Chapter 15 - Bruno’s OfferBruno Ricci requested to speak with Alejandro at 6:00 p.m.
Detective Shaw refused.
Alejandro agreed.
They met inside a police interrogation room with glass between them and half the city watching from the other side.
Bruno looked tired now.
Not afraid.
Tired.
Like a man disappointed the game had ended before the final move.
Alejandro sat across from him wearing a black coat over a hospital shirt. His skin was still pale. His breathing still scraped faintly in his chest.
Bruno smiled.
“You should be in bed.”
“You should be underground.”
“There he is.”
Alejandro folded his hands on the table. “Why Kiara?”
For the first time, Bruno’s smile faltered.
“Because she saw Sofia with Halden’s son.”
Alejandro’s eyes narrowed.
“She was four.”
“She was observant.”
The room seemed to shrink.
Bruno leaned back.
“Sofia was not mine at first. She belonged to Halden. A pretty piece moved across a board. She seduced his son, stole files, helped move money. Your daughter saw her arguing with him near the estate. She told the nanny there was a crying man by the black car.”
Alejandro’s face went gray.
“You killed my daughter because she saw a man cry?”
“No,” Bruno said softly. “I killed the nanny. The car was supposed to scare you, not kill Kiara. The driver panicked.”
Alejandro surged across the table.
Three officers rushed in before his hands reached Bruno’s throat.
Bruno laughed as they forced him back.
“That’s the difference between us, Ale. You feel too much.”
Alejandro’s voice was barely human. “You were her godfather.”
“I was building something bigger than your grief.”
Alejandro stilled.
“What?”
Bruno leaned forward.
“You inherited fear. I created infrastructure. Judges. Docks. Banks. Police. Politicians. Every sin your family committed, I organized. You wore the crown. I built the throne.”
“Then why not take it openly?”
“Because men follow blood before competence.”
Alejandro stared at him.
Bruno’s eyes glittered.
“So I made your blood look rotten.”
“The documents.”
“The poisoning. The senator’s son. Clara’s husband. Emma’s medicine. Kiara’s death. All roads back to you.”
Alejandro sat slowly.
Bruno lowered his voice.
“But it can still be fixed.”
Alejandro almost smiled.
“There it is.”
“Let me disappear,” Bruno said. “I give you the full network. Names. Accounts. Where Sofia kept the original files. You keep your empire. The maid gets her husband. The child gets medicine for life. Everyone wins.”
Alejandro looked through the glass.
Clara stood on the other side beside Nathan’s hospital wheelchair.
Emma held Nathan’s hand.
The child saw Alejandro looking and raised her rabbit backpack in a tiny wave.
Alejandro turned back to Bruno.
“You think this is still about my empire.”
Bruno’s smile faded.
Alejandro stood.
May you like
“It’s about the children you counted as acceptable losses.”
Then he walked out.
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