The Photograph Dante Never Explained

Chapter 08 - The Photograph Dante Never Explained

The photograph had been taken in a hospital corridor.

Miguel Reyes lay on a gurney beneath a white sheet pulled to his chest.

Dante stood beside him.

Alive.

Present.

Looking down.

Elena stared at the image until the edges blurred.

Dante did not ask to see it again.

He had recognized it immediately.

“You were there.”

“Yes.”

Her voice went flat.

“You told me you were told my father died ten days after you left Chicago.”

“I was.”

“That photograph says otherwise.”

“I returned.”

“And forgot to mention that?”

“No.”

“Then you lied.”

“Yes.”

The word landed harder because he did not fight it.

Elena removed the ring.

This time she placed it carefully on the table.

“You have one chance.”

Dante looked toward the window.

“I came back because Miguel called me.”

Elena’s breath caught.

“When?”

“The night before he died.”

“What did he say?”

“That he had made a mistake.”

“What mistake?”

“He said he trusted Arthur Vale.”

Sofia stepped into the room.

She had been awake.

Elena saw it in her face.

“You knew Dante came back.”

Sofia looked at him, then her daughter.

“No.”

Dante continued.

“Miguel asked me to meet him at the old port. He never arrived.”

“What did you do?”

“I went to Salvatore Logistics.”

“Why?”

“I thought Enzo had him.”

“And?”

“I found Arthur.”

Elena’s jaw tightened.

“Arthur told me Miguel collapsed.”

“He had already been poisoned.”

“Yes.”

“Did you call police?”

“The ambulance was already there.”

“You went to the hospital.”

“Yes.”

“Why didn’t you tell my mother?”

Dante’s gaze moved toward Sofia.

“I tried.”

Sofia frowned.

“No, you didn’t.”

“I came to your house.”

Elena looked between them.

Sofia shook her head.

“No Salvatore came to my house.”

Dante’s face changed.

“There was a police car outside.”

Sofia went pale.

“What?”

“A uniformed officer told me the family had requested privacy and I was not welcome.”

“I never requested that.”

Dante stared.

“Then someone knew I was coming.”

Elena thought of Enzo.

Arthur.

Police officers who might have been paid.

Dante continued.

“At the hospital, I found Miguel alone for less than a minute before staff removed me.”

“What happened?”

Dante looked at Elena.

“He was conscious.”

The room stopped.

Elena gripped the edge of the table.

“My father was alive in that photograph.”

“Yes.”

“What did he say?”

Dante’s voice dropped.

“He said, ‘Tell Elena I was not afraid at the end.’”

Elena closed her eyes.

Fourteen years.

No one had told her.

Dante took a breath.

“Then he said, ‘Don’t trust Arthur.’”

“And?”

“And one more thing.”

She opened her eyes.

Dante hesitated.

Anger flared.

“Do not do that.”

“He said, ‘Sofia knows where Antonio put the shares.’”

Elena turned toward her mother.

Sofia sat down.

“I didn’t know until after the funeral.”

“How?”

“Antonio contacted me.”

Dante frowned.

“My father?”

“He came to the cemetery three days after Miguel was buried.”

“That would have been impossible. He was in federal custody.”

Sofia looked at him.

“He had not been arrested yet.”

Dante thought.

She was right.

Antonio’s arrest came a week later.

Sofia continued.

“He gave me the cookbook.”

Elena stared.

“The certificates were already inside?”

“Yes.”

“And he told you?”

“He said Miguel had earned them by saving his son.”

Dante looked away.

Elena could see the guilt.

She did not want his guilt.

She wanted the missing years back.

“Why did you hide being at the hospital?” she asked.

Dante answered quietly.

“Because I believed telling you would make me look responsible.”

“So you protected yourself.”

“Yes.”

No decoration.

No claim of protecting her.

Elena appreciated the truth and hated it.

“What else have you not told me because it makes you look bad?”

Dante was silent.

There.

Elena stepped back.

“There is something.”

Sofia looked at him.

“Dante.”

He ignored her.

Elena waited.

Finally he said, “The night before Miguel died, I threatened Arthur.”

“With what?”

“Death.”

Her stomach tightened.

“Why?”

“I believed Arthur had given Enzo my location.”

“Did he?”

“Yes.”

“And did you kill him?”

“No.”

“But you were willing to.”

“Yes.”

Elena nodded slowly.

She needed to remember who Dante was, not who he looked like when he asked permission to place a ring on her hand.

Vivien had been quiet for too long.

Now she said, “There is another reason Daniel sent that photograph.”

Dante looked at her.

“What?”

“Because he wants Elena to distrust you before tomorrow night.”

“That is obvious.”

“No.”

Vivien shook her head.

“He wants her away from you because Enzo doesn’t intend to trade Marcus.”

Elena’s chest tightened.

“What does he intend?”

“To kill everyone at pier seventeen.”

Dante’s eyes narrowed.

“How do you know?”

Vivien removed a tiny phone from beneath the bodice of her wedding dress.

“I took this from Daniel before I left.”

She opened a message thread.

Coordinates.

Names.

A list.

Marcus Vale.

Sofia Reyes.

Elena Reyes.

Dante Salvatore.

Vivien Mercer.

Five names.

Elena looked at her.

“You are on the list.”

“Yes.”

“Your own brother.”

“Half-brother.”

“That distinction is doing a lot of work today.”

Vivien almost smiled.

Then Dante read the final message.

After cleanup, transfer Reyes shares through estate process.

Elena frowned.

“Estate process?”

Sofia’s face went white.

“What?”

She took the phone.

“Oh no.”

Elena turned.

“Mom?”

Sofia looked at her daughter.

“When Miguel transferred the shares to me, he added a survivorship clause.”

“What kind?”

“If I die, the shares pass to you.”

Elena understood.

“And if I die?”

Sofia shook her head.

“They don’t go to family.”

“Where?”

“To the Antonio Salvatore estate.”

Dante stared.

“My sister controls that estate.”

Elena felt the trap close.

If Sofia and Elena died, Dante’s sister Alessandra would gain seventy percent with Enzo if she cooperated with him.

Dante’s phone rang.

He looked at the screen.

Alessandra.

He answered.

“Where are you?”

His sister’s voice came through clearly.

“At O’Hare.”

Dante went still.

“You’re in Chicago?”

“I just landed.”

“Why?”

A pause.

“Because Uncle Enzo called me.”

Elena looked at Dante.

Alessandra continued.

“And because he offered me two hundred million dollars for something I didn’t know I owned.”

Dante’s face hardened.

“What did you tell him?”

His sister gave a tired laugh.

“I told him I wanted three.”

The call ended.

Elena stared at Dante.

“Your family gets worse every hour.”

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He looked at the dead phone.

“You have no idea.”