Chapter 4 - The Father Who Watched From the Shadows
We found my father in an abandoned church in New Jersey.
He looked older.
Gray hair.
Thin face.
But when he saw me, his eyes filled.
“Lena.”
I couldn't move.
“You're alive.”
“Yes.”
“You let me think you were dead.”
“I had to.”
I slapped him.
He didn't stop me.
“I'm sorry.”
“You left me.”
“Yes.”
“You left Mom.”
“Yes.”
“You let us believe you were dead.”
“I thought it would keep you alive.”
I cried.
Nico stood behind me.
My father looked at him.
“You must be Nico.”
Nico nodded.
“Your father hated mine.”
“I know.”
“He also trusted him.”
Nico frowned.
“What?”
“Your father wanted out.”
“My father never wanted out.”
“He did.”
My father explained.
The Bellandi organization was more complicated than I knew.
Nico's father had inherited it.
Rocco wanted control.
Nico's father wanted legitimacy.
Rocco killed anyone who stood in the way.
Including people who had helped him.
My father had discovered the ledger.
He stole it.
Then hid the key.
“With my mother?”
“Yes.”
“Why did she say she gave it to you?”
“She did.”
“Then where is it?”
My father looked at me.
“You have it.”
I froze.
“What?”
He pointed to my necklace.
The small silver locket I had worn since childhood.
I opened it.
Inside was a tiny key.
I had never known.
Nico stared.
“That is it.”
My father nodded.
“Your mother carried the ledger.”
“And the key?”
“You.”
I stared.
“All these years?”
“Yes.”
My father told us the final secret.
The ledger was not paper.
It was a digital encryption device.
The key opened it.
But only with my fingerprint.
Because my father wanted no one else to use it.
“Why me?”
“Because you were the only person Rocco would underestimate.”
Nico's expression darkened.
“That's why Tommy was watching her.”
“Yes.”
“And you knew?”
“I suspected.”
I stared at Nico.
“You hired me because of the ledger.”
He didn't lie.
“Yes.”
My heart broke.
“So all of this…”
“I wanted to protect you.”
“But you needed me.”
“Yes.”
“What came first?”
He looked directly at me.
“You.”
That answer hurt.
Because I wanted to believe it.
Then my father said:
“Rocco isn't the only danger.”
“Who?”
“Luca.”
Nico went still.
“He is alive.”
My father's eyes narrowed.
“And he hates you.”
“Why?”
“Because he believes you took the life he was supposed to inherit.”
The war became personal.
That night, the church was attacked.
We escaped through a tunnel.
My father stayed behind.
I screamed.
Nico dragged me away.
“Lena, we have to go.”
“My father!”
“He'll meet us.”
But we knew.
He might not.
We reached the car.
Nico closed the door.
He was bleeding.
“Are you hurt?”
“Not badly.”
“You're lying.”
“Yes.”
I pressed a cloth to his side.
He looked at me.
“I don't want you near this anymore.”
“Too late.”
“I mean it.”
“So do I.”
He touched my cheek.
“I should have kept you away.”
“You tried.”
“I failed.”
I smiled sadly.
“You didn't fail.”
“Why?”
“Because I'm still here.”
Then he kissed me.
It was brief.
Desperate.
And completely wrong.
But I wanted it anyway.
The next morning, we learned my father had survived.
But Luca had taken him.
The message arrived at 6:00 a.m.
BRING THE KEY.
OR YOUR FATHER DIES.
Nico looked at me.
“I'll go.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
“You stay.”
“No.”
He stared.
“You don't understand what you're saying.”
“I do.”
I held up the key.
“They want me.”
May you like
He sighed.
“Then we're going together.”
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