Chapter 3 - The Woman Buried Before She Died
The investigation into Leah’s family began with a missing file and ended with a name Damian had spent years trying to forget.
Rafael Moreno.
Leah’s father.
Officially, Rafael had been a mechanic.
Unofficially, he had once worked for Damian’s father.
He had disappeared from Rosetti records seventeen years earlier.
Damian stared at the file.
“He was one of ours.”
Leah crossed her arms.
“My father never mentioned your family.”
“He wouldn't.”
“Why?”
“Because my father was alive when your father disappeared.”
She stared.
“What does that mean?”
Damian lowered his voice.
“It means Rafael left under orders.”
“Whose?”
“My father's.”
“Why?”
Damian didn't answer immediately.
Then he said, “He was protecting someone.”
“Who?”
“Your mother.”
Leah felt dizzy.
The bracelet lay on the table.
“My mother knew your father?”
“Yes.”
“Were they involved?”
Damian’s eyes hardened.
“No.”
“Then why protect her?”
“Because she had evidence.”
“Against whom?”
“Sable.”
Leah shook her head.
“I thought Sable was an operation.”
“It is.”
“Then who runs it?”
Damian looked at Gabriel.
Gabriel answered.
“Someone inside the Rosetti organization.”
Leah stared at them.
“You mean someone close to you.”
“Yes.”
The search narrowed to five people.
Gabriel.
Damian’s uncle Roman.
A former lawyer named Stephen Cole.
Hotel manager Victor Hale.
And Damian’s personal physician.
Leah frowned.
“The doctor?”
“He has access to my medical records.”
“Could he have arranged the drug?”
“Yes.”
Damian’s expression became cold.
“Which is why he’s under surveillance.”
They found the doctor dead two days later.
The message painted onto his office wall said:
YOU TRUST THE WRONG PEOPLE.
Damian became furious.
He ordered a complete security lockdown.
Leah watched him move through the house like a storm.
She wanted to tell him to calm down.
Then she saw his hands.
They were shaking.
She realized he was afraid.
Not for himself.
For her.
That night, Leah found him alone.
“You don't sleep.”
“Not much.”
“You should.”
“So should you.”
She handed him coffee.
He looked surprised.
“You remembered how I take it.”
“Yes.”
“Black.”
“Yes.”
He took a sip.
“Perfect.”
Leah sat beside him.
“My mother.”
Damian waited.
“I don't remember much before I was ten.”
“Why?”
“My parents fought constantly. Then my father vanished. Mom said he left.”
“And?”
“Maybe he didn't.”
“No.”
She looked at him.
“You sound certain.”
“Because I know the paperwork.”
“Then why didn't you tell me sooner?”
“Because I didn't know how to tell you that my family may have destroyed yours.”
Leah was quiet.
Then she said, “You didn't.”
“You don't know that.”
“I know the man who saved Matteo.”
Damian stared.
“That was me?”
“You paid his pharmacy bill.”
“You noticed.”
“I notice everything.”
He smiled.
“Apparently.”
The room softened.
Leah looked at him.
“Why did you never marry?”
The question surprised them both.
Damian leaned back.
“Because women wanted the name.”
“And you didn't want them?”
“I didn't trust them.”
“Why trust me?”
He looked at her for a long time.
“I don't.”
She laughed.
“That sounded almost romantic.”
“I trust your motives.”
“That's enough.”
“For me, it is.”
A dangerous silence settled between them.
Then Damian reached out.
His fingers brushed her hand.
Leah didn't pull away.
He looked at her mouth.
She looked at his.
The moment shattered when Gabriel entered.
“We found the car.”
“What car?”
“Your mother's.”
Leah stood immediately.
“Where?”
“An abandoned garage.”
They drove there under heavy security.
Inside the garage was an old sedan.
Rust covered the doors.
The glove compartment had been forced open.
Leah searched it.
Nothing.
Then she noticed a false panel.
Behind it was a cassette tape.
Damian found an old player.
The recording began.
Leah heard her mother's voice.
“If you're hearing this, Rafael was right. They are watching us.”
Leah covered her mouth.
Her mother's voice continued.
“Sable is not one person. It is a network. They recruit people who work inside powerful organizations, then use them to create wars.”
Damian listened.
“If Damian Rosetti ever finds this, tell him his father did not betray him.”
Damian looked up.
“What?”
The tape continued.
“His father was trying to protect him.”
A second voice appeared.
Rafael.
“We can't trust Roman.”
Damian froze.
His uncle.
Leah looked at him.
The recording continued.
“Roman knows about the ledger.”
A loud noise.
Then the recording stopped.
Damian stepped back.
“My uncle.”
Gabriel shook his head.
“Roman died six years ago.”
Leah said quietly, “Maybe he didn't.”
They returned to the mansion.
Leah couldn't sleep.
She wandered into the kitchen and found Damian there.
“You should rest.”
“So should you.”
He looked at her.
Then he said, “I need to tell you something.”
She waited.
“The woman at the hotel wasn't the first person Sable used.”
“Who was?”
“My first fiancée.”
Leah blinked.
“You were engaged?”
“For eleven days.”
“What happened?”
“She tried to poison me.”
“Did she work for Sable?”
“Yes.”
“You killed her?”
“No.”
“What happened?”
“She disappeared.”
Leah stared.
“You let her live?”
“She gave me a warning.”
“About what?”
“Don't trust the person who calls you family.”
Leah thought of Roman.
“So you think your uncle is alive.”
“Yes.”
A phone rang.
Gabriel answered.
His face turned white.
He handed the phone to Damian.
A video played.
Roman Rosetti sat inside a dark room.
Older.
Alive.
He smiled.
“Hello, nephew.”
Damian's expression became stone.
Roman leaned toward the camera.
“You should have stayed away from the waitress.”
Leah stepped closer.
Roman laughed.
“She has no idea who she is.”
Damian said nothing.
Roman continued.
“Your father chose Rafael Moreno because he trusted him. Rafael hid the truth in his daughter.”
Leah's blood ran cold.
“Why me?”
Roman's smile widened.
May you like
“Because your mother had a daughter.”
The screen went black.
