Chapter 6 - The Woman Who Wanted Me Dead Was the One Who Knew Where My Father WasThe attacker was Isabella Kane.
Victor's daughter.
She entered the church alone.
No weapon visible.
“I want to talk.”
Lorenzo raised his gun.
“Talk.”
She looked at me.
“Your father saved mine once.”
I frowned.
“What?”
“Twenty-five years ago.”
“My father saved Victor?”
“Yes.”
“Then why is he trying to kill him?”
“Because my father forgot what loyalty meant.”
She sat.
“My father became obsessed with the ledger.”
“Why?”
“It contained evidence of a government operation.”
“What operation?”
“Human trafficking.”
My stomach turned.
“Through the shipping companies.”
“Yes.”
“The Moretti empire?”
“Partly.”
“Lynx?”
“Several families.”
She looked at me.
“Your father discovered it.”
“He tried to expose it.”
“He was attacked.”
He disappeared.
My mother died.
Victor blamed the Morettis.
The war began.
“Then why did Victor take my father?”
“Because your father still knows the access code.”
“To the ledger.”
“Yes.”
“Why me?”
“Because your father encoded it inside your childhood memories.”
I stared.
She continued.
“You were his hiding place.”
“How?”
“He knew nobody would interrogate a child about stories.”
I understood.
The books.
The colors.
The questions.
The numbers.
Everything.
Isabella handed me a photograph.
My father holding my hand.
I was six.
Behind us stood Victor.
And Lorenzo's father.
The three men had been partners once.
“Then how did everything fall apart?”
“Money.”
She laughed bitterly.
“It always comes back to money.”
She looked at Lorenzo.
“Your father became greedy.”
“Victor became worse.”
“And mine was caught between them.”
“What about you?”
“I was supposed to inherit Victor's network.”
“But you don't want it.”
“No.”
“Then what do you want?”
“Freedom.”
I looked at her.
“So do I.”
She smiled.
“Then help me.”
Together, we infiltrated Victor's warehouse.
We found my grandmother.
Alive.
We freed her.
Then we found my father.
He was weak.
But conscious.
I ran to him.
“Dad.”
He hugged me.
“I knew you'd find me.”
I cried.
“Why didn't you come home?”
“I tried.”
“Why didn't you call?”
“They were watching.”
“Who?”
He looked at Lorenzo.
“His brother.”
Lorenzo's expression changed.
“Marco?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
“Your uncle.”
Lorenzo froze.
“My uncle died.”
“Your uncle is alive.”
I looked at him.
“Who?”
“Salvatore Moretti.”
The name hit Lorenzo like a bullet.
“Impossible.”
“He has been controlling Victor.”
“He started the war.”
“He manipulated both families.”
My father looked at me.
“He wants the ledger.”
“Why?”
“Because he created it.”
I didn't understand.
My father explained.
Salvatore had designed the network.
He knew every account.
Every secret.
He wanted to erase his past.
The ledger could expose him.
That was why he had hunted everyone.
My father.
My mother.
Victor.
The Moretti family.
Me.
Lorenzo stood.
“Where is he?”
My father handed him an address.
“Chicago.”
We returned.
But Salvatore was waiting.
He kidnapped Daniel.
Lorenzo's son.
The child was six.
May you like
And Salvatore had him.
For the first time, Lorenzo looked terrified.
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