CHAPTER 6 — The Vineyard Before Sunrise
CHAPTER 6 — The Vineyard Before Sunrise
The estate was silent by the time Alessandro's car slipped through the iron gates.
The sky over Palermo was still dark, with only a pale band of silver on the horizon.
Lorenzo stood beside the vehicle.
"You don't have to go alone."
"I do."
"It could be a trap."
Alessandro folded the note and slipped it into his coat.
"It almost certainly is."
"Then let me come."
Alessandro shook his head.
"If the note is genuine, the man waiting there won't speak if he sees anyone else."
Lorenzo hesitated before handing him a small earpiece.
Alessandro looked at it but didn't take it.
"No."
"If something happens—"
"If something happens," Alessandro interrupted, "protect Elena and Clara."
Lorenzo understood.
The order wasn't about today.
It was about whatever came after.
"I give you my word."
The Vitale family vineyard lay on a hillside overlooking rows of ancient vines.
Alessandro had not visited it in years.
As a boy, he had run between those vines while his father laughed.
Later, after his father's murder, another man had brought him back.
A man named Vittorio Moretti.
The mentor who had taught him how to survive.
The mentor everyone believed had died in a warehouse explosion five years earlier.
The old stone chapel at the center of the vineyard stood exactly as he remembered.
One candle burned inside.
Someone was waiting.
Alessandro stepped through the doorway.
An elderly man rose slowly from a wooden bench.
His hair had turned almost completely white.
His face bore fresh scars.
But the eyes were unmistakable.
"Good morning, Alessandro."
Alessandro stared at him.
"...Vittorio."
"So you recognized me."
"You were supposed to be dead."
Vittorio gave a tired smile.
"I encouraged that rumor."
For several moments neither man spoke.
Finally Alessandro asked,
"Why?"
"Because I discovered someone far more dangerous than our enemies."
"And who was that?"
Vittorio looked directly into his eyes.
"Someone inside the family."
Alessandro's jaw tightened.
"Bianca?"
"No."
"The corruption began long before Bianca."
He removed a weathered leather folder from beneath the bench.
"I've spent five years collecting proof."
Alessandro opened it.
Inside were financial records dating back nearly a decade.
Names.
Payments.
Political contacts.
Judges.
Police officers.
Business rivals.
Even members of the Vitale organization.
Millions of euros had disappeared.
The empire had been bleeding from the inside for years.
"You knew?"
"I suspected."
"And you said nothing?"
"I couldn't."
Vittorio's voice grew heavy.
"The moment I spoke, they tried to kill me."
Alessandro turned another page.
A familiar signature appeared repeatedly.
Not Bianca.
Not Vittorio.
His own chief financial officer.
Riccardo Bellini.
The man who had managed every major account for twelve years.
The man who attended every family meeting.
The man who had congratulated Alessandro on his engagement.
"He handled everything," Alessandro murmured.
"Exactly."
Vittorio nodded.
"Bianca was recruited because she gave them access to you."
"But Bellini built the network."
Alessandro closed the folder.
"So where is he now?"
Vittorio's expression darkened.
"At your mansion."
At that very moment...
Bellini stood in Alessandro's study.
He smiled politely at the remaining household staff.
"Terrible business."
One nervous servant nodded.
"Is Mr. Vitale returning soon?"
"I don't believe so."
Bellini glanced toward the staircase.
"Excellent."
After the servant left, his pleasant smile disappeared.
He unlocked Alessandro's desk with a duplicate key.
Inside lay a thick black ledger.
Exactly where he'd hoped it would be.
He reached for it—
"Looking for this?"
Bellini froze.
Lorenzo stepped from behind the curtains, pistol raised.
Six armed guards emerged from the shadows.
Bellini slowly lifted his hands.
"You planned this."
Lorenzo smiled faintly.
"No."
"Our boss did."
Back at the vineyard, Alessandro's phone vibrated once.
A single message from Lorenzo.
Bellini is in custody.
Alessandro looked at Vittorio.
"It worked."
Vittorio allowed himself the first genuine smile of the morning.
"Good."
"But we're still missing one piece."
"What piece?"
"The reason."
Alessandro frowned.
"Twenty million euros isn't enough?"
"No."
Vittorio pointed to the folder.
"Keep reading."
Near the back was a faded newspaper clipping from twenty-six years earlier.
The headline described a fatal car explosion that had claimed the life of Alessandro's father.
Attached beneath it was a handwritten note.
It was never our rivals.
Alessandro's breathing slowed.
"What is this?"
"The truth."
Vittorio's voice barely rose above a whisper.
"Your father wasn't killed by another family."
"He was betrayed by his own."
Before Alessandro could ask another question, the sound of helicopter blades thundered overhead.
Both men looked up.
A black helicopter descended toward the vineyard.
Its doors slid open before it touched the ground.
Masked gunmen jumped out, weapons already raised.
The first bullets tore through the chapel windows.
Glass exploded across the stone floor.
Vittorio shoved Alessandro behind a pillar.
"They found us!"
Alessandro drew his pistol.
Outside, more vehicles raced up the vineyard road.
This wasn't a rescue.
It was an execution.
May you like
And someone had known exactly where to find them.
End of Chapter 6
