Chapter 7 - The Truth Hidden in My Blood
Pain woke me.
My wrists were tied.
My head throbbed.
I was lying inside a concrete room.
Anthony D’Amico stood across from me.
He looked calm.
Almost paternal.
I hated that.
“Where’s Gabriel?”
“Alive.”
“My mother?”
“Alive.”
“Why am I here?”
“Because you are the key.”
I laughed.
“You've spent twenty years chasing a child.”
“I've spent twenty years protecting my investment.”
“You killed Rosa.”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“I ordered her watched.”
“Then who killed her?”
“A man who misunderstood my instructions.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“No.”
He smiled.
“That’s why I brought evidence.”
A screen turned on.
Video footage.
Rosa.
Alive.
Talking to a man.
The man’s face was hidden.
Then the camera angle shifted.
I recognized Leo.
My breath stopped.
“No.”
Anthony smiled.
“Your brother’s most trusted enforcer.”
“Leo wouldn't.”
“He has served me for seventeen years.”
I shook my head.
“You're lying.”
Anthony showed another video.
Leo meeting Paulie.
Then another.
Leo entering the warehouse before Rosa died.
I felt sick.
“Why?”
“Because Leo was there the night your family died.”
Anthony leaned closer.
“He knows who pulled the trigger.”
I stared.
“Who?”
“Your mother.”
Silence.
“My mother?”
“Evelyn killed Richard.”
“No.”
“She tried to leave the organization.”
Anthony continued.
“Richard refused.”
“So she killed him?”
Anthony nodded.
“Then the fire happened.”
I wanted to believe him.
But something was wrong.
The story was too clean.
Too convenient.
“You’re lying.”
Anthony smiled.
“How do you know?”
“Because if my mother killed my father, why did Rosa save me?”
“She regretted it.”
“Then why did she die protecting me?”
“She changed her mind.”
“No.”
I looked at the footage again.
I noticed something.
The timestamp.
Rosa’s recording happened two days before her murder.
At the end of the video, she turned toward the camera.
And mouthed something.
I zoomed in.
The screen froze.
Her lips formed:
Not him.
I stared.
“Who?”
Anthony's smile disappeared.
I leaned closer.
“Rosa was telling me not to trust you.”
The door opened.
A guard entered.
Anthony turned.
“Prepare the second room.”
I waited.
The second guard whispered something.
Anthony looked confused.
Then the lights went out.
A gunshot.
Another.
The door opened.
Gabriel.
He cut my restraints.
I almost collapsed.
“You came.”
“Of course.”
He held me upright.
We ran.
Three corridors.
Two staircases.
A loading dock.
Rain hit my face.
We reached a car.
Leo was driving.
I froze.
Gabriel noticed.
“You saw the videos.”
“Yes.”
Leo looked at me through the mirror.
“Norah…”
“Don’t.”
Gabriel said, “He was undercover.”
I stared.
“What?”
“Anthony recruited Leo years ago. Leo pretended to serve him.”
Leo nodded.
“Your mother knew.”
I looked at Gabriel.
“So Anthony fabricated the videos.”
“Most of them.”
I looked back at Leo.
“Was he there the night my father died?”
Leo sighed.
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“Your mother didn't kill your father.”
“Then who?”
Leo looked at Gabriel.
“Paulie’s father.”
Anthony.
“He shot Richard.”
“And Evelyn?”
“Your mother escaped.”
I swallowed.
“What about me?”
“You were in the nursery.”
“Rosa rescued me.”
“Yes.”
“Then why did everyone think she was dead?”
“Because Anthony burned the wrong body.”
I stared.
“He staged the deaths.”
Leo nodded.
“Three bodies were found. None were your sister.”
“Me.”
“Yes.”
I leaned against the seat.
Everything I believed had been a lie.
Yet one question remained.
“Why did I lose my memory?”
Leo answered.
“You were struck by falling wood during the fire.”
I touched my temple.
“So it was an accident.”
“Yes.”
Gabriel reached for my hand.
I let him.
He whispered, “I'm sorry.”
“For what?”
“For not finding you.”
“You were thirteen.”
“I still should have.”
I looked at him.
“You were a child too.”
For the first time, Gabriel began to cry.
Not loudly.
Just one tear.
Then another.
He turned away.
I squeezed his hand.
“We found each other now.”
He looked at me.
“Yeah.”
“We're not losing each other again.”
The moment passed quickly.
Because Leo's phone rang.
He answered.
His expression changed.
“Gabriel.”
“What?”
“They found Paulie.”
“Where?”
“At the Hayes family cemetery.”
Gabriel stiffened.
“Why would he go there?”
May you like
Leo swallowed.
“Because he's waiting for us.”
