Chapter 4 - The Mafia Boss Who Had Been Protecting Her Without Knowing Her Name
Moretti reacted instantly.
He grabbed Natalya and pulled her behind a concrete support wall.
Elena was dragged into the hallway.
S fired through the shattered window.
The gunmen outside responded.
Natalya pressed herself against the wall.
She could hear her heartbeat.
Then she heard Moretti say something in Italian.
S answered.
Two men moved toward the back entrance.
Natalya looked at her mother.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Stay down.”
Natalya crawled toward her.
Moretti appeared beside them.
“There's a tunnel beneath the basement.”
Natalya stared.
“A tunnel?”
“This house was built during Prohibition.”
He pulled Elena to her feet.
“Can you walk?”
“Yes.”
They moved downstairs.
The hidden basement door opened into a narrow stone passage.
Natalya followed Moretti.
“Where does it lead?”
“A church.”
“Convenient.”
“Nothing about my life is convenient.”
They emerged behind the church.
Cars waited.
Everyone piled in.
Only once they were moving did Moretti speak.
“Marco Bellandi doesn't usually move personally.”
“Who is he?”
“A parasite.”
Natalya looked at him.
“He was your father's enemy?”
“My father thought he was.”
“You don't?”
“I think he is worse.”
Moretti opened another file.
“Bellandi worked with Luciano. He later tried to take control of Orpheus.”
“What happened?”
“Luciano died.”
“Bellandi survived.”
“Yes.”
“How?”
Moretti looked at Natalya.
“Because someone betrayed my father.”
Silence.
Then Natalya realized.
“You think your father was murdered by Bellandi.”
“Yes.”
“And you think my father knew.”
“Yes.”
“Then why haven't you killed Bellandi?”
“Because I need to know what he's protecting.”
Natalya understood.
“Orpheus.”
“Exactly.”
The car stopped at a secure apartment in Manhattan.
Moretti led them inside.
Natalya noticed something strange.
There were photographs.
Newspaper clippings.
Maps.
Dates.
Her face appeared in one photograph.
She froze.
It was taken eight months earlier.
Outside Cello Nero.
“How long have you been watching me?”
Moretti's voice was quiet.
“Not you.”
He walked closer.
“Your father.”
“What?”
“I've been tracking people who might connect to him.”
“And I was one of them.”
“Yes.”
“Since when?”
“Eight months.”
Natalya stared.
“You hired me.”
“No.”
“You knew my name.”
“I knew your surname.”
“That isn't an answer.”
Moretti looked at the floor.
“I knew someone with your name had applied.”
“Then why hire me?”
“I wasn't sure you were the right person.”
“For what?”
“To see if someone reacted to you.”
The truth was brutal.
Her entire job had been part of a test.
“You used me.”
“I protected you.”
“You had cameras around me.”
“Yes.”
“You watched me.”
“Yes.”
“That isn't protection.”
Moretti said nothing.
Natalya turned away.
Then she noticed something on the desk.
An envelope.
Her name was written on it in her father's handwriting.
Impossible.
She picked it up.
Inside was a letter.
My little star,
If you are reading this, then the world has become dangerous again.
Do not trust anyone who says they knew me.
Including those who loved me.
Natalya's hands trembled.
The next lines were worse.
There is one man who will eventually stand between you and the people who want Orpheus.
His name is Adrien.
She looked up.
Moretti had gone very still.
Her father continued.
He will hate what he learns about his family. He may not trust me. He may not trust you. But when the time comes, trust the man who chooses your safety before his own pride.
Natalya lowered the letter.
“You knew he wrote this?”
“No.”
“He named you.”
Moretti stared at the page.
“I never knew Viktor trusted me.”
“He trusted you before you met me.”
“Why?”
“Maybe because he knew what your father did.”
Moretti looked toward the city.
“My father spent his life teaching me never to trust Russians.”
Natalya's expression hardened.
“And mine spent his life teaching me never to trust Italians.”
Their eyes met.
For the first time, something unexpected passed between them.
Not romance.
Not yet.
Understanding.
They were both children of men who had lied to them.
And both had inherited wars they never asked for.
Suddenly the secure phone rang.
S answered.
“Boss.”
Moretti took the phone.
“What?”
A long pause.
His face darkened.
“Repeat that.”
The voice came through the speaker.
“We found the codebreaker.”
Moretti's eyes went to Natalya.
“Who?”
The answer was a woman's voice.
“Your waitress.”
Natalya froze.
It wasn't S.
It wasn't one of Moretti's men.
It was her own mother.
Elena stood in the doorway.
“I'm sorry.”
A gun appeared in her hand.
Moretti moved instantly.
Elena pointed it at him.
“Adrien, don't.”
Natalya stared at her mother.
“Mama?”
“You don't understand.”
“Then explain.”
May you like
“I was the one who called Bellandi.”
The room went silent.
Related Stories
