PART 2 — THE REVENGE OF RAPHAEL MORETTI
PART 2 — THE REVENGE OF RAPHAEL MORETTI
The elevator doors opened directly into the private medical suite.
For one brief second, Elena saw everything through a haze—the gleaming surgical equipment, the white lights, the nurses rushing toward them, and the glass-walled operating theater beyond.
Then another wave of pain ripped through her abdomen.
She cried out.
Raphael tightened his arms around her.
“Stay with me.”
“I’m trying.”
“You’re going to make it.”
His voice was firm.
But his eyes betrayed him.
For the first time since Elena had known him, Raphael Moretti looked like a man who had no idea what to do.
Money couldn’t fix this.
Power couldn’t intimidate it.
And violence couldn’t shoot it dead.
The life inside Elena was beyond his control.
Dr. Reeves moved alongside them.
“Put her on the table.”
Raphael hesitated.
Elena grabbed his wrist.
“Don’t leave me.”
His eyes dropped to her hand.
“I won’t.”
“You promise?”
“I promise.”
He kissed her forehead.
Then the nurses pulled her away.
The doors swung shut between them.
Raphael stood motionless.
For several seconds, nobody dared speak.
Then he slowly turned toward Marco.
“Where is Caruso?”
Marco swallowed.
“We’re close.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
“We found one of his safe houses.”
“Where?”
“Brooklyn. Red Hook.”
Raphael checked his watch.
“How long?”
“Twenty minutes.”
Raphael’s expression hardened.
“You have ten.”
Marco nodded.
Then his phone rang.
He answered.
His face changed.
“Boss…”
Raphael looked at him.
“What?”
“We found something.”
“Show me.”
Marco turned his phone around.
A photograph appeared on the screen.
It showed Nico Caruso entering a warehouse.
But that wasn’t what made Raphael’s blood run cold.
Behind Nico was another man.
A man Raphael recognized immediately.
His own older brother.
Luca Moretti.
Raphael stared at the photograph.
“No.”
Marco said nothing.
Raphael took the phone from his hand.
He zoomed in.
There was no mistake.
Luca had been dead for six years.
Officially.
At least, that was what Raphael had believed.
His brother had supposedly been killed in Sicily during a failed exchange.
Raphael had buried an empty coffin.
He had mourned him.
He had spent years believing the Carusos had been responsible.
But now Luca was standing beside Nico Caruso.
Alive.
Raphael’s entire world shifted.
“Find out when this was taken.”
Marco’s voice was quiet.
“Forty-seven minutes ago.”
Raphael looked toward the operating room.
Elena was fighting for her life.
His unborn child was fighting for its life.
And the person responsible might be his own brother.
“Take everyone.”
Marco nodded.
“Do you want Luca alive?”
Raphael’s jaw tightened.
“Yes.”
A pause.
“Both of them.”
Marco understood.
Raphael didn’t want revenge yet.
He wanted answers.
Inside the operating room, Elena heard voices around her.
“Pressure dropping.”
“Get another line.”
“Heart rate?”
“Still elevated.”
She tried to open her eyes.
Everything was blurry.
“Raphael…”
A nurse leaned over her.
“Your husband is outside.”
“He’s not—”
Elena stopped.
She didn’t have the strength to explain.
The doctor placed a hand on her shoulder.
“Focus on me, Elena.”
“My baby…”
“We’re monitoring the pregnancy.”
“Is the heartbeat there?”
The doctor glanced at the monitor.
“Yes.”
Elena closed her eyes.
A tear slipped down her cheek.
“Please save my baby.”
“We’re going to try.”
Ten minutes later, the operating room doors opened.
A nurse rushed toward Raphael.
“Mr. Moretti.”
He stood immediately.
“What happened?”
“Dr. Reeves wants to speak with you.”
Raphael’s heart stopped.
He entered.
Dr. Reeves was standing beside the ultrasound monitor.
The screen showed a tiny, flickering movement.
A heartbeat.
Raphael stared at it.
“That’s…”
“Your baby’s heartbeat.”
He couldn’t speak.
For a man who had ordered men killed without blinking, the sight of that tiny pulse nearly broke him.
“It’s still there,” Reeves continued. “But Elena has suffered a significant internal injury. We believe the toxin triggered severe complications.”
“Can you save her?”
“Yes.”
“And the baby?”
“We don’t know.”
Raphael stepped closer.
“Then you find out.”
Dr. Reeves looked at him.
“This isn’t a negotiation.”
“I know.”
“Then understand this. I need your cooperation. No interruptions. No threats. No demands.”
Raphael nodded.
“You have everything you need.”
“Good.”
She returned to the operating room.
The doors closed again.
Raphael stood alone.
His phone rang.
Marco.
“Talk.”
“We have Caruso.”
Raphael’s eyes went cold.
“Where?”
“Red Hook warehouse.”
“Luca?”
“Inside.”
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
Raphael looked toward the operating room.
“Bring them to the old shipyard.”
Marco hesitated.
“Boss…”
“Bring them.”
The old shipyard had been abandoned for more than a decade.
To the city, it was nothing but rusted containers and collapsing warehouses.
To Raphael, it was neutral ground.
A place where problems disappeared.
Tonight, however, Raphael wasn’t interested in making anyone disappear.
He wanted the truth.
Nico Caruso was dragged into the warehouse first.
His expensive suit was torn.
Blood covered one side of his face.
He looked furious.
“You’re insane, Moretti.”
Raphael stood several feet away.
“You poisoned a pregnant woman.”
Nico smiled.
“I didn’t.”
“You hired Vivien Sterling.”
“I hired her to find out whether Elena was pregnant.”
“Why?”
“Because you lied.”
Raphael’s eyes narrowed.
“About what?”
Nico laughed.
“You really don’t know?”
The warehouse fell silent.
Then a voice came from behind him.
“Because Elena isn’t carrying your child.”
Raphael froze.
Luca Moretti stepped out of the shadows.
Older.
Thinner.
Scarred.
But unmistakably alive.
Raphael stared at his brother.
For six years, he’d imagined this moment.
He’d imagined anger.
He’d imagined relief.
He’d imagined killing the man who had betrayed him.
Instead, he felt nothing.
“Luca.”
His brother smiled sadly.
“Hello, little brother.”
Raphael’s hands curled into fists.
“You died.”
“I had to.”
“You let me bury you.”
“I had no choice.”
“You let our mother mourn you.”
Luca’s face tightened.
“I know.”
Raphael took one step forward.
“Why?”
Luca glanced toward Nico.
“Because our father wasn’t killed by the Carusos.”
Raphael stopped.
“What?”
“Nico’s father didn’t order the hit.”
“Then who did?”
Luca looked directly at him.
“You did.”
The words landed like a bullet.
Raphael’s face went completely blank.
“You’re lying.”
“I wish I were.”
Luca stepped closer.
“Six years ago, our father discovered someone inside the Moretti organization was selling information. He planned to expose them.”
“Who?”
Luca looked at Nico.
Then back at Raphael.
“Your closest adviser.”
Raphael’s mind raced.
Marco?
Impossible.
Marco had been beside him for twenty years.
Luca continued.
“Your father discovered that the adviser had been working with a federal task force.”
Raphael’s eyes narrowed.
“Then why was he killed?”
“Because the adviser arranged it.”
“Who?”
Luca didn’t answer.
Instead, Nico spoke.
“Your father was going to expose him. So the adviser convinced you that the Carusos were responsible.”
Raphael’s breathing slowed.
“No.”
“You were young,” Luca said. “Angry. You wanted revenge. And someone gave you exactly the target you needed.”
Raphael remembered.
The night of his father’s death.
The anonymous photograph.
The information.
The supposed Caruso orders.
The rage.
The war that followed.
For six years, Raphael had believed he was fighting an enemy.
What if he’d been fighting a lie?
His phone suddenly rang.
He answered.
“Raphael?”
It was Dr. Reeves.
His heart immediately dropped.
“What happened?”
“Come back.”
“Is Elena—”
“She’s awake.”
Raphael closed his eyes.
Relief hit him so violently his knees almost weakened.
“And the baby?”
A pause.
Then:
“The heartbeat is strong.”
Raphael exhaled.
For the first time that night, he smiled.
When Raphael returned to the medical suite, Elena was awake.
Pale.
Exhausted.
But alive.
He entered the room slowly.
She looked at him.
“You’re here.”
“I promised.”
She smiled faintly.
“What happened?”
“The baby is alive.”
Elena closed her eyes.
A tear rolled down her cheek.
“Thank God.”
Raphael sat beside her.
He took her hand carefully.
“I need to tell you something.”
She opened her eyes.
“What?”
“Luca is alive.”
Elena stared at him.
“Your brother?”
He nodded.
“And he knows who ordered the attack.”
“Who?”
Raphael’s expression darkened.
“We don’t know yet.”
Elena squeezed his hand.
“Then find out.”
“I will.”
She studied his face.
“But don’t become a monster because of me.”
Raphael went silent.
Elena touched his cheek.
“I don’t need a man who destroys the world.”
“What do you need?”
“You.”
His eyes softened.
“Then that’s what you’ll get.”
Two days later, Elena was stable.
The baby was stable.
But Raphael had begun dismantling his own organization.
One by one, he summoned his senior advisers.
He studied financial records.
Phone logs.
Travel records.
Security footage.
Every piece of information Luca had given him.
And then Marco walked into the room.
“You wanted me?”
Raphael looked up.
“Yes.”
Marco sat down.
“What did you find?”
Raphael slid a folder across the desk.
“Three shell companies.”
Marco opened it.
“All connected to the Carusos?”
“No.”
Marco looked up.
“Then who?”
Raphael leaned back.
“Someone inside our organization.”
Marco studied the documents.
“Who?”
Raphael stared at him.
“That’s what I’m trying to determine.”
Marco’s expression didn’t change.
But Raphael noticed something.
A tiny hesitation.
Less than a second.
Most people wouldn’t have noticed.
Raphael did.
“Marco.”
“Yes?”
“Where were you the night my father died?”
Marco froze.
“I already told you.”
“Tell me again.”
“I was in Jersey.”
“With whom?”
“My wife.”
“Your wife says you weren’t.”
Silence.
Marco slowly stood.
“You think I killed your father?”
“I think someone lied to me.”
“And now you think it’s me.”
“I don’t know.”
Marco’s hand moved toward his jacket.
Raphael’s men immediately raised their weapons.
Marco stopped.
Then laughed.
“You’ve become paranoid.”
“No.”
Raphael stood.
“I’m becoming careful.”
Suddenly the lights went out.
Gunfire exploded through the building.
Raphael dropped behind the desk.
Men screamed.
Glass shattered.
Marco disappeared into the darkness.
When the emergency lights came on, he was gone.
And so was the folder.
Raphael looked around.
Then his phone buzzed.
One message.
YOU SHOULD HAVE LEFT THE PAST BURIED.
A second message appeared.
NEXT TIME, IT WON’T BE THE CHAMPAGNE.
Raphael stared at the screen.
Then he looked toward the hallway leading to Elena’s room.
His expression became terrifyingly calm.
He called Marco’s replacement.
“Lock down the facility.”
“Yes, boss.”
“Double the guards around Elena.”
“Already done.”
“And find Marco.”
“Alive?”
Raphael paused.
Then said:
“Until I know the truth.”
He hung up.
But before he could move, another call came through.
It was Elena.
He answered immediately.
“What’s wrong?”
Her voice was trembling.
“Raphael…”
“What happened?”
“I just woke up.”
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
Silence.
Then Elena whispered:
“Someone left something in my room.”
Raphael’s blood went cold.
“What?”
“A photograph.”
“Of what?”
“I don’t know.”
She began crying.
“It’s a picture of us.”
Raphael’s eyes narrowed.
“From when?”
“From last night.”
His entire body went still.
The photograph had been taken inside the hospital.
Someone had been watching them.
Someone had gotten past his security.
Someone was close.
Very close.
Then Elena whispered the words that changed everything.
“Raphael… there’s a note on the back.”
“What does it say?”
Her voice broke.
“It says…”
She took a breath.
“YOUR BROTHER ISN’T THE TRAITOR.”
Raphael stared into the darkness.
And for the first time, he understood.
The attack at the gala hadn’t been the beginning.
It had been a warning.
And the real enemy wasn’t Nico Caruso.
It wasn’t Vivien Sterling.
It wasn’t even Luca.
The real enemy had been standing beside Raphael for years.
Watching.
Waiting.
And now that person knew exactly where Raphael’s greatest weakness was.
Elena.
And their unborn child.
