Chapter 8 - Renato Comes Home

Renato arrived before noon.

Nobody invited him.

That was the point.

The front gate called Matteo.

“Your uncle is here.”

Matteo looked at Walter.

Then at Victor.

Neither man spoke.

Celeste whispered:

“He knows.”

Matteo nodded.

“He knows we have the film.”

Renato entered the mansion like he still owned part of it.

Sixty-one.

Dark hair gone mostly gray.

Perfect coat.

No visible fear.

He smiled when he saw Matteo.

“Nephew.”

Matteo did not smile back.

“Uncle.”

Renato noticed Victor first.

Then Celeste.

Then Henry.

Then the evidence sleeve on the desk.

His smile disappeared.

“There it is.”

Matteo leaned against the desk.

“You came quickly.”

“You stopped answering my calls.”

“I’ve been busy learning my family history.”

Renato looked at Victor.

“You talked.”

Victor nodded.

“Yes.”

“Finally grew a conscience?”

“No.”

Victor’s voice was flat.

“I got tired of borrowing yours.”

Renato laughed.

Then looked at Matteo.

“You believe these people?”

“I believe records.”

“Records can be fabricated.”

“So can funerals.”

Renato’s face tightened.

Matteo continued.

“My father is alive.”

For the first time, Renato looked surprised.

Only slightly.

But enough.

“You knew,” Matteo said.

Renato recovered.

“I suspected.”

“No.”

Victor stood.

“You knew.”

Renato looked at him.

“So now you’re brave.”

Victor said nothing.

Henry moved one folder closer to himself.

Renato noticed.

“You’re not police.”

“No,” Henry said.

“Worse.”

Renato almost smiled.

Matteo placed the broken fountain pen on the desk.

Renato stared at it.

“Remember Blackwater Pier?”

His eyes hardened.

Matteo had his answer.

Renato walked toward the window.

“Your father made choices.”

“So did you.”

“He betrayed the family.”

“He tried to keep me out of it.”

Renato turned.

“And how well did that work?”

Matteo didn’t answer.

Because Renato had a point.

Matteo had still inherited power.

Still lived in the mansion.

Still had armed men at the gate.

Alessandro had failed to remove everything.

But he had changed something.

Matteo now knew he had a choice.

Renato looked at the film.

“What do you want?”

“Truth.”

“That is an expensive word.”

“I can afford it.”

Renato smiled.

“There’s the Vescari I recognize.”

Matteo’s expression stayed still.

“No.”

He looked toward Walter.

Then Victor.

Then Celeste.

“I’m trying very hard not to be.”

Renato’s smile faded.

Henry spoke.

“The records are being copied.”

Renato looked at him.

“To whom?”

“People outside this house.”

That was a lie.

For the moment.

But Renato did not know that.

His posture changed.

“What people?”

Henry shrugged.

“The kind who enjoy old financial crimes.”

Renato turned toward Matteo.

“You would hand family business to prosecutors?”

“My father did.”

“Your father destroyed this family.”

Matteo shook his head.

“No.”

“He tried to stop you from deciding what it became.”

Renato’s jaw tightened.

He looked at Celeste.

“You brought me to Alessandro.”

She stared.

“You used me to test his memory.”

“Yes.”

Victor stepped forward.

“Leave her out of this.”

Renato laughed.

“You spent your life putting her in it.”

Celeste flinched.

Victor did too.

Again, truth from the worst person in the room.

Matteo moved between them.

“Enough.”

Renato looked at him.

“What happens now?”

Matteo picked up the microfilm.

“You tell me where every remaining account is.”

“No.”

“Then Henry sends copies.”

Renato smiled.

“You think I’m afraid of prison at sixty-one?”

“No.”

Matteo looked toward Celeste.

“I think you’re afraid of losing everything you built.”

Renato’s face finally changed.

There.

The real pressure point.

Not freedom.

Control.

Matteo continued.

“Companies. Properties. Partners. Political friends.”

Renato said nothing.

“Eleven years ago you threatened my father with me.”

Matteo stepped closer.

“Today I’m the one standing here.”

Renato stared at him.

Then laughed softly.

“You really are Alessandro’s son.”

Matteo shook his head.

“No.”

His voice was calm.

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“I’m the man he disappeared to give a choice.”

Renato stopped smiling.