Chapter 7 - The Mafia Boss Nearly Died Protecting Saraphina—Then a Hidden Recording Revealed Who Had Ordered His Mother's Murder
Kieran survived the shooting.
The bullet had passed through the outer part of his shoulder, missing the major blood vessels. Doctors cleaned the wound, removed a fragment, and ordered him to remain under observation overnight.
He refused.
Saraphina threatened to call the hospital director, Marco threatened to have him sedated, and the attending surgeon threatened to discharge him only after obtaining a signed statement confirming that Kieran understood the risks of leaving early.
Kieran signed the statement.
Then he stayed.
It was the first sensible decision he had made all night.
Saraphina sat beside his bed, watching him sleep.
The estate's security team had confirmed that the intruder escaped before they could identify him. A vehicle had been found abandoned several miles away, but the registration was false.
Victor remained missing.
And the message was unmistakable.
The conflict was no longer about documents or inheritance.
Someone wanted Kieran frightened enough to abandon the investigation.
Someone had underestimated him.
At dawn, Kieran opened his eyes.
Saraphina was asleep in the chair beside him, her head resting awkwardly against the wall. One hand remained wrapped around his fingers.
He looked at their joined hands for a long time.
Then he gently brushed a strand of hair away from her face.
She woke immediately.
"You're awake."
"Unfortunately."
She stared at him.
"Don't joke."
"I'm sorry."
"You scared me."
His expression softened.
"I know."
"No, you don't. I thought you were going to die."
Kieran looked away.
He had spent years accepting the possibility of his own death. It had been part of the life he chose, a risk he understood.
But hearing the fear in Saraphina's voice made him realize that his death would no longer affect only him.
It would hurt her.
And he could not bear that.
"I'm not planning to die," he said quietly.
"Good."
She stood and adjusted the blanket.
"Because I haven't finished being angry with you."
He almost smiled.
"I look forward to it."
She shook her head, but the tension in her face eased.
A knock sounded at the door.
Marco entered carrying a laptop.
"We found something."
Kieran sat up.
"What?"
"The intruder accessed your office before heading toward the garage. He didn't take money or weapons. He went straight to the locked cabinet containing your father's old records."
"Was anything missing?"
"One item."
Marco opened the laptop.
A photograph appeared on the screen.
It showed a small black recording device.
Kieran stared at it.
"My father kept that in his study."
"Apparently, it was still active when someone removed it from the estate years ago. We found a backup copy in an archive associated with your mother's estate."
Marco pressed play.
Static filled the room.
Then a man's voice emerged.
Richard Blackwood.
"If you're hearing this, Victor has gone too far."
Kieran stopped breathing.
His father's voice had not been heard in more than two decades.
The recording continued.
"I have discovered that money intended for the family trust has been diverted through shell companies. The documents implicate Victor and several associates. I intend to confront him tomorrow."
A pause followed.
Then another voice spoke.
Victor.
"You don't understand what you're risking, Richard."
"I understand perfectly."
"You think your son is ready to inherit this empire?"
"My son has nothing to do with this."
"Everything has to do with him. He is the reason you refuse to listen."
Kieran's hands curled around the blanket.
His father spoke again.
"Leave my family alone."
Victor laughed softly.
"Your family is the only thing I have ever wanted."
The recording ended.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then Kieran whispered, "He knew."
Marco nodded.
"Yes."
"He knew Victor was stealing from us."
"Yes."
"And he died the next day."
Marco looked at the floor.
"We believe Victor arranged the accident."
Kieran closed his eyes.
For twenty-two years, he had lived with unanswered questions about his father's death.
He had imagined a thousand explanations.
None had prepared him for the possibility that his uncle had murdered the man who raised him.
Saraphina reached for his hand.
"I'm sorry."
He stared at the wall.
"I trusted him."
She squeezed his fingers.
"You were a child."
"I was old enough to know better."
"No."
Her voice was firm.
"You were a child who needed a family. He used that."
Kieran looked at her.
Something in her expression reminded him of the woman she had been when she first entered his kitchen, exhausted and frightened but still determined to protect her daughter.
She understood betrayal.
She understood the pain of discovering that the people you loved had hidden things from you.
And she was still here.
He turned his hand over and held hers.
Marco cleared his throat.
"There's more."
Kieran looked up.
"What?"
"The recording contains another file. It was encrypted, but our analyst recovered most of it."
Marco opened the second file.
A woman's voice filled the room.
Kieran recognized it immediately.
His mother.
"If anything happens to me, Richard's documents must be protected. Elena's child must never be placed in Victor's hands. The trust is not about money. It's about giving that child a future beyond this family."
Saraphina leaned forward.
"Elena's child."
Marco nodded.
"Isabella."
Kieran listened as his mother continued.
"Trevor has agreed to help. He knows the truth, and he knows what Victor is capable of. If Richard cannot protect Elena and the baby, Trevor must take them somewhere safe."
The recording crackled.
Then his mother spoke a sentence that made Kieran's heart stop.
"Victor has already ordered one death. He will not hesitate to order another."
A door slammed in the background.
The recording ended.
Kieran stared at the laptop.
"Whose death was she talking about?"
Marco shook his head.
"We don't know."
Saraphina looked at the timestamp.
The recording had been made six months before her mother-in-law's supposed accident.
"Maybe she knew she was in danger," Saraphina said.
Kieran's expression became distant.
"My mother didn't believe in ghosts or conspiracies. If she was afraid, she had a reason."
He turned toward Marco.
"Find the original accident report. Every photograph, every witness statement, every maintenance record."
"Already requested."
"And locate Elena's burial records."
Marco hesitated.
"There's a problem with those, too."
Kieran looked at him.
"What problem?"
"Elena was supposedly buried in a private cemetery in Connecticut. But the cemetery has no record of her interment."
The room fell silent.
Saraphina gripped Kieran's hand.
"Then where is she?"
Kieran stared at the screen.
"I don't know."
For the first time, the mystery seemed larger than the money, the trust, or the criminal organization.
Three women had been caught in the same web.
His mother.
Elena.
And Saraphina, who had unknowingly raised Elena's daughter.
Kieran looked at her.
"There's something else I need to tell you."
She waited.
"If the investigation confirms that Victor killed my parents, I will have to dismantle the parts of this organization that allowed him to operate."
"Will that put you in danger?"
"Yes."
"Will it put Isabella in danger?"
"Possibly."
Saraphina's face tightened.
"Then we need a plan that doesn't depend on you winning a war."
Kieran considered her words.
She was right.
For years, he had approached every threat as a problem of power. He had assumed that if he could eliminate the enemy, the danger would disappear.
But Victor had hidden for years.
He had allies inside the organization.
And he had already shown that he was willing to target a child.
Kieran needed more than force.
He needed evidence strong enough to destroy Victor's influence permanently.
He needed to know where Elena was.
And he needed to find Trevor.
Before he could respond, Saraphina's phone rang.
Rosa.
Saraphina answered immediately.
"Aunt Rosa?"
Her aunt's voice was trembling.
"Saraphina, you need to come home."
"What happened?"
"Someone was here."
Saraphina stood.
"Who?"
"I don't know. The apartment was searched. They took the metal box."
Saraphina felt cold.
"The box is with you?"
"Not anymore."
"Did they hurt you?"
"No, sweetheart. I'm all right."
"Where are you?"
"At the neighbor's apartment."
Kieran was already out of bed, ignoring the pain in his shoulder.
"Ask her whether anyone left a message," he said.
Saraphina repeated the question.
Rosa hesitated.
"Yes."
"What did it say?"
Her aunt began to cry.
"They said Trevor is alive. And if you want to see him again, you must bring Isabella to the old Blackwood warehouse by midnight."
Saraphina felt the room spin.
Kieran took the phone.
"Rosa, listen carefully. Do not go anywhere. Stay with your neighbor, and let my security team come to you."
He ended the call and turned to Marco.
"Find that warehouse."
Marco nodded.
Kieran looked at Saraphina.
"We're going to get your husband."
She stared at him.
"What if it's a trap?"
"It probably is."
"Then why would you go?"
Kieran took her hand.
"Because if Trevor is alive, he may be the only person who can tell us where Elena is."
He paused.
"And because I won't let Victor use your family to control you."
Saraphina looked at their joined hands.
She had spent six years believing Trevor was dead.
Now she was being told that he might be alive.
She didn't know whether to hope or be afraid.
But one thing was certain.
If someone had spent years protecting Isabella, that person might finally be ready to tell the truth.
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And if Victor had spent years hunting them, he was about to discover that Kieran Blackwood would no longer fight for the empire he inherited.
He would fight for the people he loved.
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