47. Valerio
FORTY-SEVEN
VALERIO
Disarming the security system allowed Valerio, Dante, and Allister to enter the woods behind the home to find the underground tunnels.
These tunnels were the same way that Valerio used to sneak from his home to the cabin, especially after he lost his mom and before he was sent to Italy. His father knew about the tunnels, but since his property was already protected, he never considered it a big enough threat to close them up.
Good thing for Valerio.
He kicked down the door, quickly climbing up the steep steps to the room that led into the basement. It was more like a cellar, used as a room where “business” took place back in the old days.
He gave Dante and Allister a lasting look, making sure they were prepared for what they were about to do. They only nodded their heads in confirmation, communicating without needing words.
With that, they navigated the long halls and stairways to get to the main floor. Valerio entered first, holding the gun up in defense in case anyone caught them. The hallway was clear.
The three of them took quiet, quick steps, making their way to the study on the second floor. After any trip, his father always spent time there, attempting to catch up on work that he missed. He just hoped his father was still a man of habit.
Two guards stood outside of the study, both armed and dangerous. Without a second thought, Valerio lifted his gun and fired at both, the noise canceled out by the muffler. They fell to the ground in instant, perfect shots to the head.
“I don’t think there’s anyone else here,” Valerio told them. “But keep your eyes peeled. We’ll carry the bodies into the study so that if someone walks by, they won’t see them and be alerted.”
“They'll see the blood,” Dante pointed out.
“Harder to see blood on the floor than it is to see two bodies,” Valerio said.
“I’ll stay out here while you guys go inside,” Allister said. “You need that moment alone.”
He was right. This was justice Valerio and Dante needed to take alone.
“Stay hidden. Holler if you need backup.” Valerio clapped him on the arm. He knew Allister was good enough to hold his own, but he would never leave his best friend out there alone.
Valerio and Dante grabbed hold of the two dead guards and with another swift kick, forced their way into the study. He surveyed the room in an instant, finding no one else there but his father.
They pulled the dead men in, closing the door behind them.
Cesare lifted his head, appearing unfazed until he saw it was Valerio standing in front of him. “What the fuck are you doing here?” he asked, clutching the pen in his hands.
“Don’t act so surprised,” Valerio said. “You had to have known this was coming. Or are you surprised I managed to survive the bullet to the back that you sent me?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Cesare said, his tone disingenuous.
“Don’t lie to me!” he screamed, losing all cool. “For once in your life you are going to tell the truth.”
“And if I don’t? What will you do? Kill me?” Cesare asked, crossing his arms. “I have guards posted everywhere in this house.”
“I don’t care,” Valerio said. “To see you dead would be worth a bullet to the head.”
“You’re fools, both of you. I never thought I raised coward sons, but here you are. Following in on the same suicide pact your mother had,” Cesare hissed.
Valerio slammed the butt of the gun against his nose, hearing a sickening crack. “Watch your mouth about my mother.”
Dante stepped up. “The first thing you are going to do is confess to killing Alec.”
Valerio eyed his brother. Alec was someone Dante hardly ever brought up, but he remembered how his brother looked after he found the body. He didn’t sleep, he didn’t eat, he didn’t move; he was practically a zombie of a person. He was never the same after it. The smile never matched his eyes again. Valerio never even knew about the relationship until after Alec’s death, but he would have protected his brother and supported him one hundred percent, back then and now.
“You already know I did,” Cesare said. He held his bloody nose in his hand with a sickening grin.
“Why? He was innocent,” Dante growled.
“No son of mine, no matter how much of a disappointment, is going to ever be with a man. Not in this lifetime,” Cesare bit back. “You should be thankful. I saved your reputation.”
“You killed the man I loved,” Dante screamed. “But you don’t feel any remorse; you never did.”
“And I never will,” Cesare said.
Valerio took a deep breath, calming himself enough to get all the answers before he shot his father in the head. “Why did you try to kill me? Your own son, your fucking heir!”
Cesare’s eyes hardened. “I had no use for you. Your loyalties have shifted.”
“So I was better off dead?” he asked.
“As long as that girl carried your child, I had no use for you,” Cesare said.
“I am your son. Your blood. You were willing to kill me off just like that? What the fuck is wrong with you?”
“The same thing that’s wrong with all of you. You know what comes along with this life. Don’t act so surprised now. I did what was right for the Vitali name,” Cesare said, standing up. He wiped the blood on his hand on his suit jacket. “Which is what the two of you should have done if you cared about this empire at all.”
“What about my mother? What did she do?” Dante asked.
“She killed herself,” Cesare said.
“Because of you,” Valerio told him.
“Because of all of us!” Cesare screamed, slamming his hand on the desk. “She wanted to leave, she wanted to run away. I wasn’t going to let her leave us.”
“So you enabled the same misery that killed her. You could have let her go,” Valerio hissed.
“See if you would ever let that Kingsley girl go,” Cesare said, his voice full of malice. “Tell me you wouldn’t keep her locked up.”
“I wouldn’t because I’m nothing like you,” he spit out.
“You fool! Have you learned nothing? You are me.” Cesare laughed hysterically.
“I will never become the man you are—willing to sacrifice my son, willing to kill someone he loved, willing to take an innocent grandchild and manipulate it into a monster. You’re not powerful. You’re a coward,” Valerio screamed. “You’re nothing.”
“Fuck you,” Cesare bellowed. He reached for the gun on his desk, but Dante was quick with it, shooting him in the arm before he could.
“Enough!” he cried out. He rushed up to his father, forcing him onto his knees and pulling out one of the smaller guns he had stowed away. He shoved it into Cesare’s mouth, forcing him still as soon as he cocked the gun.
“I won’t shoot you in the back. I’ll look you dead in the eyes when I shoot you. I’ll make sure you remember the face of the bastard son you hated, remembering he was the one who took your life. You won’t get a tombstone, you won’t get buried six feet under. You’ll get thrown into some random body of water, a promise that no one will find you and no one will remember you,” Dante told him, his voice calm despite the situation. “See you in hell.”
Valerio watched his father’s wide eyes, his head shaking back and forth trying to spit out words but unable to do so. He expected to feel something, anything, but instead he felt nothing.
The shot rang out in the room, silence following afterward. Dante let the body fall forward, hiding behind the desk. His shoulders moved frantically before a sob tore through his chest.
Valerio pulled Dante over, wrapping his arms around him. He needed it more than he did. His entire life he had been made a spectacle, losing everyone he loved one by one. Almost losing Valerio was the last straw, it seemed.
He had made it his life’s mission to protect his younger brother. And today, it was Dante who protected him.
“You’re going to be okay,” Valerio promised him. “It’s all going to be okay.”
And finally, they both knew it would be.
Allister opened the door to the study, looking at the two of them in question. Valerio only nodded his head, letting him know that it was done. Cesare Vitali was dead.
Dante dragged the body downstairs as they all made their way to the living room. He wanted to do it himself, not letting Valerio anywhere near it. With confirmation that the former don was dead, all guards around the house were quick to pledge their loyalty to Valerio. There was no hesitation for them to take a knee and bow their heads. They knew his character. He was different from his father, fair and honest.
They had a couple of the guards take the body to the warehouse, waiting for it to be thrown into the water as Dante had promised.
But for now, it was time to go home.