Mafia's Redemption: Terzo - Chapter 61: Chapter 61

DANI
They said Don’t bite the hands that feed you, but that was not the case for Francesco. My body shook knowing my father, or not-so-father after all, was so capable of taking lives, and who sheltered him. He was a monster, an impostor, and a murderer.
I wondered what he did to the child. God, I hoped he still had a little humanity left in him. I was horrified. I shivered after finding out the horrible crimes he committed. What forced him to do such a thing? I didn’t have to know. He was just pure evil.
“So how did I fit into this?” The silence in the office was deafening, except my own heartbeat. I could feel the thrashing in my ears.
Terzo shook his head. “I don’t know. I don’t know why he chose you.”
“I know who to ask. My mother.”
They both looked at me in shock.
“Yes. She’s the only one who can answer. Why did she lie to me about my father?” I let go of a shuddering sigh and looked at Terzo. “I don’t think I can take another trip this week. I’m not feeling well, but I want you to make her talk. I wanna know the truth. I deserve it. If he is not my father, then who is my father? I mean, it doesn’t make any sense. If the real Francesco is not my father, then maybe Dante Costa is.”
“Why would he lie to you about who he is?”
“Good question. Did my mother know who he was before they made me?” I groaned. “God, why is my life such a mess? Why did he involve me in this in the first place? He almost sold me to a monster for the alliance. Somehow, I was still blinded by the fact that he was not my father. How could he do such things to me? And he also used the man, Tomas, to pretend to be my brother. Was he really his son?”
Terzo shook his head again. “I don’t know.”
“Get that DNA test done. If the result is negative.” I looked at him and made sure he understood what I was saying. “Do whatever you like.”
“Dani,” Gaetano called me.
“Yes, sir?”
“I want you to accompany Terzo to a meeting tomorrow.”
“May I know what for?” I asked nicely. Gaetano had been a good father-in-law to me, and he deserved some respect. Despite his son being an ass, he still apologized on Terzo’s behalf.
“Terzo will be taking over the family business.”
“Oh.” Terzo met my gaze. “Congratulations! I wanna be sarcastic and tell you that you got what you wished for, but I’m happy for you. You worked hard to be in this position. You deserved it.”
“Thank you.” He didn’t sound so thrilled.
“Before you kidnapped me, you were saying about your old enemy coming after you.”
I instantly saw how his back went rigid. My guess, he hadn’t told his father about it.
“What did she mean by that, Terzo?” Gaetano turned to his son.
Terzo was caught off guard. “It’s probably nothing, but I had a feeling somehow Francesco made a new friend. Why did he choose to send me a message using black Dahlia?”
“I’m confused.”
“While I was deep undercover, Ruslan Olezka planted a black Dahlia in his garden. It could be just a coincidence, but Francesco is a snake with deadly venom. If his plan to kill Winston failed, he would try it again, this time, I’m his target to avenge his son. Somehow, maybe, he found out who my enemies are. He used Dani’s escape to get to me.”
“And this Ruslan guy. Who is he?” I asked him.
“Ruslan Olezka was born before the Soviet Union collapsed with heterochromia. His parents were killed during the failed coup. He and his grandfather fled to Türkiye. He was granted citizenship, but he got arrested multiple times, and his grandfather died while he was in prison. He became resentful and went back to Russia. He also made friends with bad people in Türkiye.”
“Wait a minute. Talking about Türkiye. The apartment was yours?”
He stole a glance at his father and nodded. “Yes. With one goal, Olezka started building his drug empire and an army. The black Dahlia reminds him of his mother. I was like Francesco to Cillian. He trusted me, and I betrayed him. I helped put him in jail, and his empire collapsed.”
“Then why are you worried if he’s in jail?” Gaetano asked. He looked more worried right now than earlier.
“Ridge told me that my handler was going to the pipeline. A guy named Ivor was rebuilding Olezka’s army. It’s either he’s under Olezka’s order or he’s building his own, but he has no prior relationship or connection with Olezka.”
“You said it yourself, he made friends while locked up.”
His eyes literally lit up. “Genius, Dani. Yeah, maybe they’ve met in prison.” He grabbed his phone and typed something, then put it facedown on the desk.
“So you’re afraid he might retaliate?”
“Not might. He will. Olezka doesn’t give a damn about age and gender. If you’re on his way, you’re done.” His face contorted with pain and probably memories. “I watched people get killed because they didn’t wanna work with him. If he couldn’t get what he wanted, he used—”
I swallowed. “You don’t have to tell me. I’m horrified enough to know what my fake father did. When I thought you were the worst, I was wrong. Some people are far worse without a soul. Just pure evil.”
“That’s why I had to do what I did. I know I’m harsh, and I used to get what I wanted, but you didn’t trust me when I told you about the risk.”
My chest began heaving at the realization that I might be in the worst of the worst situation right now. The timing wasn’t right, and I didn’t know how to break it to him if I was right.
“Are you okay?” I didn’t know how Terzo got to me pretty quickly. He held my arms and shook me, then cupped my face. “Dani? Dani, you have that look again?”
“Should I call a doctor?” Gaetano was already on his feet, worried as he looked at me.
“No!” I shut my mouth abruptly. My voice came out louder than I should. “I mean, no need. I’m fine.”
“Are you sure?” Terzo hadn’t let me go.
“Yeah. With all the drama and deaths.” I shook my head. “I don’t think I’d ever get used to violence.”
“No one should. We all wanted freedom and a peaceful life,” Gaetano said. “If you need anything, just tell me, Dani. If you need a doctor, I’ll call Dr. Valerio. You’ve been under a lot of stress. You were traumatized. I think you should just rest. You don’t have to come with us tomorrow.”
“No. I want to be there. I want to show my support for Terzo. I’ll be fine. This is jetlag and drugs.” I stole a glance at Terzo to guilt-trip him. Until something popped up in my head. “What if that book Medea is just a cover, what’s inside could be Cillian’s diary, and he had all the list of names of everyone involved and the crimes they committed.”
“Maybe Francesco’s name was also in that list,” Terzo seemed to have agreed with my idea. “Right. He was ready to surrender. Maybe he wanted to give that to the authority, but Francesco did not find it with him, and he didn’t want it to fall into the wrong hands and expose his secret.”
“That’s a good theory, Terzo, but how are you going to find it?” Gaetano asked. “And it happened twenty years ago.”
“Where it all happened.”
“In Ireland?” I stared at him in disbelief.
“Yeah. Where did he go before his death?”
After the meeting, I left and went up. I just got to bed, I heard another knock.
“Come in.”
I expected Marco, but I was surprised to see Terzo standing at the door. “What do you want?”
“You threw up and you did not tell me?”
I scoffed. “Oh, should I also report how many times I peed?”
“I’m not amused by your tone, Dani. I’m serious. If you’re sick, I need to take you to the hospital.”
“Yes, I’m sick. I’m sick of you, that made me wanna puke. I’m sick of your lies and manipulations. You’re a control freak and a psycho, Terzo Siciliano. Tomorrow you’d get what you wanted. You will become the Don, which makes easily for you to get rid of me. And I’m sure you don’t need an infuriating, defiant wife anymore. Consider that a reason to file for divorce.”
He smirked with pure evil. “Is that so? Need I remind you that you owe me your life? Go ahead, try to escape, but if I find you, I won’t be so merciful.”