Chapter 4 - Marcus Hale Returned With a Secret That Could Tear Them ApartSophie refused to let Dante go alone.
Dante refused to let Sophie go at all.
They argued for twenty minutes.
Then Matteo walked into the room and said the words neither wanted to hear.
“He wants her there.”
Dante stared at him.
“That doesn't mean she goes.”
“It might mean she's the only person he'll talk to.”
Silence.
Sophie looked at Dante.
“I'm going.”
“No.”
“You said you would give me choices.”
“I did.”
“Then let me choose.”
Dante closed his eyes.
When he opened them, his anger had changed into resignation.
“All right.”
He looked at Matteo.
“We go together.”
“Marcus said alone.”
“He can complain.”
Midnight came.
Room 317 was abandoned.
The hospital had been renovated years ago, but the original corridor remained closed.
Sophie walked beside Dante.
Her hand shook.
He noticed.
“Want to turn back?”
“No.”
“Scared?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
She looked at him.
“Good?”
“Fear tells you to pay attention.”
They reached the room.
Nothing.
Then Sophie noticed the wall.
A small metal plate.
Three numbers.
She touched it.
The panel opened.
Inside was a hidden compartment.
There was a ledger.
Black leather.
Old.
Dusty.
Her heart stopped.
“My father.”
Dante reached toward it.
Sophie stopped him.
“No.”
She took it herself.
The cover contained one word.
Bennett.
Inside were names.
Payments.
Dates.
Locations.
And one final page.
Sophie read it.
Then her face drained of color.
“What?”
She handed it to Dante.
His eyes moved across the words.
His jaw clenched.
“Impossible.”
“What does it say?”
He looked at her.
“Your father wasn't investigating Victor.”
“What?”
“He was working with him.”
Sophie shook her head.
“No.”
“He recorded everything.”
“He couldn't.”
Dante turned the page.
There was a letter.
Daniel Bennett's handwriting.
If my daughter ever finds this, she must know I wasn't the man I told her I was.
Sophie couldn't breathe.
She read the rest.
Her father had been forced into the criminal network because Victor had threatened her.
He had agreed to handle the accounts.
He also secretly copied every transaction.
He planned to expose Victor.
Then Victor discovered him.
Her parents weren't killed because of an accident.
They were killed because Daniel refused to hand over the ledger.
Sophie sobbed.
“My father died because of me.”
Dante took the ledger.
“No.”
“He was threatened because of me.”
“That is not your fault.”
“He protected me.”
“Yes.”
She looked up.
“Just like you.”
He didn't answer.
The door behind them closed.
Marcus stood on the other side.
Sophie froze.
He looked exactly as she remembered.
Perfect suit.
Calm smile.
Cold eyes.
But there was something different.
He looked tired.
“You always did make things more dramatic than necessary,” Marcus said.
Dante stepped between them.
“Stay behind me.”
Marcus laughed.
“You always were predictable, Russo.”
Sophie stared at him.
“How did you get here?”
“You thought you escaped me.”
“I did.”
“No.”
Marcus's smile faded.
“You changed your hair.”
“You followed me.”
“For four months.”
Dante raised his weapon.
Marcus looked at him.
“Put that away.”
“No.”
Marcus sighed.
“Still playing king?”
Dante said nothing.
Marcus turned to Sophie.
“I didn't want to hurt you.”
Sophie laughed through her tears.
“You nearly killed me.”
“I was trying to scare you.”
“You locked me in rooms.”
“I thought fear would keep you from leaving.”
“That's not love.”
Marcus's face twisted.
“Don't tell me what love is.”
Dante stepped closer.
“She owes you nothing.”
Marcus looked at him.
“You know what she doesn't know?”
Dante's eyes narrowed.
Marcus continued.
“Her father didn't die because of the ledger.”
Sophie stared.
“What are you talking about?”
Marcus reached into his coat.
He pulled out a photograph.
It showed Daniel Bennett speaking to someone.
Sophie recognized the person immediately.
Dante.
But younger.
Marcus smiled.
“Ask Russo what your father asked him to do the night before he died.”
Dante went still.
Sophie turned.
“Dante?”
He said nothing.
Her heart sank.
“What did my father ask you?”
Dante's silence was devastating.
Marcus stepped backward.
“Exactly.”
He disappeared through the side entrance before anyone could stop him.
Sophie turned toward Dante.
“You knew.”
Dante lowered his weapon.
“I knew part of it.”
“What part?”
“Your father asked me to get you out.”
“Why?”
“Because he knew he wouldn't survive.”
“You were there?”
“Yes.”
“The night before my parents died?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because your father made me promise.”
Sophie stared.
“What promise?”
“That you would never know.”
“Why?”
“Because he wanted you to believe he loved you enough to disappear.”
Her tears fell.
“My father did disappear.”
Dante's voice broke.
“He sacrificed everything so you could live.”
She shook her head.
“There's more.”
“Yes.”
“What?”
Dante hesitated.
“Your father also told me something else.”
“What?”
“He said Marcus Hale would eventually come for you.”
“And?”
“He told me that if Marcus ever found you, I had to protect you.”
Sophie stared.
“So you hired me.”
“Yes.”
“To protect me.”
“At first.”
“And then?”
Dante stepped closer.
“Then you became the one thing I couldn't lose.”
The words should have comforted her.
Instead, they terrified her.
Because now Sophie realized the biggest secret wasn't what Dante had known.
It was how long he had been protecting her.
Before she had ever met him.
Before she knew his name.
Before she ever called him baby.
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Dante had already promised her father he would keep her safe.
And Sophie had unknowingly walked straight into the arms of the man who had been waiting for her all along.
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