The Price Of Secrecy (13 page)

Chapter
Seventeen

Angela
woke up Sunday morning to the smell of bacon again, and she wondered if she’d
dreamed yesterday, but her entire body was too sore to have done that. She
smiled as the memories of Dominic making love to her twice in a short time
washed over her, and then the smile faded as she recalled the other events of
last night.

She
showered quickly and dressed, making her way to the kitchen. Bacon, eggs,
toast, coffee, and fresh fruit filled the countertop. She made a plate and
poured herself a cup of coffee, then followed the male voices into the dining
room where she found Dominic, Viggo, and two men she didn’t know bent over
laptops.

Dominic
glanced up when he heard her, clearing a spot next to him. “Good morning. Sit
down. We have a lot to tell you.”

She
had hoped to hear about all this from him alone, but apparently that wasn’t
going to happen. She took a seat and nodded toward Viggo. “Nice to see you
again.”

“Same
here.”

“This
is Brian Anderson,” said Dominic, pointing toward the man on Viggo’s right.
“He’s Merrick’s brother.” Of course he was. He could be his twin. “He’s head of
an outfit called Anderson Security. On the surface, they do private security for
businesses. Behind all that, they do private security and other functions for
those in need of more than police or WITSEC protection.”

She
tried not to react when he said
WITSEC
,
but she was sure she had. Any lingering doubt she’d still had this morning that
he’d somehow found out she and her mother were in the program was officially
gone for good.

“Your
mother now has a twenty-four hour tail from my people,” said Brian, “and I
assure you she will never know about it.”

“Thank
you.” She didn’t know what else to say. This was overwhelming. Dominic hadn’t
been kidding when he’d said he’d take care of it, but how would this solve
anything long term? Her status had been compromised. Not voicing it aloud
didn’t make it any less true.

Dominic
pointed toward the other man. “This is Oscar Velez. He works for Viggo doing IT
and security. I’ve told him the story I’m about to tell you, and he along with
Brian, are going to use their resources to dig deeper than I can. We have a few
people to find, once and for all.”

He
pointed toward her plate when she said nothing. “Eat, and drink lots of coffee.
This is going to be a long day.”

Her
appetite was gone, but she did as he said because she had to do something or
she’d simply start screaming and not be able to stop.

“My
real name isn’t Dominic Greco.”

She
dropped her fork.

“It’s
Antonio Trapani.”

Trapani
… she knew that name, but why?
Dominic Greco wasn’t his real name?
What
the fuck?
Was he also in WITSEC?

“The
man we saw last night is my cousin, Gene. I’m certain of it. Up until last
night, I thought he was dead.” Dominic leaned back and ran his hand through his
hair. “Let me start at the beginning.”

She
picked up her fork, but there was no way she could eat anything now. Instead,
she put it down again and wrapped her hands around the coffee mug, trying to
draw warmth from it.

“My
grandfather, Mario, had three sons. Giuseppe, Pietro, and Alberto. Alberto was
my real father. Giuseppe fathered Gene, and Pietro fathered Leo. Your father,
Frank Rossi, and your uncles, Mike and Danny, worked with my cousins and my
uncles. They were unofficially part of the Trapani family.”

No! This can’t be happening!
Angela stood so fast her chair
toppled over. “How long have you known this?”

He
stood, too, and took her hands. “Days only. I didn’t say anything because the
moment the truth is out of your mouth, you’re compromised. I will not place you
in that position.”

“But
you
know! What difference does it
make who says it out loud?”

“These
men are going to track down any remaining members of the Trapani family. Once
they’re gone, you and your mother are no longer in danger.”

“Are
you in danger from them, too?”

“Yes.”

“Then
why haven’t you done this before?”

He
sighed out loud. “I thought I was safe. I found no evidence that any of them
were out of jail or alive. I’ve covered my tracks for eighteen years.”

“Why
now, then?”

He
gave her a curious look. “Because you’re involved. Angela, I won’t let anything
happen to you.”

“All
these years you’ve had this hanging over your head? What about your company?”

“Viggo
and I talked about trying to find them before, but we decided that the fewer people
who knew, the better. We always knew this might become our only option one day,
and now that day is here.”

Her
mind reeled. “I’m confused.”

Dominic
kissed her gently. “I know you are. Please sit back down and let me explain all
of it.”

“But
now everyone here knows about me and my mother. I need to call my—”

He
put a finger on her lips and shook his head. “Don’t say it. Just listen first.
Do you trust me?”

“Yes,
but—”

“Then
listen to this story. Please.”

She
nodded, and sent up a silent prayer that she wouldn’t regret trusting him. This
was her worst nightmare come true.

“Your
father and your uncles stiffed Mario on a deal. They tried to take off with all
the money and flee to South America.”

Angela
frowned. Snippets of conversation came back to her from her childhood, but she
couldn’t quite remember them. “When was this?”

“You
would have been about eight.”

Right
before they moved to San Francisco. This wasn’t possible. Dominic actually knew
her family. If what he said was true, and her father and uncles had tried to
take off with money they were supposed to have given to
his
family, that meant he was part of the family looking for her
and her mother. So why was
he
in
danger?

Angela
stared at him, not sure if she should run or slap him. “You told me that you’re
one of them. You’re part of the Trapani family.”

“No.
I’m not. I haven’t been for a long time. Please let me explain.”

She
watched him carefully now, ready to run if need be. She’d leave this apartment
and go to her mother’s house, and then she’d call her WITSEC inspector, like
she should have done last night.

“When
your father and uncles took off with all the money, my cousin Leo was supposed
to kill them. Before that could happen, your father and uncles went to the FBI.
Leo took off for Europe, and Gene turned to Mario for advice.”

She
swallowed hard as a fleeting memory of her parents talking late into the night
downstairs with a man and a woman whose voices she didn’t recognize came back
to her, but she couldn’t recall any of the conversation. They’d kept their
voices hushed, but she did hear enough to know her mother had cried through
most of the conversation. Had that conversation been with her father and uncles,
or with the FBI?

“Mario
wanted me to kill them. He wanted me to make my bones.”

“What?”
she whispered. She couldn’t have heard him right.

“My
grandfather was tired of my staying out of the family business. I wanted no
part of it, and made my intentions clear at every turn. I was twenty-three
years old and already writing complex code and building computers. When I
refused, he went ballistic, so I left, but no one really leaves a crime family,
Angela.”

She
didn’t say anything. She merely watched his face. He was telling the truth, and
suddenly so many things he’d said and done since she’d met him made sense. She
wasn’t in danger from him, but she was in danger from his family. She always had
been.

“I
had already built up friendships with the other Weathermen, and I sought
Viggo’s help. These types of situations are his specialty. He lived in Los
Angeles, so that’s where I went. He helped me build a new identity and hide the
legitimate money I’d earned and inherited. I built my company and stayed ten
steps ahead of my family who were actively looking for me.”

No
wonder he never looked for them before. He’d been too busy keeping them at bay.

“You’re
originally from Chicago, then.”

He
nodded. “Yes. The same as you.”

“When
you said that woman tried to hurt you and your company five years ago, did that
have something to do with your real family?”

“Yes,
but let me tell you this in chronological order to help you understand it. When
The Madeline Project was compromised in 2117, Viggo and I didn’t wait to move
our operations underground. We knew what was coming. Things were so confusing
then. It took over a year for everyone who was still alive to move underground.
Because of the storms, data was lost, either electronically because servers
were destroyed and the backups failed, or in paper form. People disappeared,
meaning there was no data on where they were.”

“So
you thought that your family—your real family—were dead.”

“Most
of them, yes. I knew Leo was in a federal prison and he still is, but not in
this city. I kept track of your father and uncles, too.”

Goosebumps
broke out along her arms. “Where are they?”

“In
prison.”

She
let out the breath she’d been holding, until she noticed he had averted his
gaze as he answered. He continued talking, so she saved the other questions for
a later time.

“I
don’t like to think I was lazy, only complacent after so many years, but don’t
mistake that for ignorance. I kept track of them all, looking for clues online
in the databases I had gained access to. When I needed extra help, I turned to
Viggo. He’s the only other Weatherman who knows the truth.”

She
knew what it felt like to live a lie. She had a fake name, too. She’d been
looking over her shoulder since their move from Chicago to San Francisco, and
then again since their move underground. Surely someone who had gone through
what he had would never betray her. He knew what was at stake.

But
how had he discovered her true identity? “Is this why the doors to your office
are metal?”

He
smiled. “Yes. I had actually intended to do that to all of them, but then
decided it wasn’t cost-effective. I spent so much time at work I figured if
anyone were to find me, that’s where they’d look first.”

“What
about all those names you rattled off the first day? Are they fake, too?”

“Only
‘Dominic’ and ‘Greco’ are assumed names. Antonio Paul John Matthew Trapani is
my birth name.”

She
nodded. “So what happened with the woman?”

His
shoulders slumped a bit, and she couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. “Becca
Stowe worked in my accounting department, and she blindsided me. In retrospect
I should have seen her true nature from day one. I was dazzled. When I didn’t
want what she did from the relationship, she used her connections at the FBI to
get too close to the truth about me.”

Angela
hugged herself. Was it really that easy for someone to uncover a wiped-out identity?
“Why did she go looking in that direction to begin with?”

“I
fucked up in a moment of weakness. I said too many things about crime families
and hiding from them, and she zeroed in on that. It took me and Viggo some late
nights planting a false trail that had Antonio reappearing again, this time
under Eurasia.”

“We
found evidence that suggested Dominic’s
uncle
Giuseppe
was alive and might have been in touch with someone Becca knew,” said Viggo. “This
friend of Becca’s worked for the FBI, and she wasn’t averse to selling valuable
information. So we threw Giuseppe off the trail, just in case.”

“Is
your uncle still alive?”

Viggo
grinned. “That’s one of the things we’re going to find out.”

“We
should have been more thorough a long time ago,” said Dominic. “The stakes have
changed.” He took her hands, and she tried not to flinch. This was all so
confusing, and talk about being blindsided. He’d been living under a false
identity as long as she had.

“It’s
not only me and my company in danger now. You and your mother have been drawn
into this, and I can’t have that.” He lifted her hands to his lips and kissed
the back of them, and her heart melted at the gesture.

No
matter what name he used, the person inside was the same, just as she was still
Angela Rossi inside. He didn’t hold it against her that she’d kept her past
from him, so didn’t he deserve the same consideration from her? He was hiding
from a crime family who would kill him if they found him. Who could understand
that better than she could?

“I
can’t have the woman I love living a life like this anymore. We’re going to
find these people, and then we’re going to make sure they can never hurt anyone
again, so we can all be free of this forever.”