
“It ends enough.”
Peter smiled.
“You’ll lose everything.”
Dominic looked at Elena’s grave.
Then at me.
“No.”
His voice was quiet.
“I already learned what everything is.”
Peter was dragged away.
The metal case was secured.
The evidence was real.
Elena had died trying to expose the system built by Dominic’s father.
Peter killed her to preserve it.
Gabriel had been manipulated into helping.
Cole sold information for money.
Daniel sold information because he was desperate.
Piece by piece, the truth finally fit.
But one question remained.
I looked at Dominic.
“What happens to the Moretti empire now?”
May you like
He stared into the rain.
“I tear it apart.”
