Chapter 4 - My Wife Was Holding the Gun
“Isabella?”
She was pale.
Her clothes were dirty.
Her hair was loose.
There was a bruise near her temple.
But she was alive.
I took one step toward her.
“Don't.”
Her voice shook.
I stopped.
Marco raised his weapon.
I lowered his arm.
“No.”
“But boss—”
“Lower it.”
He did.
I looked at Isabella.
“Are you hurt?”
“Not badly.”
“Who brought you here?”
She didn't answer.
“Isabella.”
She looked at me.
“You need to listen.”
“I am.”
“The Circle isn't dead.”
I swallowed.
“Who has you?”
Her grip tightened around the gun.
“Everyone.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means you don't know who your enemies are.”
Then Matteo walked into the room.
Isabella turned toward him.
She raised the gun.
“You.”
Matteo smiled.
“I was wondering when you'd figure it out.”
I looked between them.
“What did you do?”
Matteo looked at Isabella.
“Ask your wife.”
I stared at her.
She took a breath.
“Matteo helped me escape.”
“What?”
“He didn't kidnap me.”
“Then who?”
“Thomas.”
My eyes narrowed.
“Thomas Rinaldi.”
She nodded.
“He took me because he believed I knew where the final ledger was.”
“Did you?”
“Yes.”
I looked at the black ledger in my hand.
“But it wasn't here.”
She shook her head.
“No.”
“Where is it?”
She looked at Matteo.
Then at me.
“Inside your family.”
The words sounded impossible.
She lowered the gun.
“The ledger isn't a book.”
“What?”
“It is a person.”
Silence.
She explained that during the kidnapping, Thomas had told her the final evidence had never been written down.
Someone memorized it.
A person who had kept account numbers, names, locations, and dates hidden in memory for decades.
That person was Isabella's father.
He had never disappeared.
He had been protected by my father.
He had been living under another identity.
And he was alive.
I could hardly breathe.
“Where?”
Isabella looked at me.
“You met him once.”
I stared.
“Who?”
“The old man who runs the flower shop near your mother's church.”
I knew exactly who she meant.
Mr. Evans.
I had seen him for years.
I had never connected him to Isabella's father.
We drove there immediately.
The shop was empty.
The back door stood open.
A trail of blood led into the alley.
We found Isabella's father unconscious behind a dumpster.
He was alive.
Barely.
He had been attacked before we arrived.
We brought him to a private doctor.
When he woke, he looked at Isabella first.
Then me.
“You married her.”
“Yes.”
He smiled sadly.
“Then you must protect her from yourself.”
The sentence hit me.
“What do you mean?”
He told us everything.
The Circle had manipulated both families.
My father had tried to break away.
He failed.
Isabella's father had taken the surviving records and hidden them.
He had chosen anonymity to keep Isabella safe.
Then David—no, there had never been a David.
The man Isabella's family had once trusted had been part of The Circle.
The kidnapping had been designed to force me into panic.
But there was another purpose.
They wanted me to react exactly as I had always reacted.
Violence.
Revenge.
Blood.
Because if I returned to that version of myself, the final evidence could be used to portray me as the criminal mastermind behind everything.
They wanted me to destroy myself.
I looked at Isabella.
“They used you to provoke me.”
She nodded.
“And I almost let them.”
She stepped closer.
“You did.”
I lowered my head.
“I am sorry.”
She stared at me.
I had apologized to almost no one in my life.
This time, there was no pride left to protect.
“I should have driven you home.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“I waited for you.”
“I know.”
“I came back at 1:43.”
“I saw.”
“You still weren't there.”
“I know.”
She cried quietly.
I wanted to touch her.
But I waited.
She finally reached for my hand.
“I don't need you to be fearless, Luca.”
“I know.”
“I need you to choose me when being wrong is easier.”
I nodded.
“I will.”
Behind us, Matteo entered.
“We have another problem.”
Everyone looked at him.
Thomas had escaped.
May you like
And he had taken the original evidence.
The final confrontation had become unavoidable.
