Chapter 5 - I Was the Bait—And Octavio Had One Night to Choose Between His Empire and the Woman He Loved
Octavio wanted to go alone.
I refused.
“That wasn't part of the message.”
“It said come alone.”
“I can read.”
“Nomi.”
“Don't.”
“You're staying here.”
“You're not walking into a trap involving my mother without me.”
His jaw clenched.
“If you go, I cannot guarantee your safety.”
“If you go without me, you cannot guarantee hers.”
Silence.
That ended the argument.
We drove to the location at dawn.
An abandoned hotel outside the city.
The building had been empty for 12 years.
Or so the records claimed.
Octavio's team surrounded the area.
We entered through the back.
Every room smelled like dust and rain.
Then we found her.
My mother.
Alive.
Older.
Thinner.
But unmistakable.
“Mom.”
She stared at me.
Her face collapsed.
“Nomi.”
I ran to her.
She held me like she had been waiting 18 years.
“I thought you were dead.”
“I was supposed to be.”
I pulled back.
“What?”
She looked at Octavio.
“You shouldn't have brought him.”
“He brought me.”
She shook her head.
“Then you don't understand what's happening.”
Octavio stepped forward.
“Tell me.”
My mother stared at him.
“You look like your father.”
“So I've been told.”
“I knew your mother.”
“My mother is you.”
“Yes.”
I felt tears burn my eyes.
“Then why did you leave me?”
She closed her eyes.
“Because I was trying to keep you alive.”
“From who?”
“From your father.”
The room went silent.
Octavio's face hardened.
“My father?”
My mother nodded.
“Your father wasn't the man you thought he was.”
She looked at Octavio.
“He built the Ki empire with blood.”
Octavio stared.
“You knew?”
“I knew everything.”
“And you hid it.”
“I hid your niece.”
Octavio looked at me.
“She is my niece.”
My mother nodded.
“But your father never knew she was his granddaughter.”
My blood ran cold.
“Wait.”
My mother whispered the truth.
My biological father was Victor Ki.
Octavio's older half-brother.
The brother everyone believed died before Octavio was born.
The brother whose records had been erased.
The brother who had been planning to take over the organization before he was killed.
I couldn't speak.
Octavio looked like someone had punched the air out of him.
“My brother had a daughter?”
“Yes.”
“And you hid her from us.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Victor's death wasn't an accident.”
A long silence.
“Who killed him?”
My mother looked at me.
“You already know.”
Rafael Moretti.
The man we believed was attacking us now had been there from the beginning.
But that wasn't the final secret.
My mother reached into her coat and pulled out a small envelope.
“This is why he wants you.”
Inside was a key.
Old.
Brass.
Engraved with the Ki family symbol.
“What does it open?”
“The room your grandfather sealed.”
Octavio looked at me.
“The family vault.”
My mother nodded.
“Inside is evidence.”
“Evidence of what?”
“Everything.”
She started crying.
“The names. The payments. The murders. The deals with corrupt officials. Every secret your grandfather ever protected.”
Octavio took the key.
“This could destroy the organization.”
“It should.”
A gunshot shattered the window.
Octavio grabbed me.
His men returned fire.
My mother screamed.
“Down!”
The hotel erupted in chaos.
Moretti's men had surrounded the building.
We had been tracked.
Octavio pulled my mother toward the rear corridor.
“Nomi, stay with me.”
“I am.”
“Don't let go.”
“I won't.”
We ran through smoke and broken glass.
Someone shouted from the lobby.
“Octavio!”
He stopped.
A voice came through a speaker.
Rafael Moretti.
“You've been looking in the wrong place, boy.”
Octavio looked toward the ceiling.
“You're hiding behind men again?”
Laughter echoed.
“You still sound like your father.”
Octavio's eyes became ice.
“You killed him.”
“I corrected a problem.”
“You killed my brother.”
“I did.”
My mother clutched my hand.
Then Rafael spoke again.
“But Victor had something I wanted.”
“What?”
“A daughter.”
Octavio looked at me.
Rafael continued.
“You see, little Nomi, your father made one mistake.”
His voice changed.
“He loved your mother.”
The building shook from an explosion downstairs.
Octavio pulled us through a side door.
We reached the cars.
But one was already on fire.
Matteo shouted.
“Other route!”
We escaped through the woods.
By sunrise, we reached a safehouse.
My mother was unconscious.
I sat beside her.
Octavio stood near the window.
“You're thinking about leaving.”
He didn't deny it.
“This is dangerous.”
“So am I.”
“You shouldn't have to live this life.”
“I didn't choose it.”
“No.”
He turned.
“I did.”
“What?”
“I chose it years ago.”
He walked toward me.
“The moment I inherited the organization, I accepted everything that came with it.”
His eyes were tired.
“But now I have something I didn't have before.”
“What?”
He touched my face.
“A reason to walk away.”
I stared at him.
“You'd leave?”
“For you.”
My heart broke open.
“No.”
His brow furrowed.
“No?”
“I won't become the reason you abandon everything you've spent your life building.”
“You're not.”
“Then what am I?”
He leaned closer.
“My future.”
I couldn't breathe.
He kissed me.
Softly.
Carefully.
As though he was asking permission even after the years of power and violence.
I kissed him back.
For a moment, there was no mafia.
No Moretti.
No secrets.
Just us.
Then my mother's voice came from the bed.
“Nomi.”
We pulled apart.
She looked terrified.
“Don't trust the police.”
Octavio turned.
“Why?”
“Because Rafael already owns someone inside your family.”
“Who?”
May you like
My mother stared at Octavio.
“Your most trusted man.”
Related Stories
